the only thing happening today was dinner at my sister's place. this is a very rare occasion, since my sister never allows strangers into her house, mostly because it's like a hoarder's lair. even when my cousin and niece were here last week, my sister didn't let them take a peek inside her place despite their curiosity. so not only would she be making dinner, but she'd also need to clean, which was the more interesting question.

i slept late and showered. once again, i dried the bathtub afterwards to allow the caulk to fully dry for a second day. i left for belmont by around 11am.

since dinner wouldn't be until 5-6pm, i had the whole day to catch up on some upkeeping at my parents' place. my father was already in the basement trimming all the jasmine plants i brought in on thursday. i plugged in the 2nd led grow light after locating a power cable.

my father and i removed the back plate from the broken dryer but there was nothing to see. after watching a few youtube videos, the way to the drum and rollers is actually from the top and front of the machine. we unscrewed the lint trap, detached two clips on the front corners of the machine lid, then pulled out the front panel to reveal all the guts. this is where our magnetic led lights came in real handy. we unhooked the idler pulley and removed the drum along with the belt. the belt and rollers all seemed okay. the motor however was caked in dust. the back of the drum that's closest to the motor was also caked in some kind of dried oil, and inside the bottom of the machine there seemed to be an oil leak at some point. my parents left around noontime for an everett-medford supply run, leaving home to work on the dryer.

the mechanics of a dryer is actually fairly simple, i think simpler than the washing machine. nothing seemed to be broken (other than the mysterious evidence of a past oil leak), so i figured the least i could do is clean up all the dust (actually lint from the dryer), put the dryer back together, and see if it'll run again. i vacuumed and wiped the inside of the dryer along with the motor, picking off the caked on dust. the drum i took outside and using a magic eraser sponge i cleaned off the stuck on oil stain.

i then started to reassemble the dryer. that ended up taking a long time because i couldn't get the idler pulley in the right position. no matter what i did, it seemed to be rubbing against the side of the drum as it spun. i finally realized my error when i checked a photo i'd taken of the pulley assembly before i took it apart, and discovered it was actually further to the right, which would allow more clearance. once i did that, it was a simple matter of screwing everything back together (i also dropped the screw into the machine and had to take the front panel off again for the nth time to get the screw). i also realized i forgot to plug in the door switch, and had to disassemble the front of the dryer one last time to attach the connectors. oh, i also almost left the magnet light inside of the dryer, got it out before closing.

i had the dryer finally reassembled by 3:30pm. by that point i'd taken it apart multiple times, gone through two pairs of latex gloves, poked and sliced myself a few times from the sharp edges inside the dryer, and was sweat-soaked. with the machine plugged in (220v), i ran it for a few minutes to see if it had any issues. it seemed to run fine. the ultimate test would be for us to dry a batch of clothes to see if it still works. i looked it up, it'd cost $500-600 to buy a new dryer, and $60-80 to buy a replacement motor that may or may not fix the problem.

my day wasn't done yet. the primary project for the day was to mow the lawn. i started by removing the wifi remote sprinkler timer. after automatically watering for so many weeks now, it's obvious our front lawn won't regrow from the thick layer of thatch. it's too late now to try reseeding, we'll dig up the front lawn come springtime and reseed that way.

i pushed the mower out of the garage and went to work. i attached the gopro onto the mower to do a time lapse. i started with the front lawn then worked my way back. in the back i attached the action cam onto the wooden swing set. i was finally done by 4:30pm.

i left for the cafe by 5pm. my parents had been there after their supply run, doing some food prep work for the week. my aunts walked down to the cafe on their own and were waiting until evening so they could go over to my sister's place. my sister's godmother was also there, invited by my sister to help her out.

at 5:45pm we were given the signal to head over to my sister's place. my sister originally wanted everyone to be in the kitchen, congregating by the kitchen island. however it was so cramped, with nowhere to sit, and would interfere with my sister cooking, that naturally everyone ended up in the living room. my sister didn't have a coffee table, instead just a side table and a few stools that became makeshift tables for the appetizers. with all the people there, hailey kept on hiding.

we had little bowls of mystery creamy soup (bits of celery?), followed by what looked like crab cakes but were actually fish cakes with salad. then little bowls of tomato rice. my mother made a plate of caprese salad that served as an additional main course since my sister didn't have anymore food after that, but i didn't have any. everyone said they weren't hungry but i think more out of politeness, given how long it took per serving. besides, i think people were already full from snacking on all the appetizers in the form of crackers, cheese, salami, and smoked salmon. i'm not even sure if my sister ate; while everyone was eating in the living room, she was busy in the kitchen making the next dish.

we left by 8pm. my sister originally said she could drive her godmother home, but who knew how long she'd have to wait, so she just took the bus to harvard square instead. my parents gave a ride to my aunts after they collected their stuff back at the cafe. i returned home via motorcycle.

did i mention today was halloween? actually some kids rang the doorbell while we were eating. we didn't know who it was, but someone mentioned halloween, and when i checked the webcam, i saw the trick-or-treaters. back at home, i was getting ready to visit the halloween festivities on sacramento street when my mother called, saying they were coming to check it out as well. it was already 8:42pm by the time they arrived. i had a feeling it was over because i couldn't hear anything, normally it'd be very noisy. when we got there (my aunts were walking too slow), the empty street confirmed my suspicions. some decorations were still out, but most of the people had already gone inside. they must've been out since 6pm if not earlier. my mother snagged a whole bag of candy from a woman trying to get rid of her leftovers.

returning home, i ducked into the liquor store to buy a powerball ticket. i tried a few days ago but the lottery machine was broken. i had no luck again, as the machine was still down. it wouldn't have mattered anyway, tickets for tonight's drawing had to be purchased before 9pm (it was already well after that). hope nobody wins tonight!

my parents and aunts ended up leaving while i went inside the house. i bumped into margot wearing a skeleton costume and neal, who took his kids to dudley street in north cambridge where they also shut down the street and turn it into a halloween fest. i took a shower, making sure i dried the bathtub area afterwards.