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i managed to work in a run this morning, my first since more than 3 weeks ago, after all my free time was taken up by bathroom renovation work. temperature was in the lower 50's and i was cold when i first stepped outside, but after walking in the sun and starting my run, i warmed right up, and 50 degrees was downright pleasant. i got back home by noontime.

after a shower, i had some leftover pasta salad i made 1-1/2 weeks ago. my mother told me to throw it out yesterday, and yes there was some suspicious white spots on the pasta, but i figured that was just from all the feta cheese i added. besides, i added enough vinegar in the dressing that would inhibit old growth, right? anyway, there's been expired food i wouldn't try to eat, even if there was mold. so i scooped some into a bowl and had it for lunch. i then waited for stomach cramps or any other signs of food poisoning but it never came.

i left the house to run errands starting at 1:30pm. i returned two bags of used nespresso coffee pods for recyling at the UPS store. i returned a pair of under armour jogging pants that i didn't like because it was a bit long and had "under armour" written in large letters down one leg. i went to the cambridge library to renew my expired library card (can't actually remember the last time i went to the library other than to do early voting one year).

i returned home to switch from bicycle to motorcycle as i headed to medford. temperature was now in the 60's and i only wore a t-shirt. today was actually the cooler of the next 4 days, i'm looking forward to this stretch of warm (though concerning) weather.

first stop was to return some unused painting tools at harbor freight. that bald guy who's always there that seems to hate me wasn't working today. in his place were two teenage girls with colored hair, unenthusiastically ringing up customers. i picked the wrong line and waited behind a hispanic man who wanted to buy an electric weed trimmer but then wanted to get a second one with a 30% coupon he believed he'd just earned from his original purchase. the manager had to come out and explain that the coupon was already applied to his purchase, and that he wouldn't get an additional 30% unless he bought another complete set including spare batteries. when he finally went to pay, his first card was declined, and then the teenage cashier made the mistake of asking if he wanted to sign up for free membership. the whole thing took about 15 minutes, but he'd been there much longer, that's why nobody was waiting in line behind him.

next i went to ocean state job lot, to check out some yarn for my mother. they had a huge selection, but all acrylic or cotton yarn, only one had a bit of cashmere, and only came in brown. my mother asked me to get 3 yarns for her, the cashmere brown and two blue/white acrylic yarn. it was at OSJL that i felt my stomach grumbling a little bit and i briefly had a sensation that i might need to find a bathroom soon. thankfully it passed. i don't think the pasta salad was bad, but there was so much cheese in there, i wouldn't be surprised if i was having a lactose intolerance reaction.

i rode to the other size of the plaza and did some grocery shopping at aldi's. i used to think aldi's was this weird place with all their off-brand foods and produce, but having shopped there a few times, you can't beat their prices, it's always cheaper than everywhere else. i bought two bags worth of groceries, i could barely fit them into my saddlebags. they were selling these glow-in-the-dark succulents, which i'd never seen before. i looked them up when i got back home, apparently they're just coated with glow-in-the-dark paint, succulents don't naturally glow in the dark. there was also a sale on avocados: i read that despite rising prices everywhere, avocado prices have dropped sharply; i bought a whole bag for just 69¢.

i went to medford via harvard street but returned via the fellsway. i was hoping the school street bridge would finally be opened, but alas, they're still closed, even though according to the schedule they were due to open last year. i did notice a T sign by the bridge, maybe that's why there's all this delay, they're putting in an MBTA entrance to the gilman square station below somerville high school. i checked the green line extension website, the medford line is scheduled to open sometime this month, so fingers crossed school street will finally reopen, allowing me to get to medford-everett without having to take a massive detour each time.

i finally got home by 4:15pm. it was too late to run anymore errands, i still need to go to target and home depot, which i'll do tomorrow. i keep forgetting that i have another free day tomorrow to run errands. i need to buy the joji smithereens cd album from target (for hans) and get some door keys made at home depot as well as return some items.

i continued keeping track of my 2nd aunt as she made her way around new york city with my taiwanese aunt and cousin and niece. a part of me thinks she's basically crashed their family vacation. today they went to peter luger's for steak dinner (how much steak and lobster did they eat since visiting the US?) then went to flushing to stay at my niece's place (she lives at an airbnb but they have additional spare rooms she can rent for a day or two). i need to be on standby tomorrow as my 2nd aunt makes her way back to boston in the evening. i expect her to call me so i can help her navigate from hudson yard subway station to her flixbus dropoff location.

i wrote paul and steve an e-mail earlier, letting them know i had a visiting astrophysicist staying at my place for two weeks starting on sunday. what i was really hoping for was an update on when they'd come back, and paul told me they'd return saturday afternoon. so looks like my honeymoon period of quiet upstairs neighbors will be over once they come back.

when dinner came, i heated up the last of my chicken katsu. three days of katsu, i'm all katsu'ed out. looking forward to eating something different tomorrow night (most likely my usual friday night luxury korean ramen, unless i'm feeling ambitious and make some korean rice cakes instead).