clean interiors, 8.13.23

i cleaned the interior of the sequoia today after the park with bagel as i had places to be. honestly, it was long overdue. my car is never dirty, it just gets disorganized over time. it took me 30 minutes to clean and rearrange a few things, so it wasn’t too bad. with no traffic, no humidity, and a beautiful sunset, the trip was a breeze.

i swear it’s nothing better than the first drive in a clean car during the summer.

-ratha, 8:32pm, 8.13.23

maya droughts, 8.12.23

it’s been a few weeks, maybe even more, but i finally made it back to maya today. the food was delicious and the mango lassi was fire as always. when i went, it was packed, but there luckily there was one table left for me. there was an older white couple who finished their meal at the table adjacent to mine. i overheard (eavesdropped) the wife talking about how it was her first time here and how good it was. she was searching for them on facebook and google. she kept raving about it to her husband and how they needed to come back here. as my meal came out and i had my first bite, i thought about how right she was and when i’d be back.

definitely sooner than a few weeks.

-ratha, 8:43pm, 8.12.23

saying the wrong things, 8.11.23

after the gym, i went to mcdonalds for a quick bite. the app wasn’t working, so i went inside to order. the worker said the app has been down all day and that he’d give me a free large fry. i thanked him then ordered two mcdoubles. when i walked outside, i saw a guy with longer hair smoking a cigarette. i looked at him for a while and we said hi to each other. he asked if i was his neighbor and i said yes. he then told me that he just ate mcdonald’s and he’s fat. tell me why instead of saying “nah you’re not fat” or “i’m fat, too” i said “i’m about to catch up” while holding my bag of food up. smh. i froze and didn’t know what to say and that’s what comes out?! my neighbor was a good sport about it though, he laughed and said he’d see me around.

needless to say, i’ve been thinking about our interaction for the last few hours.

-ratha, 11:50pm, 8.11.23

tired thursdays, 8.10.23

i’ve been so tired lately. i think the stress, the anxiety, and the job is wearing me down. i couldn’t even hit the gym tonight because i was so tired. i got home and fell asleep with bagel for a few hours. we even missed our walk! that rarely, if ever, happens. i told him i’d make it up to him, plus we’ve been going to the park a lot recently, so bagel will be good though i’m sure he’s disappointed.

i just ate some dinner and now am about to shower and go to sleep.

-ratha, 11:56pm, 8.10.23

foodie wednesdays, 8.9.23

i brought a tv dinner to lunch today, then when i go into lab, one of the coworkers says they are giving free lunch away in the courtyard. i walk down to look at the poster, and sure enough, they are. i got a hot dog with sour cream & onion chips. then i went back for a burger and the guy cooked one fresh for me. it’s nice when they have events like this because we can take an extra-long lunch, and it’s fun to socialize. i got a free reusable straw as well. i didn’t see until it was almost done, but they were doing free caricatures! i wish i would’ve known earlier, i definitely would’ve pulled up and got one. they were nice caricatures, too, not the ones where they make fun of you. when i got home, i walked btg then fed him. i drove to worcester for dinner downtown at a place called oishi. during dinner, i figured out the roll i like is called a dragon roll. i also got the teriyaki chicken and it was so good. even better because they had the yum yum sauce as well. most places here don’t have the white sauce, so you know i had to do it up one time for the one time when the waitress told me they had it. for dessert, i went to dq to get an oreo blizzard. there was a high school girls’ team there, so i stood in line for a few minutes waiting to order. as i’m standing in line, the dq worker peeps over the window and asks this kid (sitting alone) where his parents are. he said they were in the bathroom. i noticed the kid for a while sitting in solitude and thought to myself where his parents were but didn’t think to act on it. the dq cashier must’ve been either late teens or early twenties. i thought it was dope he did that, because most people would mind their business, but at a certain point, you gotta step in and make the right decision. so shout out to him. regardless, what a great food day for a wednesday.

almost makes the rest of the week not that bad.

-ratha, 10:32pm, 8.9.23

the saver’s bowl, 8.8.23

now that i’ve been feeding bagel wet food, i’ve been washing his bowl more often. as i’m putting it to dry, i look at the bowl. it’s white porcelain with colored dog paws on it. i remember my mom getting it for bagel years ago. i think she got it from savers. if not, goodwill, or salvation army or one of those thrift stores. then i thought about how it got to saver’s and it occurred to me this could be a bowl of a dog who passed away. it made me feel a bit melancholy on this gloomy tuesday because if that’s the case, the owner had to have a hard time giving it up but probably did so in order to move on., though you never really move on. i don’t know if i’ll ever be emotionally-mature enough to do something like that as i tend to hold on, but one thing is for sure and it’s that i’m thankful for this bowl and all it has been doing for bagel over the years as i’m sure he is, too.

though actually, i don’t think bagel thinks of these things.

-ratha, 8:11pm, 8.8.23

new themes, 8.7.23

after a couple of weeks of searching, i found a new theme for the running diary. i wish it was single column, but the double column could work better because it’s one text and one photo per day. i still miss the old theme, but maybe it was time for something new.

sometimes change is forced upon us and it’s good to accept these things.

-ratha, 3:25pm, 8.7.23

washing the highlander, 8.6.23

being my parents are out of town, i’ve been driving my mom’s car. her car gets better gas mileage and it’s easier to park while at work. today, i went to the car wash, washed and vacuumed the inside of her car. the vacuums at prestige on main street are so damn loud. their decibel count has to be over 100 with the way they sound. it’s bad, but it’s good because the suction is strong. i need to run the sequoia through a wash and vacuum soon, but it’s supposed to rain in the next few days. i’ll probably get it done next weekend, but in the mean time i’ll be rocking the highlander for a little longer.

-ratha, 4:12pm, 8.6.23

the turkey tom, 8.5.23

i was driving past waltham and stopped by their jimmy john’s. out of all the franchise sub places, jimmy john’s is by far my favorite. i haven’t tried them all, but when you know, you know. i got the turkey tom with extra turkey. i made it a combo, with bbq chips and a fountain powerade. i also got another turkey tom for the road, which i’ll probably eat tomorrow after finishing the lawn. it’s been almost 3 years since i’ve had jimmy john’s, but it’s just as good as i remembered it was in charlotte.

especially the bbq chips.

-ratha, 7:18pm, 8.5.23

sura again, 8.4.23

chan was telling me last night how his diet hasn’t been the best, but he’s still losing weight. he says that he has been eating at an all you can eat spot every weekend for the past ¾ weekends like clockwork. it reminded me of sura and i got the craving for their galbi. as i’ve been decent with my diet, i treated myself tonight. i ordered galbi and the marinated thin beef. it’s so damn good. i had about 6 short ribs and 4 plates of marinated thin beef. no rice, only schmeat for me tonight (pause). i noticed on their wall they had new desserts. i was tempted to try them, but i made the right decision being as i had milky way from dandilyons in the freezer at home. the food was great and because i went later (9:30pm) it wasn’t busy so the service was top tier. plus i had a whole booth to myself.

sura is always a good idea.

-ratha, 10:47pm, 8.4.23