this morning i went outside to dig out the parking spot directly in front of my house. even though i don't own a car, and i've already dug out 6 spots, it seemed like the neighborly thing to do. however i found out right away that it was easier said than done, as the snow had already turned to ice. whoever parked there last should've better cleared out the space instead of leaving it the way it was and have it freeze solid. the weather for the next few days is either freezing or below, so all that ice isn't going to melt anytime soon. so instead i used an icebreaker to clear some ice off of the sidewalk.

i went to market basket to get some groceries, the first time i've been on a bike since tuesday. there was a lot of powdery slush on the road but it was soft and dry and at worst it was just like riding in the sand. i went slow anyway, and either reduced speed or stopped completely whenever a car was trying to pass by me. because of the cold temperature (today was in the 20's), there hasn't been much melting and the landscape is still pretty much what it looked like on wednesday after the snowstorm. the supermarket was a lot less crazy since my last visit.

when i came back home, i saw the blonde lady doctor who lives across the street with her mini cooper stuck halfway up her driveway, blocking traffic. i parked my bike beside the house and went to help dig out her car. i'd seen her of course a bunch of times but we'd never been formally introduced, and the most we've ever exchanged were a few cordial "hellos." so it took her car getting stuck in the snow for me to officially meet julia. it seems like every winter she gets stuck, misjudging the snow height or the power of her little car. the wheels were turning but the car was just stuck on a mound of snow ice. while attempting to push her car, i gashed the palm of my hand on the hood ornament. i tried to hide the bleeding, using snow to clean the wound, before i got a bandaid from my bag, which didn't stick anyway because my hand was wet. i ended up just putting on my gloves, which later became blood soaked but you couldn't tell because they were those cheap black knitted gloves. all the commotion attracted passerbys, including an indian, a brazilian, and another nearby neighbor. "put the car in N," said the brazilian, as we tried to push the car again. finally we did manage to free the car when all 4 propelled the mini backwards while it was in neutral.

later i realized i forgot a few things from the supermarket, so i went back to market basket via bicycle (bread, pickles, milk, cereal). this time around i traveled light, only carrying my old nikon 4500 camera in my jacket pocket. coming home i saw this cool snow-covered stop sign but when i tried to take a photo i realized the battery was dead.

i had a nice lunch: a toasted onion bagel with an egg, prosciutto, and some indian coriander paste. dinner wasn't so nice, as i continued working on my pulled pork, day 3.

i tried some homemade ginger ale again tonight, not very good at all. brown sugar just isn't sweet enough so the drink is mostly carbonated hot chili pepper flavor with a hint of what could either be ginger or yeast, and a touch of sweet. later i added some white sugar to sweeten the drink. as soon as the sugar hit the ginger ale, it began to bubble violently. luckily i was in the kitchen and move the bottle into the sink before it overflowed. i added a few more tablespoons then rinsed the funnel with some water. i'm starting to loose interest in homemade ginger ale. it's sort of entertaining, but the bottled goya brand ginger beer is still better than anything i can make.