Day 4: Are there still weekends?

I had the idea this morning that I should add a What I'm Eating Today section to this thing, but then I realized that it would be really embarrassing. Maybe if I get motivated to cook real food at some point I'll add some pictures, but until then just know that the cereal and hot dogs have been delicious.

What I'm watching today

Python Pandas Tutorial (Part 10): Working with Dates and Time Series Data (YouTube) - This popped up in my daily feed at just the right time, because, apparently, I've been doing dates and times incorrectly in Pandas all this time. I've been using Python datetime objects to represent temporal data in Pandas, but it turns out that Pandas has its own datetime API that is subtly different but in theory is more efficient. One of the most useful tricks that I wasn't aware of involves doing slices on a column using string representations of date ranges. For example, if I index on a datetime column I can do something like

df['2020-01' : '2020-12']

This will select all rows with a timestamp between January and December 2020 inclusive. This video was really informative and 35 minutes well-spent.

Frozen II (2019, Disney+) - I'm trapped indoors with a bunch of little kids. Did you think we wouldn't watch Frozen II? I don't know if anything more needs to be said about this film. So I'll just say this: Kristoff's 80's power ballad is one of the most amazing musical numbers that Disney has ever produced. Here is some history behind the number. That is all.

What I'm doing today

Oral hygiene - The 7yo was complaining that his electric toothbrush was dying the other day, and this morning the battery completely died. He also asked me if I would clean it, because it was "dirty." What an understatement. The model he has is a Sonicare Essence. In this particular model the entire top portion, which includes the brush head, actuator, and seal, is removable and replaceable as a single unit. Upon removing the top, I immediately was greeted by a thick, disgusting black sludge, which I can only assume was mold. Gross. (I refrained from taking photos. You're welcome.) I removed the top and tossed it in the trash. I then gave the base/handle a good soak in a mixture of vinegar and water for a while before completely swabbing it visibly clean. I then put it back in the vinegar bath to be safe. Why vinegar and not, say, bleach, you might  ask? Well, bleach won't kill mold. Alcohol won't either by the way. Mold requires either vinegar or some harsh mold-killing chemicals, which I don't have lying around the house. New brush heads are on order from Amazon, but after seeing what I saw today, I really can't recommend this toothbrush at all. I use the DiamondClean model, which doesn't have any dark, damp, enclosed chambers for growing new friends, and the disposable heads are smaller, so there's less waste. Your mileage may vary.

Auto repair - The 3yo got this really cool die cast car for Christmas this year, and he loves it. He also loves ripping off the flimsy plastic spoiler. (I believe I mentioned the Destroyers of Worlds previously.) So I popped that cheap piece of plastic back on for the 8000th time, but this time I dabbed a dollop of glue on the clasps to prevent the 8001st time from happening fifteen minutes from now.

 

Getting out - I got out of the house after the kids were fast asleep and spent a power hour power walking around the neighborhood. I forgot to fire up the fitness app, so I don't know how far I walked. Probably about 50 miles.