Preparations

So it's day one of the summer project... not a highly productive day, but some key preparations underway. First of, my room is finally livable again! There were clothes strewn all over the place (that too all clean - was in a hurry since I did laundry on the day I was leaving Fredericton for NY!), and garbage bags (full of garbage!) stashed in a corner. After folding and putting them away, I cleaned up the place just a bit... an organized environment goes a long way to making one productive.

Next up was groceries - since I've moved into this room, I've not cooked at all - just eggs so far. Hasnain and Elma took me to the Coop to buy groceries - I was literally bouncing off the walls looking at how cheap everything was! Nevertheless, in all my excitement, I bought more than what was on the grocery list, and landed a bill of about $200!!! But that should sustain me for the month, given that I plan to be on a diabetic's diet.

After much thought, I realized that I needed to remove access to the internet from my home for some of my "offline" activities planned for the summer... surfing the net or watching online TV is just too tempting a prospect at home! First, I was going to get rid of my computer altogether, but then I had a flash of genius... remove the VGA cable to my monitor and stash it in my office! So yes, now I only have internet connection from the office - which means that after work is done and I head home, I am forced to indulge myself in "offline" activities.

Not much done, but it's just the first day. What's on the agenda for tomorrow? Attempting to crack a very difficult problem in the arena of research: "How to efficiently and effectively track the research literature one has read?" I've already done a literature review, but it is now time to review that work and flesh out my review into a proper thesis proposal, so I need to figure out a way to organize all the ideas and facts presented in the literature without having to remember everything all at once. That will be the first order of the day... and after that is "Grocery Analysis" - stay tuned for that!

Oh yeah, a daily section in the post:
TODAY'S DIET: Instant noodles (hot & spicy), two tomato sandwiches (made of only tomato, and a very light splattering of mayonnaise). It would've been alright had it not been for the Faluda + Ice Cream @ Hasnain's at night!!! That was like death in a cup for me! But no worries, will redeem myself tomorrow.

Another occasional section:
TODAY'S QUOTABLE QUOTE: (about his gym instructor) "He doesn't touch gayishly, he touches like a man!"