Six Days and Counting

The way my work schedule operates is this: I work for two weeks (weekends and all), and I get time off for two weeks. The latter is currently the case for the past six days. I'd love to grouse about how there's nothing to do...except it isn't quite true. Darn it.

By priority (urgency, if you will):

• I can be working on my "professional development" course. Yes, it is just as tedious as it sounds.
• I can be doing a literature search for a minor side project at the company. But very few papers mention the topic I want to see, and those that do...I don't have access to. Kirk-Othmer has failed me. And I can't exactly haunt a library if there are no libraries to haunt in the first place.
• I can be studying physics. Mechanics, to be precise. This is no more interesting than "professional development", and has the additional disadvantage of not-quite-rigorous math. However, there is no denying that it's useful.
• I can be studying quantum mechanics. This is waaaay more interesting than the previous subject, but the textbook I brought with me starts using random math left and right which I haven't learnt yet. Which annoys me because looking things up interrupts the flow of a proof.
• I can be working on real analysis. Unfortunately, my brain wanders very easily - outside of an academic/work context, my attention span is very short.
• I can be working on those algebra bonuses that I never got from last term.
• I can be programming random things in random languages. But as most might have surmised...programming and I don't get along very well.

So, um, why am I blogging right now?

And I just realized something...I cannot understand the body language of animals. The cats meow plaintively at me in the mornings, and I have no idea what they want. The dogs bring me their toys, and I don't know whether I should tug them or throw them. These things are aggravating in their own little ways, too.