A Typical Day in SJ

With the exception of this blog entry in the afternoon (a new way of procrastinating?), my weekdays here in San Jose are quite productive. As much as I love being at school, meetings and seminars and extracurricular activities consume too much of my time, leaving very little head space for actual research. I'm sure Maygan understands this better than anyone else! Anyway, SJ has little distractions while Jeff is work, though I've constantly tempted by the Californian sun to step outside! This is a breakdown of my average day (in case you are wondering).

9am: Wake-up to Jeff's alarm clock which plays an assortment of indie-rock music. We usually try to get a couple of more minutes (or an hour) of sleep and press the "snooze" button ;-)

9.45-10am: Breakfast is a choice between waffles, bagels, cereal or oatmeal. Mmm carbs!

10am: Jeff usually bikes to work around this time. [Side Story: Last week, the derailleur hanger of his bike snapped. Fortunately, eBay sells and mails replacement parts so even without the luxury of a car (which we rent only on weekends because Alamo has an amazing $10/day deal), the bike was fixed at home this morning!]

Broken derailleur hanger! Yikes!

Jeff was able to fix his bike with some helpful advice from Youtube!

10am-1pm: I usually spend the first 3o-45 minutes catching up on emails that are sent from the EST morning. Then, I focus on my own work. Last week, this involved organizing my reading committee report. I wrote 30 pages in 3 days. This week, more of the same as well as editing a paper that I previously submitted to a journal (and was subsequently rejected).

1pm: Leftovers for lunch! Yum!

1.30-4.30pm: I continue with work but occasionally sneak away from the computer to read - something I cannot find as much time to do when I'm at home. Or maybe it's because it's much easier to relax and read when you are in a place that looks like this:

The fireplace and comfortable wicker chairs in the apartment complex

... or when you can also get a nice tan while reading by the pool:

My best reading happens here

In fact, in the past two weeks, I have read 3 books and am halfway through my 4th. I'll have to blog about what I've been reading later.

4.30-5pm: I like going for a run in the fitness centre, especially since I eat so much. Plus, I enjoy it because I get to watch the George Lopez Show (haha!)

5pm: I usually talk to my mom and/or dad on Skype. It is the best way to communicate long-distance!

6pm: I start preparing dinner in anticipation of Jeff coming home at around 7pm or later.

7.30pm: Dinner (yum!) in front of the "TV" because it's the NBA playoffs!

After dinner, there is clean-up and unwinding time. We either watch some TV or a movie, or do some reading or work before I pass out at 10.30pm. My severely dry eyes make it hard to stay up any later.

So there you have it... a day in my life in San Jose! Pretty simple but just what I need for now!

-ange xx