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Finally.

After a long week of waiting, I now have broadband internet access at home. And from now on, I don't need to walk 2 minutes away to get my fix of the internet. I just need a 4 port switch (or something with more ports, but I don't need it yet) so that I can plug in my 2 other laptops. I might invest in a desktop someday so that my dad can use a computer here at home, but with the current circumstances, a laptop works best for me. I'm not that rich yet, so I can't buy dad his own computer.

Things at the right time. I just hope I can learn to manage my time better and make better use of my available time. I can always learn to get up earlier and stay up late, but it's taking it's toll. Especially since I need to work on a lot of things (with the day job, the sideline, the thesis, and my personal life). I know I need to prioritize my day job and the thesis, but somehow the day job has been taking more and more of my time. I need to put in yet more resources cited in my study so that I can defend it by the end of this month. And I need to setup a demo cluster again so that the defense includes a demo of my algorithm in action.

So many things to do, so little time.

But I now have a technique -- write down what I'm thinking, and write down what I need to accomplish. I now put values for priorities, and use those as weights for the tasks that need to be done. I just hope the day job set up a groupware system with one of the spare servers -- so that remote developers like me would be able to track the progress and the amount of work I've actually put in. Somehow just tasks completed doesn't show the amount of time actually spent into completing those tasks.

Anyway. I shouldn'e be complaining because I have the luxury of working at my own time, and at a pace I can be most productive, in a place where I am most productive. I shouldn't feel bad, I;m getting paid (somehow), so I should just do what I love -- which is develop solutions. I like being able to solve problems, even if those problems are beyond my control (or I supposedly think are beyond my control).

Somehow I feel like I need to get through all this before I go on and move up the imaginary ladder -- or in gaming terms, "level up". I've gone through one of the real deployments in my budding career, and I feel very much accomplished -- though not just yet since I still have to make changes that will ultimately make the whole service "compliant to specifications". I hope the things I've learned with my teammates on the project will help me the next time I get involved in a project in a similar or different industry. I hope that the experiences will allow me to go through things in the future differently and make me a better programmer/developer/engineer/person.

Sorry, no pictures for now. I just need to rest after 2 exams -- both of which I don't feel very well about -- a long day, and yet a longer day ahead. But now, I am starting the habit of writing down things that need to be done and not rely on my phone and memory to remind me about things that I should have written down in the first place.

If you have any pointers, I would most definitely appreciate them.

CHill...

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