26 April - Late for work (Day 98)

I was awakened by the footsteps of the residents outside the corridor. However, it was still very dark in my room. I thought it must be 7+am and hence lied on the bed to wait for the 8am alarm. But it never rang. I lied there semi-asleep until I thought I should on the light and check the time. I reached for the switch above me and when the light came up, I saw that the time was 1010am! Freak! So late! I got up and first thing that came to my mind was: do I have anything important in the morning. No experiment. Not meeting Ana (it’s tomorrow). Anatole? Nah. He would only be in the office after 11am. Hence I slowly brush my teeth and take my breakfast as usual. I drew up the blind and it was a bright Tuesday morning. Recently I just found out that my blind can be completely shut. Not a single ray of light can enter my room. At night, with the blind shut and the lights off, it would be complete darkness in my room; shen shou bu jian wu zhi darkness. I had to do this because the light from the lamppost outside my building is very distracting. I can’t sleep with that light shining into my room through the gaps in my blind.

I reached the office at 11am and did some work. It was lunch soon. It was kind of shiok. Work a little and then lunch. Today we had sandwiches and this time I told myself I am going to buy one small sandwich and one big one. But at the counter, I couldn’t find the small one! In the end, I bought two 50cm sandwiches again. One tuna and one chicken. Now I don’t mind taking sandwiches everyday because it is filling and super delicious. And we would eat at the cafeteria which is a very relaxing place. But we always have to sit at the smoking corner because of Sebastien. At the cafeteria, I tried to look around and find some easy targets to do experiment for me. But everyone was busy talking and laughing around. I just didn’t dare to go up and spoil their day by talking about work. In the end, after spending an hour in the cafeteria, I caught no prey. But I had a good lunch.
Laurent asked if I would be free on 21st and 22nd of May because that would be the weekend on which he plans to go to the coast. 2 of his friends from Paris would be joining him. Great I said. He is actually a very nice guy I must say.

Back in the office, while I was on my report, Anatole came and checked on my work. I told him I would have 1 friend doing the experiment tomorrow. Then I asked him is it really necessary to get naïve people for the exp? I thought this experiment was a bit different from the previous ones and I feel that people who have a little experience would be beneficial. In the end, he was convinced and told me that I can get people from exp2 and exp3. Then I asked him this question that somehow shocked Laurent who was also in the room. I asked Anatole what is the objective of this project? Laurent must have thought that I am stupid or what to ask this question when I am at the final phase of the project. Anatole said it is a tricky question because we have 2 objectives that seem to be just as important. I needed an answer because it affects what I am going to write for the report and the paper. Anatole answered my question and also asked to see what I have written for my report. He read one paragraph on the aim of the project and said it is a very good piece of writing. He said I should retain this portion for the paper. Glad that this is the kind of writing required for the paper.

Then I emailed all the participants from exp2 and exp3 and asked if they would like to help again. By the end of the day, I had 5 responses. Good. Half of the problem solved. Hope that the other 5 would appear soon. There is one participant who said she is willing to help but is only free from 13 May onward. Wah. Da Jie, 13 May I already mood liao. Anyway, I told her I keep her posted then. At the end of the day, I checked my DBS account and was glad that some of the transactions made for the bookings went through. Hope that everything goes through smoothly. I have made up my mind to stop traveling over the weekends. First because I have nowhere to go. Second, I want to save up a bit for these last 2 months. And lastly, I quite sian already. There would be just 5 more trips for me. One is to the coast with Laurent. Another is Forest of Broceliande with Mr. Giant. Then Quimper, then the Island Belle-ile and lastly Dinard. In the end, I guess I would have traveled to more than 15 places in Brittany.