begin rant

Interesting. The possessions that I formally consider part of my 'desk' environment at home have gradually begun migrating from my apartment to my office cubicle at work. I suppose that this process has been driven by three factors:

1. My apartment is unusually shaped, and I do not have a formal 'desk' space or desk area upon which to pile all of my work-related possessions in an organized fashion. Many of them ended up in disorganized sprawls, where they were casually tossed while I engaged in other activities in the home. Some notes ended up scattered across the kitchen table while I ate, other books were tossed onto the coffee table while I studied from the comfort of my couch, and more papers ended up at my bedside as I read them before I slept or just after waking in the morning. As a result, I ended up crawling all over the house just looking for the textbook or notes or paper that I was interested in at any given time, and I hate disorder. Moving all of these things to my desk at the lab has allowed all of these school-related items to coalesce into a single working space where I have ready access to them, and where my mind is inadvertently focused on working, and not distracted by the temptations of other sociocultural spaces.
2. I still have no internet access at home, and it will continue to be cheaper to just borrow the school's network for all of my net-related business - be it personal or professional. I lose only my ability to play videogames against internet-based opponents, and the opportunity to illegally download copyrighted material for later perusal. I am not really losing anything with the former, as I certainly do not foresee my having the time to play many videogames in the near future, and as for the latter?

   I suppose this is what borrowing the coffee shop's "free" wireless connection is really for, isn't it?

3. It is only a ten-minute walk from my office to my apartment, and it flies by even faster on bike or on skates - and so I have no excuse not to go out and get that exercise. Besides - I have longed to spend more time outdoors for the last five years, and I enjoy the fresh air and occasional encounters with furtive armadillos foraging in the underbrush along the roadside.

Besides - my new desk has twice the desktop real estate of my old one. Totally a promotion. I've already outfitted it with a water bottle and granola bars, should I hunger while I study. Now all I need is a sweat shirt to retain body temperature against the persistent air-conditioning, and I will be ready to move in and live here...