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fortunately i got all my work done late last night so the only thing i had to do this morning was just to wake up and visit the clients. a quick check of my e-mails showed one from client S alerting me to the fact that there were some more bugs in the database and they all needed to be done for a delivery tomorrow. with that in mind, i got dressed and walked the mile down to the cafe so i could borrow the car from my parents. i drove out to allston to first meet up with client N. i presented project O and got a list of feedback. they gave me a brand new in-box dell machine to test on and i left soon afterwards.

after dropping off the computer at the cafe (i didn't want to leave it in the car), i visited client S in cambridge. without really realizing it, i now have 3 different projects currently in the works with client S (with a different project manager each). for a company that sought fit to lay me off almost 5 years ago, it now seems i've got my meat hooks all up in their business. the new project manager i came to have a meeting with i recognized as a former project from client X (it's a small interactive world).

after the meeting (i left with an assortment of source cd-roms) i went to the pet supply outlet store at nearby alewife brook parkway on the advice of my sister who told me they sold fish stuff. i made a beeline to the back wall (passing the loquacious blue macaw saying hi to everybody) to the banks of fish tanks. they had a small selection, mostly livebearers. to be honest, some of the fish didn't seem to be doing very well, but at least they were priced cheaply. i saw a tank full of baby guppies for pennies each (not that i need anymore). i browsed the fish supply aisles, admiring a 20 gallon long aquarium ($40) with an accompanying iron-wrought stand ($75). they had a lot of filter cartridges of various makes, as well as an usually extensive selection of corner filters (maybe they were surplus stock from elsewhere). not feeling satisfied leaving empty-handed, i saw a small tube of all-glass aquarium silicone sealant ($4) and bought that.

i stopped off at the cafe again to get something to eat (beef noodles) and get a ride back to my place along with the testing machine. since my father's returning to taiwan for 2 weeks, i asked if he could bring back my broken vosonic photo storage device and see if they could fix it at the factory (vosonic is a taiwanese-based company; a few months ago i wrote them about repairs and they asked me to ship it back to them which i never did figuring it'd cost the same if i just bought a new one).

back at home i went down to the basement to get that broken aquarium. after cleaning it with some isopropyl alcohol i applied the silicone sealant. it smelled like vinegar, which i guess is due to the acetic acid. i squeezed on gooey strips on both sides of the cracks then smoothed it out with my finger. despite my best effort, it still looked messy, but i don't mind as long as it works. i have to wait 48 hours (for curing) before i can test it by filling it up with water. it looks ugly and i don't even have room for another 10 gallon aquarium but it'll be a personal victory if i can salvage the thing, considering how much effort it took me to get it in the first place and how i later cracked it.

only then did i finally settle down for some code work. before i left this morning i had already made a few quick fixes (to get a head start) so there wasn't too many bugs left. i've been on this one particular project for client S so long (since november) and i'm so familiar with the code that at this point fixing things are pretty automatic. nonetheless, i didn't finish until 8pm. after i uploaded the latest build, i heated up a microwaveable cheeseburger, slathered on the barbecue sauce, and ate with my housemmate (already back from working) in the living room, watching spiderman 2.