This morning the weather was beautiful. The skies were clear and the air not too cold. I woke up mid-morning and cooked myself a quick egg, a piece of toast, and a leftover piece of pizza, mildly heated up on a frying pan (yum!).

I did a bit of general walking around today just taking in the Sunday scene. It really wasn't too different than weekdays around here but with a lot fewer cars. I decided it was time to get cracking on one of my research projects today. I'm doing a group project that's due in a few weeks time looking at whether or not a drug used to treat hepatitis C causes lung problems or not. This is a study that will actually be carried out at the hospital where Im studying back in Australia. Specifically, the clinical questions is "Does interferon therapy use in the treatment of hepatitis C contribute to the development of sarcoidosis?" My role in the project is to do some of the statistical stuff and to make sure it's all logical.

To do this, I needed a quiet place to study. I was about to head to the nearby Irish pub, which is actually a fairly upscale quiet place during the day and they have plenty of table space to spread out and have a cup of coffee. However, one the guest house residents suggested a cafe in the Buddhist Centre as well. I decided to give it a go and was surprised at how comfortable it was. It's only a few blocks away from the guest house and is right next to the Mormon Church (I can't believe they've even made it here!). The front of the building was plain with a small water fountain out front. The windows were mirrored and so I couldn't really see what I was walking into. If someone hadn't suggested it, I would have never thought to go in from the looks of the outside. Once inside, the hallway splits in two, one way to a reception desk and one way to the cafe. The cafe is brightly lit with soft music, a coffee counter, and a mix of regular tables/chairs and coffee height tables and couches. There was free Internet wireless there so that made things a bit easier as well. I ended up getting a good 3-4 hours of work done and so I felt I had a productive day.

Afterwards, I wandered back home and stopped in at the Oasis, which is a restaurant next door that was having a courtyard BBQ. Of course I didn't eat any burgers but met the owner of the guest house and restaurant there, and sat on a couch in the courtyard and enjoyed the brief bit of warmth from the sun.

Evening rolled around so I fixed up some couscous and another slice of pizza, then sat down to relax while watching a few episodes of "Desperate Housewives". It was the only thing on. They were having an all-day marathon because it's mother's day today. I've never really been a fan of the show but it's grown on me now. I hear they're up to the fourth season but this was just season one.

I tried to stay up late enough to call San Diego for mother's day but just got too tired. San Diego's a day behind us here so I'll have to call tomorrow morning, which will be mother's day evening in California.

I gave Michelle another quick call, then off to sleep again. G'night!