.. yes, it is a floor within a floor.
that's the beauty of it: nobody ever expects one ..
.. and looking around, i was finally convinced that nobody would find me there. relieved, i set down my coffee and my folders, and then i began to work in earnest.
as for why i wasn't home, my girlfriend is there. if i stayed home, i would have to be a boyfriend, not a mathematician.
as for why i wasn't in the office, my students keep appearing and asking for help. i may grade their exams with a cold-blooded heart, but my sangfroid disappears when they ask me, face to face, for a quick question. [1]
as for why i didn't just close the door, my new officemate is constantly asking me how one reads aloud mathematics in english, e.g.
"the ιntegral from zero to ιnfinity of one over x squarεd plus one is equal to pi over two." when i think about it, the parsing is nontrivial:
sub-e.g. why is it 'x squared' and not 'x to the two?'
or why is it 'pi over two' and not 'pi halves?'
i used to think that, becoming a postdoc, i should act "professionally" -- be in the office during normal working hours, and generally hold myself responsible and accountable.
as for the office bit, forget it: all it does is make me a stationary target. it's much more productive to be a moving target!
[1] yes, i am a softie at heart. just be thankful that i didn't write "my sangfroid thawed." q-:
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