After a day full of haircuts, handbags, and hummus (more on those and the weekend's other activities later), I decided to make a good-faith effort to do SOMETHING dissertation-related for at least an hour this evening.
My most pressing project is revising Chapter One. This requires:
- a new introduction
- revisions/additions to the first main section
- replacing the crappy second section with the much better version that became Article No. 1
- a new conclusion
So to review the various pieces I went to my refrigerator's crisper drawer, wherein I store hard copies of all my most important work (hey, you never know when your apartment is going to go up in smoke, and refrigerators don't burn). Usually I just toss stuff in there and I only go back through it when I really need to, so I was expecting to dig a bit in order to get to Ch. 1--but I was not expecting to wade through SEVEN different copies of Ch. 2. (Ch. 2 is also, in only slightly different form, Article No. 2, which goes a short way toward explaining why there are so many different versions floating around).
There were also two copies of Ch. 3, some random legal pads containing miscellaneous notes, and a manila file folder bursting with general-interest articles torn out of magazines and newspapers that I had apparently at some point intended to photocopy. Why was that there? Who knows?
Other things I have in my refrigerator that you may not have in yours:
- 2 unopened packs of cigarettes left from the carton I bought duty-free in Seoul 1 1/2 years ago (I rarely smoke, but a carton of Dunhills for $13 was too good to pass up)
- Tooth-whitening solution and trays
- 2 bottles of champagne (down from the 4 I got for my 30th birthday)
- Nail polish
In my previous apartment, the kitchen of which contained exactly one very narrow drawer, I also kept my silverware tray in my refrigerator--something I considered a very sensible use of space, but which never failed to elicit commentary from guests.
Anyway. I highly recommend the refrigerator as an alternate storage facility. But I also recommend cleaning it out with a little more regularity than I seem to.
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Ianqui commented at 10:56 AM~
What happens to nail polish in the fridge? Nothing? Or does it last longer.
I have one bottle of champagne in mine that probably won't be opened anytime soon. I don't even really like champagne.
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commented at 3:02 PM~
Not sure if I told you this one..
We were cleaning out the fridge one day a month or two ago, and my housemate pulls out a box of baking soda from the back and asks "why's this in here? Does baking soda last longer in the fridge or something?"
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RageyOne commented at 3:31 PM~
I never thought about the fridge as a place to store secure documents. It really does make sense now that i think about it.
I currently don't have any copies of my diss drafts. I do have several electronic back-up copies in various places. I'll have to take this one into consideration.
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La Lecturess commented at 5:15 PM~
Dr. C--so sorry to hear about your loss(es), though it at least confirms the not-craziness of my storage policy. I do try to email myself docs, as you and Ragey do, but I also like to have hard copies.
Ianqui--I'd always heard that it makes the polish last longer and stay smoother. But I just went on Google and Cosmetic Cop disputes this. So, dunno.
And bro--great story.
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BrightStar (B*) commented at 7:29 PM~
I've heard the same thing about nail polish. I've stored some in my fridge a time or two.
I'm an idiot about not backing up, not taking care of my documents, so you're a smartie to have plans such as copies in the fridge, etc. I have a horror story which involves a laptop hard drive dying just as I was finishing the last chapter of my dissertation. !!! Fortunately, all was recovered. I will spare you the details, but it was drama.
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La Lecturess commented at 8:44 PM~
Not smart--just (sorta) learned from experience: my previous laptop died right as I was in the middle of studying for my orals, and continued to die periodically thereafter, which always involved my sending the damn thing to the manufacturer and sometimes losing my harddrive in the process.
