YES! This week was a complete success!
I stopped trying to use SQLGrinder and started to interact directly with PostgreSQL. I have to use the terminal window and raw SQL, but it works. The first few days of the week I "played" with the database: checked if I could do everything I wanted ([create], [drop], etc.). After that I worked on the commands to input tables. I typed my commands in the text editor (I can see the structure of every table at the same time) and later I will paste the commands to create the tables. I still have to decide on the size of each field and what kind of integrity I want to enforce (this is on the agenda for next week). As for my meetings of this week I had three: with Hema, Dr. Earp, and Thomas. I accepted final suggestions and/or criticism of my work and gave a weekly progress report.
After work activities:
Thanks to the NCSU Intramural Recreational Center, I had a chance to go to Linville Gorge in NC. It was a perfect weekend. It was the first time in my life I slept in the woods and hiked up a "steep" (in my sense vertical) hill, most of which was covered with stones (the name of the track is Sandy Flat.) I swam in a river, ate great food and was surrounded by gorgeous Nature. The company was terrific; it was the most diverse group I have had a chance to be with. There were people from the United States, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.