I know, it's just what we need eh!!

Well, you know where i am, if you want to PM me and we can chat then go for it! I'm here to listen and vent or whatever. I'm sorry to hear you had ghastly tests, but hopefully they come back negative and you can breath a sigh of relief.

Just try not too stress and just cruise the surface of life! :) Take care of yourself.
AL

Hi Teek,

You're mad, I think I missed what's going on with you, but are you jumping from thesis into masters?? What a clever chicken you must be, I would just crumble and give up!!

I really wish I could bum for afew months, a friend of mine finished in April and just went off to South America for 6 months to live it up!! Sounds nice eh! Unfortunately, I have a job and stuff, all the dull things!

I know it makes more sense just to get it out of the way, but i'm really scared to be honest. I read it and think, god, I don't know the full background and mechanisms behind that, and feel i should know it! Especially as my external examiner is quite big in this field and I just feel like I skim the surface! Also, my brain feels so tired, have the time I can't think straight and find the words to say coherently what is in my head so I worry i'd just come off as a blabbering, bumbling idiot! I can hardly form sentences in general life, never mind in technical science speak! :(

I'm going to speak to my sup tomorrow and see if he'll just advice me. maybe sit down for afternoon with me and do a kinda mock viva, or not so formal but just discuss it in depth with me, ask the kind of questions he would ask if he was examining me and just chat around the subject abit, see how I get on!

I don't know, i'm just too tired and it feels like every time I get to the top of the mountain, I look up and there's an even bigger one in front of me! I'm sure we all feel the same, but i don't have the energy to climb up many more of them!

Anyway, enough about me! Well done Teek on getting on to your last chapter, even when they're being tidied up etc, just seeing a draft of all of them really helped keep me pushing forward, that's when you really start to see your progress. so just keep going and you will be there before you know it! :)

AL x

Hi Sue,
Wow, you sound busy, I hope you're ok, don't push yourself and make yourself unwell though, life is more precious than all these things! I've been thinking of you and hope all is going ok. When are you meant to hear back about your results? I worry about you, hope everything ok?

Thank you, I can't quite believe it, i'm sure its not great, but I got my first ever half decent comment from sup tonight. He wanted to see it as final pdf version just for style etc, and replied saying, looks good - better than alot of the theses I examine! :) Let's just hope the actual content is as good as it looks! :)

I do tend to agree would be better just to stick with 30th, but that means instead of relaxing for a week or two and then getting stuck in, I have tomorrow night (dinner with partner) and the weekend as I already made plans to babysit nephew, and go to our local Flower and Food festival on Sunday! :) and then basically get stuck straight back in on Monday! Have next weekend, then working following one, and then one weekend before viva!

Just haven't done any research, reading etc around best ways to prepare! Wal sent me copy of Tinkler's book which I wanted to read, but would have to zoom through that, or skim read alot of it, and then just get on with it! have pile of papers I wanted to read and had plans for how I wanted to prepare for it, which took time!
And OBVIOUSLY i need to go shopping for a viva outfit too.....! :)

But then if i do just go with it, it will all be over and done with, can have corrections done (if minor...) by end of month and be free in November! Just don't know if I can handle the stress of jumping back in though.

I've not been very well recently, think its just stress running me down, but I lost a stone in less than a month, and bad insomnia, wake up drenched in sweat, sore glands, headaches! doc wants to check for hyperthyroidism and stuff just in case, but most probably just stress!

AL hugs xxx

Wal,
I am EXACTLY the same! I could just scream at people when they do these things! I think its peoples instinctive questions because most of the time a) they don't understand what a PhD is, b) they don't understand what it entails, and c) they just don't know what to say to make you feel better or encourage etc!

but it drives me insane! One of the worst people is actually my Dad! He means well, but i've blown up at him a couple of times! He seems to care more about me being a DOCTOR, than I do (generally cos I don't give two hoots anymore other than getting the damn thing out of my life!!).

I also get - but you just don't know what will come along when you're done, and it might not even be a field you'd consider, all different sectors head hunt people like you!

What is a person like me? what am I? Cos all I see is an almost manic, sleep deprived, suddenly very skinny, stress ball that no-one in their right mind would look at and want to hire!!! :)

Anyway that's my moan over! Keep smiling and just know that whatever rubbish is going to come with it, at least we can have bank cards that say Dr! (maybe we'll get bigger credit limits?) - I'll need it on the wage i'm on right now!

Oh my PhD God!!!! I have just put together my full final version into pdf!! I have 258 pages of possible garble ready to take to the printers first thing tomorrow morning!!

I'm hoping to pick it back up after lunch (after trip to docs for blood tests, and hospital for chest x-ray), and take it to the registry for submission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very annoyed with sup though, as usual communication is his weakest point! But after all the hassle of waiting for him to get back to me about stuff, the one thing he obviously did manage to do instead of this (shame he didn't tell me), was confirm the date of my viva!!! He decided to organise it for 30th September, which was original date he suggested when we planned to have it submitted mid August. But with him messing me around I assumed this would also be delayed afew weeks! NOPE!!!! He says it'd be tons of hassle to reorganise, although if I was really concerned due to health and work then he would obviously do it, but he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be late oct/nov before viva, which would mean having it hanging over me for ages!

So I now have the choice of either 3 weeks of hell (working tons of hours and weekend of 18/19th), for viva on 30th. Or poss pissing off examiners and reorganising, with me waiting around and just stressing out for ages thinking about the looming thing! What would you do? 3 weeks of hell and over, (possible bad viva due to less prep time), or delay? I need to obviously tell sup tomorrow, going to see him and discuss it in afternoon when give him his copies!

ARGHHH, why couldn't he just send me a really quick email saying i'm organising it for 30th is this OK with you! You'd think he'd do this anyway as I do have a job etc aswell, so would be nice to be part of the planning!!!

oh well, I should just be happy I guess as I get it all bound tomorrow!

Keep going peeps, it looks awesome seeing it in one big final document! :) Thinking of you all, hope you're ok?

AL xx

I went to the docs this morning and explained my symptoms etc. She took my BP, which is slightly low but normal for me, weighed me (I don't have scales at home just at my sisters), and i've lost a stone in about a month! :( She checked my glands which are bit swollen and listened to my chest which she thought was ok, also throat all red and inflamed.
I have to go back on Friday for blood tests and she's going to do full work up. and then go for a chest x-ray - apparently normal if complaining of night sweats?

She thinks its probably all stress, but wants to check all possibilities, said it could be overactive thyroid?

anyway, we'll see what happens! AL

Anyone else working tonight?
I swore I wouldn't tonight as I was up til 2.30 last night and slept awful again. But here I am reading through Chapter 2!

Done for the night!! I have just finished hopefully my last edit and sent all chapters to supervisor in lovely pdf format!! time for bed, i'm shattered!

After all that converting, splitting and merging I really hope I don't find any mistakes......hahahahahaha!!

night folks, AL

Well done AQ, sleep well!

I hope it still looks good in the morning and sup gives some nice, positive feedback.

AL x

Thanks AQ, I know it's mad, I can't believe it! It will be your turn very soon though! :)

Good luck to both you and Wal for the chapters, I agree editing and redrafting is just as bad! I find it so hard to look at even a paragraph and think about how to change it, never mind a whole chapter.

And Ev, AQ is right, don't tire yourself out, get some good rest too, and i'm sure you will do fantastically tomorrow. Good luck!

AL

i'm working! :(
Absolutely dead beat, but just got very last corrections back from proofreading, and i'm working the next two nights and need to submit on Friday!!!!!!

So must get it all done tonight and tidied so I can send it to sup for final once over, giving me time to have a last read over myself Thursday night and hopefully to the printers.

My head hurts and my heart is pounding..........

Hey all, thank you for your responses. I will definitely get Tinkler's and may well just by other one too. However, I don't want to freak out due to multitude of possible questions, like you Bilbo, I think i'm better with gaining help on the higher understanding and overview of how to answer the questions than actually trying to answer lists of questions that more than likely most of which will not come my way!!!

Maybe I shall just get Tinkler's first and have a look and see if I then want more. It's amazon after all, so can probably order and get it in no time at all!!

I'm a scientist!

AL

Hi everyone!
I know there have been a good few posts on books to prepare for your viva, I have put Tinklers Doctoral Examination process and Rowena Murray's How to Survive your viva in my amazon basket for now, does anyone have advice on whether I should buy both or just Tinklers?

I know Bilbo, you have said Tinklers book is great, and I will get this one, but just wondered if it is worth getting both, or whether they cover the same things, and having two different view points might freak me out! :)

Thanks, AL

Yep, i'm just the same! which unfortunately some people in your life may not understand - mainly my sup, which seems to have caused a rift between us this year (on his part anyway!).
Luckily, I know that it doesn't really matter to me, I mean, a little more money would be great, but only so I could earn more than I did on my phd bursary and can save more steadily for my future. But generally, I just love the job, and the reward I feel with each project I do is what I have craved for for years!

So just you enjoy that feeling of knowing you are putting your talents and abilities to good use! (up)

Killahtron, Congratulations! It is a good feeling isn't it! I also worked alot of jobs, although not as many as this, you beat me hands down, but I've worked in a good number of nursing homes and hotels from scrubbing dishes to cleaning rooms up to restaurant supervisor. But I remember leaving my job at hotel to start my PhD and the feeling I had!

I do remember my sup saying - are you a good waitress? to which I said, yes acually! And he said (and I should have known then what a tool he would turn out to be) - Good, just in case this doesn't work out for you and you mess up the PhD! Anyway, I'm pleased to say, i'm almost finished and although over the 4 years sometimes I've wondered what was so bad about waitressing, I know I would never want to go back to it full time.
I can't say i'm not working in a low paid job, but it is skilled so it could be worse! I work at my local science centre engaging adults and children with science, and I love it!

I really hope this is it for you and you can put those years behind you!

Enjoy the good feelings!
AL