ah, done for the night!
I've been trawling through what i've written of Chapter 3 trying to make sure it is in line with sups requests etc, and all consistent with style of chapter 3! Almost finished results, but can't take anymore and must sleep before work tomorrow!
Imagine where we'd be right now if it wasn't for style etc.....! (I think i'd have my Dr status by now, maybe....)

hope you're having productive day Sue, and sleeping tight AQ.

I've often considered this too Buzby!
After I have my thesis viva'd, hard bound,and completely done, I do plan on taking all the papers, mindmaps, scribbles etc and having a ceremonious burning of everything! With a BBQ and a massive cooler full of drinks, with all friends etc round to celebrate with me!

I have often wanted to do this throughout the process, but keep myself going knowing that one day I will get to do it, i'll just be doctor when I do! :) Keep pushing on, we'll get there.

HI AQ, thats rubbish about your placement, but as they say, if it's for you it won't go past you! I'm sure something better will come along, so don't despair, just keep working away at the thesis and you'll get there!

Well, i'm feeling ok, but really exasperated with my sup! after his email telling me not to do anything, I decided I might as well chill out and enjoy what was left of the hols - as it will prob be my last day off until this is all done! I relaxed, spring cleaned the flat and got some zzzz's! Feel much better for it!
Went to see sup yesterday and we went through my chapter together and made most of the corrections, it was mostly just styles of writing and afew inconsistencies with abbreviations, notations etc! He'd already done some work for me on the intro so when I went home I sat with the original and revised next to eachother and went through it sentence by sentence. Was extremely infuriated to find out it was changes like utilised becoming employed etc etc - just his own preferred wordings! Granted some of it made the sentences more coherent and easier to read through, more scientific sounding etc, but most of it was stupid changes! Therefore, i basically lost 2 days of discussion writing that could have seen my next chapter in a much better condition!
I've also ended up having a mini feud with him about the way of writing per something (ie m/s)! He told me that writing m s^-1 is WRONG, COMPLETELY WRONG blah blah blah!!!! I went away and found the National Institute of Systems and Technology rules, who clearly state on the first page that this is right!
In a slightly pissed off state - having watched him go through my chapter and take out all the - signs and making it m s^1 (where's the per...) - I sent him a very nice, polite email saying that I felt like I was going mad having been taught this for years, and therefore found this reference and have decided to go through and change them all back to the original with - sign. He basically emailed back today saying well i'm still wrong! and then "Sucks to be you - i'll inform your external examiner of this issue...hah hah.....!" i'm not sure how sarcastic he was being, as he can be very jokey etc in a patronizing way. Anyway, i'm not going any further with this, but did just check a recent paper my external examiner who uses the correct notation as I have done :) AL 1, Sup 0! :) I really hope with all my heart that he says something to the guy, just to see his face when it gets thrown back at him!

Apologies for the long rant, but tbh, when he can act like that, and be so un-knowledgeable about a key rule in science writing, then it makes me doubt a lot more things about him and his writing, and really makes me worry about the stylistic changes he is making me do in my thesis.

But, in retrospect, i have only lost 2 days writing, and having gone through it bit by bit with him and then coming home and making additional changes, sorting out inconsistencies in graphs etc, my second chapter is now finished and basically ready to go! :) HURRAH, 2 down, 3 to go! :p

right, off to get stuck back into chapter 3 for an hour or so! big hugs to all and keep smiling x

Hi Chris,
I'm afraid i'm just about to get off the train, i've just finished for the night!
I hope you have a productive one! Enjoy the rock! :)

Thanks AQ, what great advice! :)

I am also quite proud of myself, I just felt there's nothing I can do about it, i'm determined to finish and therefore I just have to get on with it. we'll see how strong I am after seeing him face to face though....!

You're right, i've not read it for a week, therefore maybe if I try and take a step back I will see it differently. I shall get my notepad out and put down anything that I think might be wrong or could be worked on. He's more likely to respect me and how hard i've been working if I take stuff along and show that i'm trying and i'm keen to get it right!
I sometimes make mistake of going to meetings and remembering everything he's said, but not writing it down, and then later I can't remember, therefore I will be armed with notepad and write down everything he says, all the changes etc.
I think sometimes the problem is all sups are different, they (and everyone else) have their own writing styles, therefore to someone else, although my content maybe lacking the style might not be so bad! But unfortunately its him that has to pass me and sign the form therefore I have to write to his liking. So notes of every little thing we go over will be made and then I can make a bullet point list and keep it above my desk, making sure that I stick to the rules! :)

Hope you have a good day and thank you for support and advice. AL x

Thanks Bilbo, well at least you had a good excuse moving between disciplines! I have none :(

Just got response from him, going over to see him on Sunday, so not long to wait to hear although the comments and probably evil statements of how stupid i am!
He's told me not to keep working on chapter 3 until i've seen him, which means it must be really bad and not just writing style but the actual content! not sure how to deal with this, just going to try not to think about it too much cos if I do i'll just sit and cry!

question is now, should I at least do some reading and sort out my key discussion points, but then if it is all the content as well as style and i'm going completely down the wrong track then there is no point!
What I don't understand is that i FEEL like I said what I wanted to say about the results, I have my key ideas etc about what i have found and it's very depressing to think he could think that's all totally wrong! Surely this is my thesis therefore I decide what my results mean? ARGHHHHHHH!

Depressing response from sup (with only a few hours sleep last night
"I have the oppressive feeling that it's deja vu - all over again. For you to really get the idea of scientific writing/thesis production, I think that we need to meet, and go over the chapter bit by bit."

I sat and stared at it, had a wee panic attack, burst into tears, sipped my coffee, pulled myself together and replied! :) I'm so proud of myself!!!

I have sent a nice reply, saying I would really appreciate his input, asking if its content, style or both (I have 3 days left of holiday, probably the only hol I'll get til this is over, therefore if no point writing cos its sh*t i'm going to put my playstation on!).
Have offered up my weekend or friday when i'm off, as i'm working weekend shifts next week, and will see what he says! personally i'd prefer to meet over this weekend and know NOW what i'm doing completely wrong, otherwise I just have to put myself through agony for a week waiting!

I hate this process of ups and downs, I stayed up last night til 2am doing some data analysis, I managed so many hours yesterday (equating to about 18 tomatoes), which is the best i've done in a very long time! I went to bed feeling like this might actually come together and I wake up this morning again to shattered dreams. I wish i wasn't a) perfectionist b) unwilling/unable to give up on anything i've started!

over and out, I need more coffee and time to stare at the wall (which is very depressingly covered in mindmaps). AL

P.S. I do write terrible sentence structure on this forum, but I assure you, my writing is better than this, or maybe it's not? :( (why don't we have an emoticon with actual tears?

Hey cris, hope you're getting on well and not too many train stops to go before you hit the sack!

I've just finished the analysis and i'm leaving the last bits til morning!

Thanks Sue and Wally! Congratulations Sue, so pleased for thats fandabidosi! :) so chuffed for you, and with 6 weeks its a good amount of time and will give you the fire you need to just keep going and get as much done as you can!

right, must get back to it for hour or so!

anyone travelling the midnight train tonight?

i've been data analysing all night, want to sort out one more set of variabilities and add some extra experimental analyses i was avoiding to my results and then off to bed!!

choo choo! or maybe chug chug chug!

oops! :$
(gift) here's a box of vaseline to heal the wound ;) if it makes you feel any better my 50 day gap in much progress has also given me a kick up the ass, i've been not stopped staring at the screen since i posted and am going to have a naughty fag and doing a couple of nocturnal hours while the rocket is still up me bum! :)

I hope it hasn't stressed you too much, but then i guess this is what our accountability threads are for....! have a hug (((AL)))

Thought i'd revive this thread to see what progress i've made since then - very depressing that in 50 days all i've done is finish chapter 2 and intro/M&M for chapter 3, but i am actually feeling quite proud, so not going to get disheartened! :)

Thanks AQ, I had a very quiet one - mainly studying! just a nice dinner in evening that I had to roll home from :)

you're right, I just need to keep thinking that in a few months I won't ever have to deal with him again! what a blissful thought, but unfortunately, it all seems so unreal, like it will NEVER actually happen, think this whole thing is a believe it when you see it situation!

I have to do all my work from home now, if I go anywhere else it gets really annoying cos I don't have all my things around me. I brought pretty much everything home from the lab when i started my new job as I knew I just wouldn't find the time to go in there for long periods and it would become an excuse to not do work :$ Over time though I have got used to it and actually find I can be quite productive in my own surroundings, its the getting started thats the worst bit, and if i'm struggling to get stuck into something I find a different easier task to carry out for a wee bit until I get into the swing of things.

Well, i have just finished my introduction (went from "its only going to be afew pages" = 10 pages!! oops) My dominoes pizza is at present being baked and then i'm going to do couple of hours of data analysis tonight ready to hit the discussion ideas tomorrow.

I hope you've managed to get a bit of a work groove on, if not though, don't punish yourself for it, you can only do so much and feeling guilty will not get you there any faster. how long do you have til submission? sometimes i used to decide that if the lab was closed then that was indicator that i should have a holiday too, but when the clock is ticking thats not so easy.

AL hugs x

Oh dear KC, men can be such a pain, but like Sneaks says, you just need to find the right man! I almost gave up a few years ago and then when I wasn't looking my dear partner walked into my life and everything changed. I think you have to go through the rubbish sometimes to help you realise when you do find mr right. I suffered abusive partner, then cheating partner, then the stupidly immature, only interested in one thing guy, gave up and then met my man! :)

Don't give up hope, you will find the right man, possibly a nice dr...! :) I agree though, lose contact with this guy, it is not good for the soul. x

ARGHHHHH! i just wrote a whole massive speel and then lost it! Summary:
hope all is well, good on you AQ for paper, sorry you struggling, but we will get there, we're here for you! I HATE WHEN PEOPLE SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!!!

I have finished M&M, almost finished intro which i've been staring at for two days, reading papers and not knowing what to write! decided today to get up and just write and now don't know what i was scared of as it doesn't look too bad I don't think.....!

sup took a week to open email with chapter 2 in, did it last night, and i've just realised and had a mini-panic attack! don't know why cos there's nothing I can do and it needs to be read etc but i'm just so scared and not sure i can handle the feedback that's coming my way!

also - too much cake, choc and biscuits in my house! :( it was my birthday on Tuesday and its all sitting here around me, partner and work and its very tempting to just gorge myself on the sofa and ignore doing work!
I really wish this was all over! On the bright side, i might actually complete my objective for week and get this chapter finished by Sunday, (or v. close if not), and then just two small chapters to go and big rewrite! If i can get this bit done and over next month get results of next two into order ready to write the thing then I think the dark tunnel might start showing me that pin-prick of light! :)

thinking of you all, keep smiling (manically if you feel like me today....) :-s
AL x