A bit of an over-estimation on my part then :$

Thanks guys!!!

A day or more?

It's 500 words max and I have a fair idea of what I need to say so I'm hoping it shouldn't take too long?!

Rankings so far, in order of geekiness:

1. Mathkitty 50%
2. Melsie 35%
3. Jessebel 25.24655%
4. Sneaks 19.32939%
5. Jesponclough 18.73767%
6. Teek 15.67%
7. Ev 14.9901%
8. Phdbug 14.8%
9. Alpaclover 14%
10. Keep_Calm 11.8%
11. Walminskipeasucker 11.44%
12. Eska 8.67%
13. Natassia 8.5%
14. Maria1 3.5%

Wow Sue!!!! That's pretty impressive, I think you've given us all something to aspire to(up)

Sarahk5275 in the ultimate moment of procrastination I have just taken the test (took about 5 mins!!!!)

I didn't think I was a geek and the tests has proven me right - sort of :$

Apparently I am borderline geekish tendancies/geek with a score of 14.9901%

I wonder if anyone here is a dysfunctional geek (>75%)????

Whenever I'm unhappy I dream of being caught in a war zone - not one I've seen on tv- the place where I live turns into a warzone or some other places that are familiar to me. The people in the dreams are people I know too - sometimes friends and family but often people I once knew or even just met. The weapons change, bombs, arrows, spears but the feeling of sheer terror is always the same. I wake up terrified, convinced that the dream is real and it takes a couple of hours before I am myself again. Not too difficult to interpret that one I imagine!

I know this sounds really silly but I'm not sure what section of my 'thesis' (only 6 months started!!) I'm writing up at the moment. I'm doing a science-based PhD and for the past few months have been jotting down bits and pieces about what previous researchers have done and why (in pretty fine detail) in order to make decisions about how to set up some experiments. So now, experiments are designed and I want my supervisors to be able to read what I've written and understand the logic (hopefully) of the decisions I've made. At the moment I have on 30 page document that is just a bit all over the place so I'm trying to put some order to it. So what I'm wondering is have I got the idea right, in the lit review you just say what other people have done in your area, why they did it, the results they got, if you think they did a good job and then in the methodology part you say what you're going to do??

The reason I'm confused is because I'm wondering how you link the two i.e. where do I put for example

"previous studies have shown that 'x' has affected experiment accuracy therefore the current study will use 'y' instead, (Joe Bloggs, 2009) found that 'y' is a suitable replacement for 'x'.

You get the idea (I hope!). At the moment the bulk of my lit review contains my justifications for making the decision that I have about the experiments ( kinda as above nut better!!!!) so by the time you get to the methodology section I've already said what I'm going to do. So is the methodology supposed to be a blow-by-blow account of what I'll do ii the lab?

All input welcome - sorry for such a boring topic on a Friday night!

On a similar, if even dodgier note, can you reference things you've read from google books (from the couple of pages that are available) even if you don't then get hold of the book itself? :$

Thanks Keen Bean . just to warn you i have just taken a sleeping tablet so I may not make alot of sense now but I wil respond to your itnteresting comments in the morning before my hellish cram everthing in day passe me energy vibves as coffee seems to be loosing efficacy

======= Date Modified 26 55 2010 20:55:03 =======
I have a meeting with my supervisors next week - the last one was months ago and didn't end on a great note. Basically I have 2 supervisors each with a different priority, one is responsible for my funding and ensuring we meet the sponsor's demands, the other is more 'focused ' on my own PhD. The problem is that I have found it much easier to do the tasks (when I say task it has been a very time-consuming 5 months of research outside of my background area) for the funding body because there are deadlines to meet and some idea of the work that needs to be done. Unfortunately, this has left little time for me to figure out a direction for my PhD and I'm about 6 months in now. I'm really scared that I'm going to look really stupid at the meeting if I'm asked what direction my work is going to take. The worst thing is I have only 1 more full day that I can work this week because I have to go to hospital for a minor procedure tomorrow (nothing to worry about- just annoying grrr) and even if I had the few more days it still wouldn't be enough to sort out a proposal. So I'm just wondering is it acceptable to say at the meeting that I have been focused on the deadlines and haven't really put my finger on my thesis direction? Or is that ridiculous at this stage?

======= Date Modified 24 Jan 2010 14:17:41 =======
What Button said Sneaks - don't stop working and click the 'start tomato' buttom as soon as it lets you. My target for this afternoon is 8 then I'm going out for some tapas and music :-x

Yep Eska - I've had the same issue with longer tasks making me squish two tomatoes together but the 10 minute break at the end allowed me enough time to make a cup of tea, run to the vending machine for some chocolate and read a couple of Cosmo's online articles :$
7 tomatoes are my limit for the day- off home now to relax a bit then hopefully will beat my record tomorrow (up)

I've just started using mytomatoes.com today. I was sceptical to begin with but I think it's super - clocking up tomatoes is strangely satisfying. Now I'm only on 4 so far today (It's Saturday so I don't think that's too terrible plus I intend to put in another couple of hours!) but I bet some of you out there have scaled the heights of tomato accumulation ?!

Thanks everyone for the tips - you're all very sensible (and correct!)- healthy eating and a good exercise regime is the way to go - I guess I've been cutting down on my exercise in order to free up time to see family, friends etc. and hadn't realised it. I do eat well and am generally quite an active person but have been letting work (or thinking about trying to work) take over a bit. So, in conclusion, move more, eat less chocolate and the problem should sort itself out!

Any ideas welcome???? Have tried the starvation technique- but once I've had a couple of drinks all bets are off!!
Have put on approx 1/2 stone, I reckon, so am currently at 9 stone - with a bmi of about 21 - but not used to being this big and it's sincerely undermining any self-confidence I once possessed. Interfering with my work also - big problem :-(