Keep going, Jojo! You seem to have rebounded and be energetically on this new track. Keep it up! And thanks also for the name of the book on the methods!

singing out loud " I think that you have got the PhD Blues!!!!!!!"

the PhD blues have helped...I have just written 465 fab words as the new intro to my de-structed chapter that gives me EXACTLY what I need to tie this thing back together! =)))) whew!!!! I was moments away from stomping my USB stick into splinters.

Sing it Jouri!!!!!!!!

Jouri has the PhD blues
when he hears from his supervisor king
its always bad news

add your own verse! =)
maybe someone can write some music for it and we can take it on the road in a cabaret style show and become really rich and forget about actually DOING a PhD! ( the latest of my PhD escape fantasies..or delusions...)

oh the PhD blues
why did I ever choose
this PhD degree
with all of its drudgery
I ain't got no research muse
all I got is
the PhD blues

( or why I need to keep my day job--wait, I don't have one!!!)

I have the PhD blues
so bad I can't find my shoes
when you think there's nothing left to lose
so broke you can't afford booze
you get the very bad news
now you ain't got no shoes
but you got the PhD blues

Well, the chapter structure irritation syndrome is responding to the anti-dote of chapter DESTRUCTION! Why, I am not trying to structure chapters at all--I am de-structuring them! :) Thought of in this way, the syndrome irritation decreases and actually the process becomes in its own weird way enjoyable and rewarding.

Exactly how does this NHS dentist thing work? Does the NHS NOT PAY for dental work but pays for other things? How do you get an NHS dentist? Are there options for privae insurance and private pay for dentists?

Thanks for the information Miss Spacey. So where does this research money come from? Is it grant money, or from the government, or some other source? Is there a funding allocation then based upon the RAE rating of each department? I guess I have never really thought a lot about how universities are funded...but I suppose having research money available would be a huge issue for them!

I wonder if my 80,000 words is a max...

I need clarification on this ASAP so that my revisions and edits are done with the right number of min/max words in mind. This could make a huge difference. Right now I have WAY too many words in draft form, but I knew that when I drafted...I am trying to edit a chapter I am so bored with I could scream. * and have**

I've taken the chapter down to its bare bones elements...and I think it says all that needs to be said, given the way I am approaching this...but its probably better to leave it for now and come back to it, since I am trying to comb a set of chapters into a coherent whole...and see if it needs any help. Plus by then I will have ( I HOPE) some answer on the min/max words and that will guide me. I have a lovely giant last chapter, with lots of good original work and I want to save as many words as I can for that...it may need to become two chapters...!

Oh, that really helped to think about where concepts belong, and NOT to needlessly repeat them!!!!!!!! That gave me one of those Eureka moments! and a whole mass of discussion that was in two places is now at least in one chapter, and THAT chapter needs to be worked on ( its a cut and paste landfill at this moment, but that is a step for another day!) but THIS chapter now has its shape, form, and comfortably within the word count for each chapter. HOORAY! Thanks again, Lara, that was sooooooooo helpful!

Thanks, Lara! That is a helpful way to go about it. Some of this chapter structure is trying to figure out where certain material belongs--if it belongs in chapter A or chapter B. Which means I have to go back and look at the ultimate reason for the chapter--i.e. what is the purpose of this chapter? What is it trying to accomplish? Why is it here? I just shifted a huge chunk of material into another chapter...which is where I think it belongs...so both now have a word count I can cope with, and its time for the carpenter to come along and start smoothing out the flow...if only I could be in madman phase forever!

Wow--I just found the RAE website, looking at the new stuff for RAE 2008. It looks like brand new rankings are due out on 18 December for all universities, and that the rankings scores and etc have all been changed.

This is all doing my head in.

For want of 5 p a caffeinated drink was lost
For want of a caffeinated drink the chapter structure was lost
For want of chapter structure...

Oh wait--I just found 5 p under the desk phone! I KNEW if I scrounged hard enough I would find something!!! Whew!!!!!!!!