There was a long spell in my 20s where everyone seemed to be getting married/buying houses/having kids. My mother gave me a hard time about this. Until they got divorced.

Then they ALL remarried. Some had more kids.

Then most of them got divorced again.

Then some of them remarried. One or two had more kids.

I would need an excel spreadsheet to keep track of it all.

I read that comment from bhc - and decided it would be better if I didn't reply. :-s

Sarah - you and I should be doing a joint PhD - we would rule the world8-)

You could probably get a good bedsit rather than a studio for that money. I had a couple of bedsits in London - Earl's Court and Camden. You'd have everything in one room and share a bathroom. Some are much nicer than others - the bigger ones are nice. I always had tiny ones as I was super skint. I used to think it was very cute having my own miniture kitchen with those baby bellings (not sure if they have those any more - this is going back about 20 years!).

The London ads paper - Loot! is still good for finding all kinds of rental properties. I used to use that all the time and I know people still do. You have to get it hot off the press and get to a phone straight away as the best places go fast.

I don't think I ever used a guarantor - but I did pay at least one month's rent as deposit plus a month in advance.

I think unles you are doing a PhD IN maths then if you are going to need to use advanced maths it really is not too much to expect some training. I really feel I've spent a lot of time learning stuff which could have been dealt with in a fraction of the time with some hands-on training. Many other places and subjects have training for various methodologies. Very sore point :-s

CanI join in? I often wonder what my fees are for since I have to teach myself how to do every blesed thing - constantly reinventing the wheel.

I once went into my manager's office full of hell over something that a director had said about me that was reported to me by a colleague. He countered with an arab proverb (were in an arab country) that translates as: the one who has bad-mouthed you is the one who tells you about it.

You weren't there - you don't know EXACTLY what was said and what the context was - and you have to wonder about someone telling you all this. If you are concerned ask your supervisor for some candid feedback on your progress and take it directly from him. Men in all professions can be patronising toward young women though I'm afraid.

I tend to think it's better we never know what people say about us. We all say things that are trivial or just on the spur of themoment and yet might by very upsetting if the subject heard of it.

My external has just agreed to be my examiner. It does feel like a major milestone and had quite an impact on me - as if I reallly will finish one day (reasonably soon) and actually be examined! I was very excited as I'm very keen to get finished - I'm much more nervous about who my internal will be which isn't fixed yet but both choices are quite intimidating.

I have quite a senior academic as supervisor (only one). We have been meeting 2-3 times/year for about 20-30 mins until this year as I am writing up - when we meet about once a month for 30-45 minutes. At my last meeting he had not read my last draft - in fact he had lost it. I don't get detailed feedback. Business is not the crucial indicator for quality of supervision so mch as priorities - do they make teaching and supervision any kind of priority. Is there any way you could ask around and find out about the quality of supervisions? There are advantages to having a bigger name/more experienced supervisor - but it's worth finding out if there are steep costs attached.

I think that was rather tactless. There are a always a few people around who seem to breeze through - you don't know what really goes on behind the scenes though (and neither does you sup).

I did a book chapter soon after my duaghter was born. I had to redraft it ruthlesslessly and it drove me crazy - and I'm someone who is thought to write well (as I should - it was part of my job for many years previously). Age and experience can be a great help - I certainly feel it makes a lot of differnce to they way I work. My husband reads everything of mine - my supervisor can tell if he hasn't and openly relies on him to check the English rather than the large-scale content.

I met my husband when I was 33 - you know what they say - you have to kiss a lot of frogs 8-)

You should probably ask your supervior if they have any general policy/strong feelings about working from home vs the office. I know in my dept it is preferred for you to work in the dept and be 'visible'. I work mainly from home though - my child being my main excuse. It is easier to work at home but you can easily become very isolated. At the least - have some core regular hours in the dept such as those leading up to regular seminars.

I had also taught teenagers before and althoug it is different it is actually good preparation. You will not be phased or shocked by apparent boredom or occaisional misbehaviour and have some idea how to hold a groups attention and make things understandable. The prep for this level of teaching can be very heavy though. Google and wiki are great help!

My project is part psychology based. The basic project hasn't changed but some of the details have changed a lot and although I have, astonishingly, found exactly what I was looking for I did not find it in the way I originally intended and for a long time thought I had a mountain of meaningless data that was quite dispiriting after what was frankly a very tough slog. But all's well that end's well ;-)

Just wish it would end a bit more quickly as I'm into my fourth (unfunded) year.

The world and it's dog will be looking for accommodation in October so you might want to look a bit earlier if you can - but I'm not much help as I live here apart from being a student so haven't done that for a long time. If there's a graduate union or tother hang-out they will probably have accommodation notices - I once got a very nice houseshare that way. Sometimes people specifiy graduate rather than undergraduates in the (mistaken) belief that their relatively better quality property is less likely to be trashed by wild parties.

Hours for me are complicated - I just work when I can which is not full-time. Many depts seem to have a 'working culture' where it becomes the norm to work a certain number of hours.

Ode to Pam:

Makka Pakka
Akka wakka
Mikka maaka moo

Makka Pakka
Appa yakka
Ikka akka ooo.

Hum dum
Agga pang
Ing ang ooo.

Makka Pakka
Akka wakka
Mikka makka moo!

Just waiting for my daughter to get out of the bath. I raise your Makka Pakka with an Upsy Daisy and an Iggle Piggle.

Yup, I don't get ou much....

Well I just finished revising a chapter and then I suppose it's dinner and telly as usual!

My daughter made us a card - does that count?

I heard some advice that the best times to have a child are either while you are still a student or when you've got tenure. In between is the trickiest, career-wise.

Organising childcare can be pretty stressful and some kids take to it much more easily than others. I would probably have used more chidlcare if my daughter was more amenable but she is not. Nursery was up and down but she is much happier now with a childminder (which is cheaper too). I've probably agonised over all this more than is entirely helpful as I have a lot of personal baggage around these issues (insert long tragic story with violins).

All depts must regularly have students who have babies - it's not so uncommon. My (male) supervisor actually encorouged me to have my daughter.