I had last year in my old house. They communicated by shouting and when that didn't work they screamed.. Plus I think they wanted to make sure their child definitely knew her name because they were forever shouting it over and over and over again.

I think the problem often is that what you see as noise, they see as normal. We just had to grin and bear it unfortunately :o(

I saw this today and thought it was apt :)

http://www.savagechickens.com/blog/2008/03/neighbours.html

I personally think that it is very unprofessional of the supervisor to be dating his student.. There is no way that he will approach things without any bias. Also the student is being very selfish by not mucking in with the lab duties etc. A rota is a good idea, we have one in our lab and it makes sure everything is done and it also allows lazy people to be identified.

But at the end of the day like other people say there is nothing you can do about it.. If her work is not up to scratch and he is just being nice to her then she will get her comeuppance later down the line I am sure.. She wont be able to bat her eyelids to get through a viva!

That is awful.. this girl goes from bad to worse.. Blackmail of any sort is bang out of order.. I would tell as many people as possible about this threat.. Talk to your supervisor about it and get it all out into the open.. At least that way if she does start throwing stuff around then people are prepared for it.

That is ridiculous.. £11-12k a year is something that you would look to get without going to uni.. Even as a new graduate you would expect more than that.. The person who told that is taking the p*ss.. Maybe s/he doesn't know what a PhD actually is or maybe s/he thought you said HND hehe.

Biological sciences and biotechnology are advancing dramatically and so there is a demand for postgrads who are specialised in new technologies and able to come up with research ideas.. and they are willing to pay for the knowledge that a phd graduate has.. I'm a molecular microbiologist and most of the jobs that i have seen in my sort of area have a starting salary of around £27k-32k

Yep I know the feeling.. best way I find is to divide it up, so that all the similar themed papers are all together..then you have loads of little piles and its much easier to get through them one at a time :o)

With regards to your friend saying they have written 30,000 words in 6 months. Firstly people have a habit of exaggerating the truth with things like this and secondly I know from my first year report that looking back at it now the quality is not as good as it should be and I have already been through it will a red pen for corrections etc.

First of all don't worry. Within the first 6 months all you should really be concentrating on is getting your head round your subject and getting familiar with techniques you are going to use. I'm about 18 months in and going to be doing my first conference presentation in July this year which will then lead to a publication (hopefully). As for writing articles, it will come in time, there is no point rushing into it if a) you are not ready and b) you don't have adequate data/results to publish. It's easy to compare yourself to your fellow PhDers but at the end of the day everyone's PhD experience is different and we all do things at different times.. So don't be too disheartened by what other people are doing :o)

Insensitive/offensive??? How do you reach that conclusion???

As for myself, well I don't think my PhD has affected my sanity at all (Mind you who is to say I was sane before I started!). I got more stressed and felt under more pressure with my undergrad degree than I have with this.

I really enjoy what I do, have great supervisors and work in a really friendly/happy/supportive research group... and going by what other people have said I think that all of these factors play a major part in how you fare through the PhD process.

Oh and yeah I wouldn't bother with the solicitor, it would most likely end up being extremely expensive. You could try the citizen's advice bureau http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ who offer free advice on things like this.

@hypothesis

You can get a young persons railcard if you are over 25 when you are in full time education. You just need to get your uni to stamp the application form to verify that you are a student.

I have trouble with trains all the time, I regularly travel to Leeds, Durham, London and Edinburgh on the train and over the past 4 months I have had no end of trouble with them.. That was until yesterday, my journey was seemless, despite them expecting major delays due to the weather. I find it ironic that when they tell you they will be delayed then the trains run on time!

Anyway, in my experience if you write a letter to the ticket provider (I tend to use GNER which is now National Express), explain what problem you have had they will refund you any money owed. I once had to buy a full fare ticket because my order wasn't on the ticket collection machine and they refunded it without any problems at all. It always helps to mention that any staff you dealt with were rude/useless for added impetus.

I have the perfect introductory offer for your university.. Buy a cape and get a PhD free!

Hehe I am not capist.. The hooded-cape is a much under used item of clothing these days.. I remember as a kid running round the playground making my anorak into a makeshift cape.. Unfortuately it seems to have been superseeded by the hoodie which just lacks the finesse of a black cape with a pink satin lining.

Ah a day without trout is like John Prescott dressed only in paisley print boxer shorts.. just wrong!

Ooo that scottish widow woman pulls off the cape look very well.. She is obviously doing very well as a widow, she's been doing those adverts for as long as I can remember and she doesn't seem to have aged one bit! I wonder if she is a vampire so doesn't age.. that would explain the cape.

Hehe.. equid hybrids like zonkeys and zorses do survive the most common we see today is the mule, but due to chromosomal mismatches they are infertile.

I love the image of some crazy lord geting out a tin of emulsion paint out and taking a roller to his horse!