Can only think of a scene from Finding Nemo: Dory is with the father clown fish and she is singing 'Just keep swimming, just keep swimming'.

I hate to say I am glad to see this, but I am. I'm in the same patch at you, Karac. Even though we "know" that it is normal, that doesn't help as much as coming to erhm, talk... with somebody else who is hitting a skid at the same time. Chin up though, I think this would be equilivant to hitting the wall in a marathon run.

I managed to train one name dropper to stop (at least around me). Every time they dropped a name, I would hit my hand on the table. Finally they asked me and I said that was just the sound of a name being dropped on the table. After they figured out that I wasn't impressed, they stopped.

However, be careful of who you shut out. Sometimes the superficial or 'weak' ties are the better resources for things. You just have to learn to use the resource properly. I'm trying to remember the author(s), but there was at least one good paper about this called the Strength of Weak Ties. It makes for interesting reading if nothing else.

Congratulations on a job well done, doctor!(up)

I'm not sure if it is a good idea or not, considering I know nothing about your field. However, Grounded Theory (read Levi and Strauss going back to the 1960s at the Chicago School of Management) might be a bit of help to your situation. The quick and very dirty version of it is that you start with no theory. All theory is (ideally) grounded in the empirical work. It was designed for social sciences, but you may be able to adapt it some?
Yeah, it is a bit of a shot in the dark, but there might be a target out there.

I usually keep massive amounts of notes compared to anything else I have done. I take hand/typed notes from the source (put the page number in the margins, and quote marks where applicable). Then I summarise the longer string of notes and also do the same for the source. Notes are for a reminder only, they don't have to look sharp or what not, so I don't care if they are somewhat broken thoughts. I usually read them in reverse order (summaries first and up to original source if needed).

If you are not into the FB announcement thing, don't bother with it. It's just a tool, like any other. That doesn't mean it needs to be used.
Conversations usually went something like this:
"I'm moving to the UK."
"Wait, what? Why?"
"Eh, getting a bit antsy here. And setting out on another degree."
"Another one? Don't you have enough of those, degree collecting is almost like a hobby for you."
"Hehe, yeah, this time it's for a PhD"
"Ahh, so going up a level."

I have seen a few theses without quotes. Actually, I was planning on not putting one in. Some of it is laziness and not wanting to spend the time mining quote resources for one that fits in with my thesis. Readers (i.e. examiners) will be drawn to that, and it will set the mood. If it is not something you want to incorporate, either by the person or by the quote itself, then don't include it. Just my 2 pence.

I don't think I can resist taking this small jab. Have you had her read an article by Jacob Cohen (1994) The Earth is Round (p<.05)? It sounds like she is stuck in a theory that explains everything, and she will eventually get her (preferred) theory to explain it all. Finding the anomaly is not a bad thing, it forces better theory as it causes us to rethink 'what we know'.
You could try using hers as the main platform you stand on, but also point out where it falls down. Then enter the other theory to help fill in the gaps. But you also know what to be careful of in your external, where they stand on the theory that you use to partially explain.

Good luck

I found it a very useful program, especially for just viewing one code/theme/node in order to separate it. It does have a slightly quant feel with some features of counting and percentage covered for codes. I'm not sure how necessary that is, but you can easily ignore that.
The major downside for me was in how to approach it. I spent a lot of time restructuring my tree codes when I first got into it. Also, I spent a lot of time looking at the 'trees' instead of the 'forest'. Something about how my brain works and how NVivo was used, I sacrificed the bigger picture for the details. Don't rely on it 100% for all of your data readings, but learn how to use it to your advantage.

John Maanen has some good articles and books on ethnography. I started with his Tales from the field and Emersen et al's, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes per advice from one of the researchers here. Another article that helped me get going with it was Canniford's Moving Shadows: (something subtitle I can't find at present).

Congrads!!

When I had to send out similar letters to job applicants, it meant that their CV struck a chord in me along the lines of 'hey, wasn't Bob looking for somebody like this'. If they had just said they will keep the CV on file, then it would have been an outright rejection, but policy is to maintain all CVs for a certain length of time. I would say it made them think that you might fit another upcoming post and they want to check it out. (At least, that is how I handled it back in the US.)
Either way, sending a thank you e-mail wouldn't be a bad thing to keep you in their mind and to let them know you are interested in other opportunities they feel your skills and experience might be better aligned with.

Not 100% in your shoes, but darn close. There is a light in the distant part of the tunnel. However, it is either the end of the tunnel or a train coming at me at high speed. Eh, one of the two, but either way, it will be over sooner than I expect.

I do have some words from a man much wiser than myself for you. He finished his PhD a while back and helps out with some PhD training and sometimes just listening to (university wide) students gripe and despair. 'The PhD is never finished, it is simply abandoned at it's least damaging point.' Abandoning here being the pursuit of the perfect thesis, not the PhD process.

Smile and keep working at it.

Congrads!