lol jinkim I have to do a lot of driving to sampling spots during sampling season and we have developed a game to play on long journeys :-) there are 3 main things to spot: sheep, boats and cow horses (horses that look like cows) and it's great fun!! another little thing to keep us going!
I also liked doing painting by numbers, but when I moved from the childrens version to the adults it got so fussy and detailed that I was getting even more hunch backed, from sitting over the computer or the lab bench all day and then the painting that I gave up after a while! I also find chatting to various pets and animals is great!

sonds like misery chrisrolinksi, all i can say is, you can combine taking paracetamol and neurofen (ie one paracetamol, 2 hours later, one neurofen, 2 hours later, one paracetamol etc) and numb it with clove oil, the adult bonjela is actually really good, better than the normal kids one, and plenty of whiskey (drink it, but it helps the pain too!) and an evening off feeling sorry for yoursefl watching movies etc, you deserve it!

lol hi everyone, wally thanks very much for the award, I have been informed I have a certain style of writing but I'm not sure how it's that different from anyone elses but I will gladly accept any award you give me! hopefully it helps in a good way! :-) ....although I'm not sure how something can help in a bad way, except tough love I suppose, but I digress!

I agree wholeheartedly with all the awards mentioned below, and I would like to include chrisrolinksi in the 'it sucks but I'm doing it anyway' award, for combining the phd with living abroad for the final year, long distance relationships, job hunting, article writing and what is apparently now a tooth ache, and for keeping positive the whole way through, dispensing lovely words and advice! :-)

Hi Jacob
You can always do something in addition to your degrees, I've just come back from 2 CV courses and the truth is terrifying....basically, if you're applying for something, having the basic requirements is taken as a given and they look to see what else you've got! Working with a professor is a good start as Teek says, but if there is any particular field you are interested in, I'd try and get some practical experience in that area so something similar. Anything that you feel will teach you extra skills that you can use to your advantage and perhaps give you an edge another student might not have. Also, if there is a particular supervisor you would like to have for your PhD then find out what his research interests are and tr and do something similar to that, might make him like you more! Cynical I know, but it's worth a chance!

um usually I find that managing to get my 2 brothers to call and say happy mothers day does the trick, i don't forget but they are useless! And it's usually a card, bunch of flowers and heading home for the day to see her! however if you are in a different country, maybe try flower delivery/card/some other actual good idea that I can't think of! :-)

pfff I think I have ADD today... or ADHD without the hyperactive bit.....

ah wally. I just don't know what to say, I'm so sorry! I hate when that kind of thing happens. If it helps, these kinds of things happen to me regularly, altho not on such a long time scale....I have frequently had lab equipment break down on me, and lost an entire batch of samples that I couldn't get again, due to a method failure. We had to rework the whole study to find a way to make stuff fit in, but I got there. but try not to get too annoyed about it, there is nothing that can be done now, you've just got to do what you can and if it takes an extra month, then so be it. don;t let it affect the restof your work or it could drag on even longer, keep positive. (mince)

ooh good luck sneaks
today I am v sleepy, after having a mini night off work and having dinner in the local pub had a *very* sore tummy last night and was awake for ages :( but I'm all better now thank god! so it's cracking on with work! today, type up note for some volunteer work I do, and hopefully get started on a method for my lab work before I have to go meet said volunteer person!

what a load of chuff!! my french boyf, who comes froma country where public defense is the norm has absolutely no thought for the ceremony and 'rite of passage' vibe that goes along with getting his phd, he doesnt even want to go to the graduation cos it's a waste of time - after all, the only thing that matters is the qualification. Well, that's what he says, personally I can't wait to fire on the fancy gown and go the ceremony and have the ceremony at the end, and I don't feel that my enjoyment of it is lessened by the fact that it's not a public examination! I prefer to let the celebrations wait until it's all finally done, as after the viva there are corrections, resubmission of the fianl thesis and only then is the *final* document in hand! Plus I don't imagine I'll be in a fit state to properly enjoy myself straight after the viva, I know several students who have felt like it was all a bit of an anti climax and they'd rather head home and just forget about it! :-)

good one sneaks, good luck with it. Your sup sounds like a right cowboy, you should try emailing her after each meeting/conversation you have with a little summary of what she has asked you to do and what you feel should be done and a general date when you think you'll have it done by, you can;t go on with her changing her mind every farts end just for the sake of it. and I think you should copy in your second supervisor or head of research or whoever it is involved in your project, there is a second person to make sure this kind of thing doesnt happen, it's so unfair on you. As for those students in your other thread....email them back and let them know it's their course, their work and by all means you can point them in the direction of the library and the helpful subject librarian there but that it's not your job to do their research there! In a nice, formal way of course!
My mission for today....find all my PCR papers and begin compiling a methodology for my next batch of experimental work!

i also have nothing to contribute, i do wind them up, but not intentionally, i think I'm just that annoying at times... :-)

lol! love it! I manage to convince myself regularly that i simply can't work until I have cleaned and reorganised everything! all my papers, my journals, my pens and pencils, I even reorganise how files are stored on the computer. this has led inevitably to many occasions where I can't find anything anymore cos I've moved it from it's original place into 'somewhere better'....like my mum when she puts things away 'in a safe place'....never to be seen again! I've received christmas presents in june as she has just found them...
incidentally, this isn't just a phd thing, I remember convincing my dad that I couldnt possibly begin studying for my GCSE's until I had shelves put up in my room so I could organise myself and all my study notes :-)

Hi Poi
Well for me, there have been loads of things that have happened, some of which are directly phd related and some which prob would have happened in other jobs but they happened here...
I've had the chance to go to conferences, I did a talk at the last one I went to and was so terrified, there were academics in the audience who had been working in my field longer since before I was even born, so they knew their stuff, but afterwards I had them come up to me and say that it was a great talk and my work was very interesting and someone even said it was the best talk of the conference. I ended up winning a prize for it and have to wirte an article for the society magazine. it's just amazing knowing that something that you've decided to work on, designed the experiments, done all the fieldwork and the results gets praise from some of the top people in the field. of course, I never would have been able to do it without the direction of my supervisors, and one in particular who made me rewrite a paper 9 times before it was finally accepted by a journal.
I've had to listen to some terriblly harsh comments from one of my sups, and had arguments with the other way at the start about the research, I've had to deal with what is essentially bullying inthe lab from another colleague, all crappy times but I got through them and I know that I can take whatever this phd throws at me now. with the endless re-writes i know how it is to sit at the computer or at the lab bench and know that you have only yourself to make you do the work, to keep you motivated.
I've also had the opportunity to travel to new zealand for my project, i did the whole thing on my own, which I never thought I'd want to do, never mind enjoy! all those flights alone, staying in hostels and having to make friends on my own are things I'm quite proud of doing, I'm not usually good with being alone! and then there are all the other little things, like the different people you meet who for me, are very different from my friends from home. going home now I can see how much I've grown and changed as a person and I'm glad I have.
But again, there are experiences here that I probably would have gotten without the phd, and others that I never would have, you never know what might happen within your project. It's a tough choice when you put so much emphasis on it, I think if you truly think you want to leave then do, you can always reapply for a project at a later date when you know you're ready for it. Or you can stay and give it a shot, and see how yours turns out, you might just have the time of your life :-)

lol, sorry I haven't played Sonic since I was about 11 eska, sorry! I'm very glad you got sorted out in the end though!! :-)

lol, it's only a phd not a nasty STD.....literary genius!!
I shall also celebrate, as not only did I finish the genetics bit, I finished the whole chapter! one last task, have a read and see what I can take out as it's 10,546 words long...when I mentioned this to my supervisor his poor face just fell and he's now dreading the thought of having to read through it all! He did tell me to not 'go off on one of my tangents' (as I'm liable to do :-)) but I do think I've been very good and kept it mostly factual with none of my otherworldly rambling...not so good to do n the sciences you see! :p

congrats to you mathkitty!!