that's totally what i was think of teek, but I am a bit on the chatty side it seems and it's likely after a while starting a new job I'll be telling everyone about my fab trip in Peru!! :-) I like the idea of a language course though qwert, after 6 weeks I'm sure I'd have picked up enough Spanish to blag it! :D I think it's a bit unreasonable to not hire someone cos they took a break after the phd, I didn't even get holidays in the last 2 summers before i started it either so I definitely think I'm due one! Plus from what I hear it's hard enough to get a job when we are finished so I may as well enjoy 2 months of unemployment!

hi guys,

I have decided that when I finish the old PhD I want to take a trip to Peru for 6-8 weeks, as I put off travelling when I finished my undergrad course to do the PhD and everyone told me it's better to travel when you've got the phd etc etc etc. It's not really a big travelling excursion, just an extended holiday really, but I was hoping to apply for postdoc jobs in France when I finish as mr algaeqeen is there. I have since been told that if I take this time off then it will be impossible to get a job in France, as it will look really bad on my CV, as if I will come across as being an irresponsible layabout or something who doesn't care a toss about academia.....does anyone know if this is true?! I find it a bit hard to believe that a holiday after finishing a phd will have such a negative impact on my employability within an entire country, but I jsut wanted to check in case anyone knows about it.....I have a feeling it might be a last ditch attempt to stop me going off gallavanting and having fun without said mr algaequeen....

aww thats so nice to get all those replies! glad to hear all's good on the work front wally, just keep swimming and you'll make it! (up) and i totally agree with the whole forum commnity thing, but i kind of like it! I can be as strange and random as I like and it's fine! :-)

2 words: Rescue Remedy! It's amazing, I tend to get a bit physically ill at the thought of something scary, like talks, sending chapters, funding applications etc and it works a treat :-) and don't cancel your date, it could be just what you need to help you relax properly! good luck for your chapters, I'm sure they'll be grand!

ahhhh, it's good to have you back Wally!!

On a more scary note I was just talking to a new postdoc in my department who said that she was on a 3 year contract in USA when the entire funding, for the entire department was cut one day. As in, they were told there will be no money to run any of the projects from next week. mad stuff. She was lucky and managed to get another 6 months funding from somewhere but still shows you things are changing. However, as Wally rightly points out, at this stage there is no point freaking out about it, we still have to get the PhD before we can get a job, so sure keep (or start) looking for jobs, make contacts with people and get the feelers out there, but don't worry too much about it until the PhD is actually finished and you can devote all your worry ability to the task :-)

or so i tell myself anyway! 8-)

Hi everyone, I just noticed I haven't seen Walminskipeasucker in a while, so just doing a shout out to make sure he's ok!!

a massive congratulations for you pinklady! I'm not using the negative cos now you can be positive about everything!! after all that worrying you can relax and have a well earned break!! all the best!

hi chris, I don't have much to give in the way of advice except to say don't wreck yourself, you still have a month to go after this week! take breaks when you need to, deep breaths when you're about to freak out and cry! and all the junk food/chocolate etc that you need to keep the pain at bay! and good luck!!! (up)

what a great thread! I now feel like my supervisor isn't just being a complete twat to me! I have 3 sups, one has taken early retirement due to illness, and my main sup is super lovely, if a bit tough....the third though...he's in a league all of his own!

there are several gems, resulting from each meetings, some of the most recent....

after emailing him twice to get a date for our next big supervisors meeting..."Meeting? what meeting? I never heard anything about a meeting....Oh That meeting....well I've already given that date as availability for a conference but I'm not sure if that's when it is, so just say I'm free for your meeting then...if it happens that the conference is the same data though I will just toss you aside, I'm too important to miss the conference...that's life"

after reading the 6th draft of a paper, he grabs my security tag and says "all these mistakes, drove me f***ing mad..."

and on hearing I won a prize for best student talk at a conference...(while laughing heartily)..."we thought maybe you were only student giving the talk and that's why you won, hahaha!!"

sometimes I wonder why he even leaves the house.... :-)

yea, there seems to be a lot of support for the Panspermia theory (that life first blasted its way to Earth millions of years ago in meteorites etc, not a bad idea actually...), and the other big theory is of course the Primordial soup theory. I think it's also a good one, as it is highly possible that cells could develop in this way, that is, molecules forming nucleic acids, forming nucleus-free prokaryotes, forming prokaryotes with nuclei, in turn forming plant cells and allowing the atmosphere to change to allow other forms of life to emerge. Incidentally, my own research is on cyanobacteria, which are thought to have been one of the most important factors in the formation of plant cells and photosynthesis
However, I recently read about another theory, where living systems originated from inorganic incubators - small compartments in iron sulphide rocks. The idea is that inorganic cells first originated in the deep ocean due to the chemicals contained within hydrothermal vents, that gave a perfect environment for chemical reactions to take place, and kept the resulting molecules in close contact (a problem for cells originating the in atmosphere is that any reactions that occurred would disperse their molecules, which would have an unlikely chance of meeting together to form new life )
So while there are many theories, we don't have the answer yet, but it's out there! :) and much more fun than adam and eve! ;-):-):-)

Thanks everyone for all your replies :-)
I agree about the gut instinct, and I know what mine's been saying to me for ages, but I think I've been trying to ignore it as mostly I've thought things will work out but it seems like maybe I was wrong to do that... I think the thing that causes the most problems is the relationship aspect is the importance each person places on things, and when one person can't understand how something is important to the other then problems arise.
As for work, it's my final year now and I've been thinking where I would like to go after I'm finished and there are a whole set of compromises there too, I've no idea if it's better and stay and continue working on what I'm doing now, in what could be a really great study, potentially making it more difficult to move on after, or to up sticks and try something new?! Does anyone know if it really makes that much difference staying to do a postdoc in the uni where you did your undergrad and phd?! I know there was a thread about this a short while ago and there seem to be varied answers....
ah lots to think about these days I see, lots of choices to make!

mmm...I don't want to say too much, but I'm thinking of the relationship aspect of things....I would have to give up something I've wanted to do for ages to keep someone happy, and I just can't seem to make my peace with it...but I know friends who have compromised on other things, like on jobs, or career versus family etc and wondered if anyone here has had to do the same...

Hi Phoebe

I just wanted to let you know, as everyone else has said, you are definitely not alone in feeling like this! I'm in my final year now, came to do a PhD in a topic quite different from anything I'd ever done before, straight from undergrad and I spent the entire first year wanting to quit. Well, maybe I was ok the first 2-3 months but other than that, I wanted out! I stuck through it though and I'm so so glad I did! Other people who started after me seemed to be getting on much better than I was and doing loads of lab work, while I spent the first 6 months literally reading up on my topic and finding out what I actually needed to research. Now, I have a paper being published, I've got most of my lab work done including some really interesting stuff and my main supervisor seems to think of me as a 'real' scientist! (the other supervisor likes to make me think I'm stupid, but I see through his cunning plan...)...So the point is, don't worry, don't compare yourself to others, it's your project, give yourself time to get to grips witht he topic and design research that YOU are happy with and you'll be fine. Trust in yourself.

Hi there
I think you are just right for what you have planned that day, if you know yourself that you won't be able to do anything constructive that morning and you'll just work yourself up into a tizzy then go and do something else to take your mind off it. Arrange whatever you like now, at the time, if you think you really want to stay and do some last minute prep then I'm sure your friend will understand if you have to cancel :-) Best doing what you can to keep yourself calm!

Hi folks

sorry for the rather random nature of this post but I just thought I might find some words of wisdom here...I'm just sitting here comtemplating the nature of things, and I was wondering how everyone feels about settling for things. I know in life there are always things that have to be compromised on, but at what stage does the compromise become giving up what you really want and settling for something less? I suppose this can go for anything really, from work to relationships, and I seem to have reached a point where I have to make a decision soon about the kind of compromise I am able to make and I just can't do it. On the one hand I could be giving up something really great, but on the other hand, I don't know if I'll ever feel fully satisfied with staying with the compromise I feel I'm making. So while I feel like i should be happy for what I've got now, I feel like I'm giving up on something better, out of fear I suppose...

Sorry for the slight rambling here, wine is involved! Just thought I'd see if it's just me or if anyone else feels like this sometimes...