Hello there everyone :)

Good to see everyones still plodding away here! Great work and the chapters Sue, you are getting there! Just make sure you are still taking proper breaks and you don't burn yourself out! I haven't really posted as I've not had much to say, been trying to get the lab work sorted which has been a holy nightmare to be honest. It took ages to get my method optimised and I ran out of stuff I needed so had to wait to order more in etc etc! But I've done the first half of it now, and hopefully *fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed..* I can get it finished by the end of next week. Unlikely, as I still have to order and wait for the last of the stuff to arrive, but I'm an eternal optimist apparently. In the meantime, I'm trying to get my stats sorted, thanks the the help of some wonderful friends in my uni who know much more about it than I do! I even got a good report from my evil sup a week or two ago, I was in shock for a while there!
Still got loads to write, only 2 months really! I have exactly 80 days to hand in! If Phileas Fogg could go around the world in 80 days, I can write this damned thesis! I'm going to stick my head firmly in the sand and just do what I can!

Good luck everyone!! Oh and Sue, the super fancy restaurant? I was thinking about that too, I think I may settle for one Mitchelin Star though, I'm not that rich! :p

Well, after 15 months of leave, tomorrow I go back to my old job in the civil service. It will be nice to not be a prisoner in this study anymore, but I also really still need the time to get this thesis finished. I've been working 16 hour days lately, bursting into tears every few days, but am getting there. By the end of today the thesis will be written, except for the conclusion, and all the data chapters, half of the thesis, will have been rewritten to 4th draft stage. So, I need to finish off the last couple of chapters, read the whole thing, edit it, and submit the complete draft in just over two weeks.

I would soooo like some time off, and have been fantasising about a holiday in a resort in the tropics. But that's not going to happen until September. So am going back to work, completely exhausted, and life will be even more difficult as I juggle work and writing for the last couple of months. I also worry that my supervisors are going to be their usual selves and completely write all over my complete thesis, and it will take me months to fix and I'll never submit, but I'll just have to wait and see what they say...

Thanks for your support everyone, the light at the end of the tunnel is definitely getting bigger!

Good luck Sue, both with adjusting back to the job, and with finishing off the thesis full draft.

You are so close now Sue - you will get there and then in September (when the chaos of the new academic year - reregistration and so on is underway) you will be hopefully off to teh tropics on your holiday. it's only a couple of months :-)

Well, I've survived my first day back in the civil service - and I hate it. I know I found writing up really difficult, and isolating, and downright depressing, but at least I was working on my own work, doing what I wanted to do. The job in the civil service is hard, and doesn't interest me. I think of my uni colleagues who are piecing together careers in academia, and I'm stuck in a city where an academic career is not possible, so am doing a civil service job...seems so far away from academia...yeesh, when do the good parts of life happen? If nothing else, this new job will force me to look for something else in a decent city, and I might finally escape this s**thole...

oh Sue, doesn't sound too good there. I hope your next day in will be better, I know it's crappy doing a job that you hate, but just remember it's giving you the money you need to stay and finish your thesis, the bit that you DO want to do! As hard and crap and emotionally draining that is too! Just keep writing down in a list all the things you want to do when you are done, like holiday, new (better) job in a new (better) city, etc, and use that as your motivation for when things get really bad. And just remember, keep on going!

Hi AQ

Not even the money from this job helps - I had to give up my scholarship when I returned to work. So instead of being a funded student, now I'm a civil servant doing a job I hate...but yeh, will add to the list, and just keep going...

Oh God, that is really grim than Sue....good luck with it.
I am officially turning into the grumpiest person ever, a right oul snappy nag. It's awful! I've moved home, and my poor dad is doing his best scanning stuff for me in case I lose some notebooks in transit when I move overseas, and all I can do is get annoyed that he's not figuring out how to save stuff quickly enough! He's pretty slow with the computer at the best of times, and it is irritating when you have to repeatedly say stuff over and over, but bless him, he's doing me a big favour! And I'm just getting narky :( I can't stop myself! I have warned everyone I know that I'm going to be like this, and apologised in advance, but still it's not nice! Best get stuck in I suppose and get it over with as soon as possible so I can go back to being a normal person before everyone I know hates me! :$

Hi AQ

That's nice of your dad to be helping you out - and am sure he'll understand you being narky at him. He'll forgive you, and then just be so proud of you!!

Yes, this really is the worst time. I haven't had such a bad time in my life, ever. And as we've noticed the closer the finish line is, the more other life stresses pile on too - jobs, parents etc. And now my old dog, who's been my constant thesis companion, is really poorly...on my first day back at work it was freezing here, with sleet, and I came home to a dog who's back legs have lost a lot of strength - I think the cold has made her arthritis worse. So I spent most of Saturday crying, hugging the dog, keeping her warm, and hoping she's going to get better...

Well, better fit in 45 glorious minutes of studying before I get ready to back to the hateful civil service job...

Hi all,

Thanks for the supportive comments - I did feel better after taking the weekend off (after bit of a meltdown!!) and since then have been making steady progress. Not working huge amount of hours each day I have to admit, but certainly have got back in work gear and the anxiety and stress is under control (so far!).

Sue - I really admire the fact that you could put in so many hours a day for such a long period!!! I tend to work really long hours for bit and then once I've met a deadline I need an extended break (as in a day or two) to recover. I'm sorry to hear you're not that happy in the civil service job. How are you doing juggling the job and the thesis? Hope it's going ok. I have to say I also fantasise about a holiday too! If I can manage to finish before my job starts then I may have a chance of a little holiday, but I don't know how likely that will be, given that my supervisor has more or less implied that I should negotiate to start my job later so I could have a few more weeks to work on my thesis. :( Well i will just have to try my best and see what happens.

Algaequeen - how's the move going? Sorry to hear you got annoyed with your dad. He's so sweet to help you scan books and papers. I know what you mean though it's difficult sometimes, you know you shouldn't be annoyed but you are. It's just the stress of the PhD!

Good luck everyone. We're getting there!

My third day of the awful civil service job, I burst into tears, and had to come home. We went to the vet's this morning, and we have to take the dog for an MRI - in another city 3 hours away. So, there's this thesis draft due in 10 days, a new job I have to learn and work at for 4 days a week, and a sick dog needing attention, and travelling time too.

It's too much, I'm just a wreck.

So sorry to hear about your poor dog, I hope thet make a recovery. Hug.

You can do it - you are so, so close!!

awww Sue!!  Just focus on one thing at a time when you are doing it. When you are taking care of your dog, don't let yourself worry about the time away from writing, just think how you'd feel if you didn't spend time with her.  I really hope everything is ok, your poor wee dog. I'll be thinking good thoughts.  Can you give yourself one day off, it sounds like you need a break before you crack altogether? As for the job, don't get too caught up in hating it, it will just suck too much of your dwindling energy reserves, think of it like waxing your legs or going to the dentist or something.  It has to be done, you just have to get in and get out a few days a week and don't even think of it outside of that, concentrate on your thesis.

Montezuma, glad you had a break, it's hard trying to get into work and keep the stress at bay!  I think I'm literally just treading water at the moment! My dad knows I don't mean to be snappy or anything, my parents are honestly a massive help so I'm really lucky there.  Good luck trying to find some middle ground witht he job/thesis though, could be difficult keeping your supervisor on side! I got a snide comment from my nice sup yesterday, I'm refusing to take it to heart, it's just cos he had a bad day but still, sometimes it's not a nice feeling trying to keep your sups happy!!  We just have to keep on going, and before we know it we'll be free!!  

Oh Sue, my thoughts are with you (((((((HUG))))))). You will come out the other end of all this. I'm so sorry your dog is unwell, they are such special companions. I hope the treatment will put her on her feet again. Wishing you strength and courage to get through this dificult time x

Oh Sue my thoughts are with you too. I agree with Algaequeen try focus on one thing at a time - may help you feel a bit less overwhelmed with things. Let us know how your doggie do!! Poor doggie. As for the thesis, you're so close now!! Almost there!

Algaequeen: I've always found it difficult working with my sup. I just really hope he'll give me the support I need at this crucial time, and actually read my stuff (in the past he often took months to read a chapter, and his feedbacks were mostly typo-related...). At least, in a few months time I'll be (relatively) free from him and have a new boss! Good luck with your move! I will have to move home myself too next month, although it's just to another city in the same country (though it's some 7/8 hours drive away so will have to get everything packed and moved in one go!) Gives me a headache just thinking about it. Really hope by the time I have to move I'll have finished the thesis...

Thinking of you Sue! and Good luck everyone!!