You're very welcome Ruby, and that is brilliant that you have finished a chapter tonight! you deserve a good night sleep! well done you.

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Armendaf, well done you working away!! sounds like you're making great progress!
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well i am joining you guys on monday, so see you tommorow morning, for the battle!!:-s
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even though had the weekend "off" couldnt really switch my brain off, its still there niggling in the back the stress of getting the thesis done. i dont think you can ever switch off until its done and dusted.
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i just found out my favourite actor is in a play in london! I am going to book a ticket to see it after nov 1st - after my deadline, as a treat hehe :-)
right now, i am still in incarceration. literally feel like i am in jail haha., just another month of time i have to serve, then i am free !! lol

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see you tommorow folks. i'm glad of the company :-)

Morning all.

Lara, that's a great idea to book that ticket, it will be proper treat post submission to take your mind off thesis stuff for a while!

Try not to worry about what your supervisor's feedback will be as it's an unknown thing at the moment, you can still do lots yourself before that - you might see flaws or corrections needed when you check it yourself when you re-read it. You get so close to it when you're working towards a deadline that you sometimes miss small things that will be really obvious after a break. That extension is a brilliant opportunity to check it through and spot these little things, so it's great you've got it and it's long enough to make a difference to your final submission too.

Can I ask, nosey or not - don't you ever get grumpy or irritable at anything? You never seem to, at least on here. I wish I was more like that but I suppose it's different temperaments at the end of the day.

Armendaf, how are you doing...?

Anyway, it's Monday, so down to business. The long chapter 4 still isn't done and I want to finish it by the end of today. There's a lot more to go into it, but it *should* be achievable if I stay focussed.... I need to be able to email a good progress update to my supervisor by the end of tomorrow, so this chapter is part of it. If I can get it all done quicker than our artificial deadlines and shave a few extra weeks off those, she should be pleased.

I can't seem to wake up properly today, though it was really nice to hear the birds twittering away above my window somewhere, loads better than waking up to an alarm clock. It seems to be mostly blackbirds and blue tits, I love the way the blue tits bounce along when they walk, they are so tiny :-) I'll have another coffee and get started. See you later!

:-s (up)

Yes we really do read everything. Need to make sure you're all happy bunnies and not being terrorised by people using rude words :p And no, it's not too boring reading all the posts! This thread is my personal favourite though - it's great hearing how well you're all doing!

Hi Lara and Rubyw,

It is good to hear that you are doing OK and that you are making progress. I put as much time on it as I could over the weekend, but I'm not happy with my progress. I did get a couple of things out of the way, like a couple of paragraphs to link up sections and a table that needed to be done from scratch. However, motivation doesn't seem to be there lately and obviously that adds up to the stress. Anyway... The other thing is that I haven't heard from my supervisor, so I do not know if he's read what I handed in last week, or if he's got confirmation for my extension. Today I'm stuck in work, and lecturing this evening, so not much I can do about it, but tomorrow I'll go work in the university. It'll give me a change of scenery that may help with the motivation, and perhaps I could talk to my supervisor and make sure that there are not surprises with the dates I'm working towards.

Today though, I have loads of things to do in terms of organising to make sure that I can get the most time off work for the thesis. So, no more feeling sorry for myself. I'll clear my to do list at work today, so nothing to worry about that for the rest of the week, and tomorrow :-s will go to the university to work on the thesis and finish those chapters that just need closing. If that is done during this week, then I'll be alright with the time I've got left *puts on battle face* :-s

Lara, let us know how you are doing with reading the thesis and fixing it here and there. I hope it is a much less stressing process that the one you have already been through. As Ruby said, do not worry too much about what your supervisor will come up with. I'm sure you'll do a much better job fixing it than he can, after all, you know it like the back of your hand.

Ruby, good luck with that chapter, and the progress report you need to hand in to your supervisor. I'm sure you'll be grand, just stay focused today and tomorrow and it will come around; these things always come around. Especially if you've already put all that effort.

Caz, thanks for looking after our thread. Would you consider making it a sticky one, since it is the longest and most popular ;-)

So, best of luck girls, I'll come back later to check in and get an update 8-)

Oh no, I hope you don't, but you're joking Armendaf, yes??!! Stickies can be overused I think, there's something about them that brings out the rebel in me, especially if it's a user generated thread. It makes me think sooo, someone's telling me this is so important I should keep on noticing it everytime I look at the forum, but how does someone decide on everyone else's behalf what particular level of importance it should have, or that it should have some sort of longevity imposed on it?

I think stickies work best for the techie support and admin news things. That tips thread was a good idea originally, but now it's so long that it doesn't work very well anymore IMO, the info covers too many general categories of PhD life and anyway the whole forum is full of tips and advice when you think about it, but it's all more focussed in specific threads. If a thread's of any lasting general interest, won't it remain visible anyway through frequent posting, regardless of when it was started....?

Anyway, I've done hardly anything so far today so I'd better get out of here...
:$

I didn't think of that... sorry :$

No sticky Caz, please :-)

I think it's just me, am really in a strange mood at the moment... being overly-analytical, probably. I guess I didn't want it to look like we thought we were mega-important around these parts, but I've had to deal with a fair few inflated egos recently and have a horror of appearing that big-headed myself. I think we will always be around at this rate, but absolutely no apologies needed Armendaf, you've got enough on your plate as it is!!!

Don't panic! I wasn't going to sticky it :p Plus don't forget that this thread usually stays up near the top anyway, because it's posted on so often!

Awww Caz, that's so sweet!! thanks so much, so nice of you to say :-) i'd give you a star if i could!

Thanks Armendaf ! I appreciate that :-) yah you and Ruby are right, I shouldn't worry myself thinking what my sups might come up with, and just try to do as much fixing as much as possible myself. good luck with your work today, thats a good idea trying to clear things up at work so you can focus on your phd thesis.
i am sure your sup would have organised an extension. i am sure that they will give you an extension, till the 1st of november. trust me, i didnt think i would get one, and this is like my 2nd extension! so you definately will! but yah its a good idea to get it confirm, so it can put your mind at ease. let us know how it goes with your meeting with the sup! good luck today.

hehe true that, we're always on top ! lol

I feel that the admin people should have their own accountability thread teehee. So admin people, do you all share an office together, what is a normal day like being an admin? :-) I don't know why i am so curious about you lot :p

======= Date Modified 29 Sep 2008 16:36:22 =======
ooops sorry for spamming. i have a teeny tiny brain, that when i start writing a message, i forget the certain points i want to address that appear in everyone's messages, hence why the *quote* feature is so usefull! and why i wrote so many messages
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okay so holiday time is over. back to the grind! :-s (battle face)

my aims for today (thought i would ease into it): i am including the aims i have already accomplished, just so i can tick them off lol

1. email graduate officer saying thanks for the extension *(done)

2. order extra print cartridges (*done)

3. sort out ALL my papers and put them into seperate *subject* piles. at the moment they are in a mountain!

4. sort out all my paper folders, and take out all the old drafts that i dont need anymore, and put them away. so i can have easy access to the new relevant stuff.

5. sift through loose random papers pulling out anything that may be relevant for additional info.

6. sort out my computer files: backup to external hard drive and cds. and sort out all folders i have created that all say FINAL! ahhhh. i am such a messy person, so need to organise all my files and folders. I will write down where all my files are in a book. need to get rid of files i dont need anymore,and instead back them up. and delete all my old drafts of my chapters and just back them up. that way i can free up some space on my laptop aswell as its slow.

7. sort out my reference file.

8. print the pdf version of thesis.

okay i think that should keep me occupied for today!

planning on having dinner at 7pm, so will work on those things until then.

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how is everyone doing ?

Hey everyone!!!!
Firstly Congrats Lara!! u finished with the biggest epic u would write in ur life -ur Thesis!!! (hehe!!!)... wow!!! I am sooo happy for u.... U worked soo hard girl.I really envy ur motivational levels for sustaining through such a long time ...I really hope that u had a gud weekend and have recharged ur batteries!!!And u being the PhD SUPERBABE have already made a list of things to do (with some of them tick marked already!!!!) woooooow!!! thats amazing!!! Dont u worry wat ur supervisor has to tell u, just think of this extension as some extra time..... By the way I feel it was quite irresponsible on his path to have not made time to read ur thesis.....
How r u doing Ruby?? How is work??Wat did ur sup have to say about the chapter that u handed in?? I hope everything is smooth sailing....How did ur weekend go??
Hey!! Amenderf....U also seem to have a list of things to do for today...Did u manage to tick them all??? Hope u r making some gud progress....
I had been to my friends place during the weekend(actually my weekend started friday afternoon!!!:p...and ended monday morning!!) So sorry all that I wasnt with u for the past few days....I am sooo glad that all of u have done Hurculean jobs by the time I was away.....
Ahhh!!! its pretty close to 11 pm, my eyelids are drooping down, butter tuck myself to bed...I have a long day in the lab t'row!!!
Gud nite everyone.... Cya in the morning!!!

Dear Caz!!!
Thanks a tonne for maintaining this thread, and indirectly being responsible for me meeting all these wonderful people!!! BRILLLLIANNNT!!!!(up)

Morning all, Tuesday today I believe, though I must admit I can't remember what day it is sometimes.

Thanks Pari, things are going ok. Your idea of having weekends is quite sweet - they don't exist as such anymore for me :-( I'm either at work-work earning money, or working on my PhD!!! One day, it will be different and I too will have weekends...

Lara, so how did that long task list go then? Good ploy to list things you'd already done so you could tick them off, I've done that before, it makes me feel I haven't really been procrastinating quite as badly hehe! Personally, I think you should definitely ease yourself back into it slowly as you've just *handed your thesis in* and must still be a bit knackered, mentally and physically. Not too slowly though, or it'll be whoops, nearly forgot, wasn't there some old thesis that had to be checked or something... ;-)

Armendaf, hope all is going well with you and you've got a bit more motivation back.

I had an email from my supervisor yesterday asking how things were going, which prodded me into action again. Still doing that long chapter :-s but it will be done today! Really, it will!!! Amazing what a bit of panic and guilt does, isn't it? I've been at it since 7.30, though I only got up properly because I accidentally dropped a pen lid into my coffee and didn't really fancy the enhanced flavour, so it seemed best to get on with work after that. Yesterday was a write-off, I spent an hour and a half on the phone trying to get my broadband problems sorted out (listening to the same track on hold for over an hour!!!!), I had a think about autumn clothes, noted all the work 'dos' coming up that I *should* go to, looked through a few catalogues for events I won't have time to go to and at clothes I can't afford and then whatdoyouknow, it was dinnertime. So today I am gripped by a mixture of guilt and enthusiasm to get the chapter done. :-s Actually, the percentages of those two things allegedly gripping me aren't exactly equal....

See you later then (up)