Thank you Chrisrolinski and Alpacalover for you kind words of encouragement. Things are coming along a bit with my chapter - but I still have loads left to write for it.

Well, didn't do much work today. I watched Rocky 2,3 and 4 (on youtube) in the hope that it would motivate me for tomorrow. Instead, it made me want to be a boxer. Joking aside, I appear to be experiencing a period of low motivation. My supervisor now talks to me as though I've finished my PhD. I haven't the heart to tell her that we're still quite a long way away. It's not that I have lots of chapters to write, it's that the chapters that remain are the hardest to write. What a lot of pretentious rubbish. All I really want to say is, 'Look right, av made this questionnaire to help people and it works. End ov!'

I can relate Wally. I feel I could sum up my work very nicely in a few pages/a 10 minute chat - all this waffle I'm forced to produce does my head in. Try not to worry or feel guilty about the low motivation, I find it's a shy beast that returns only when coaxed and encouraged, it runs a mile from my usual threats and disdain.

Sounds like you've made excellent progress, and hey, we all need a bit of Rocky at times ;-)
Remember, even Adrian told Rocky "You can't wiiiiiiin!" But he did.

Cheers, Teek. If I remember correctly, it was in Rocky 4 that she said that when he was up against Ivan Drago! My opponent (external examiner) is tougher than old Drago. If his brain were muscles he'd probably be...hmm...who's the toughest 80s action hero I know...Arnold Swarztennegger. So, in terms of the intellectual stakes, it's Pee Wee Herman up against the Terminator. Ah well, it's like Rocky says in his 6th outing, 'It's not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward'. And I'm beaten up daily by the intellectual demands of my work.

So, progress report: 3 more papers to write about and critically review for one of my thesis chapters. Then it all needs to be redrafted and typed up (but I've done the tables).

Well ID'd Walminski! Ah, the many summers I spent watching that old video to pass a rainy afternoon.

My external scares me as well, he's terrifyingly important in my field and I'm sure his skull must ache from the size of his brain. The whole thing feels like intellectual David and Goliath, only I haven't got a slingshot :-(

oooh I know this feeling well!! I'm starting to regret my choice of external, I think I managed to voluntarily select the single most knowledgeable person in my field :-( and my internal is a bit of a stats man so he'll spot any holes there no problem. Why do I hate myself so much to do these things to myself?!! External has written some of the very first methods papers in my area, and has been working on it since before I was born. Wonderful! But if (when!) we pass we'll know it;s cos we are amazing, and not just lucky! (turkey)

i don't know my examiners yet and am not going to know til after i submit. am praying i don't get anyone from Cambridge or anyone passionate about research or hang up on methods. i just want simple people who will see that i have made a point and that's it.

am not looking for a nobel prize!

Algae.. - am sure you'll be fine. We all will.

By the end of tonight, I expect my second chapter to be 66.6% done. Stupid vsfhdsicvnsdlkvhslekvnsdjlvhsldnvsldkvnlsdfnvlkfadsnvl-ING! chapter. I'll try and get it most finished off for tomorrow then.

Right, well, I've just about got a 1st draft of a that I'll send off tomorrow, so up yours chapter 2! Just needs a few sentences changing, a couple of references adding and a linking summary written. Now I'm going to have a can of beer and watch a film about a killer tiger. Then back to the grindstone tomorrow...

But first, I have a movie review to write...

Chapter sent. Heaven knows if it's any good, but at least the first draft has gone.