Good luck in you meeting Butterfly; keep us posted :-)

Hi girls,

Just wanted to check in to see how you are doing. I keep moving forward, and actually, if I wasn't this short of time, I would have called it a productive day. It's funny how everything is so relative. Anyway, I'll work for a bit longer since, for a change, I seem to have something to write about at the moment. Unfortunately I'm no where near being able to wrap up this chapter :-(

Ruby, how's chapter 5 coming along?

Lara, go on lass you are almost there. You've already pulled out the thesis, you just need to "iron" it a little bit so it looks better. Lara, Lara, ra, ra, ra!!!! Now it's me cheering you up (up)

Yay! you're right, I was looking at the wrong clock.... yay!!!!!

Hi,

Sorry I couldn't come back to say good night last night. I worked until 2am and then just dropped... literally. God! I just found out that today is the end of summer time, which means that I'm already an hour later than I thought I was this morning :-s

Good luck with chapter 7 Lara, I hope you get it done soon. And thanks for your comments, I really am trying my best. Hopefully it'll all come around at the end.

Come on Ruby, you have to tell us all about the birthday party, it is all the (virtual) social life Lara and I can hope for these days... please???? :-x

So, aim for today: I do not know if it is possible, but I really need to wrap up this discussion chapter.

Talk soon

Hi,

I'm in for the night shift too. But I don't want to go to bed too late. Last night I went to sleep at 3.30 because I didn't want to stop, but this morning, actually afternoon, I got up at 1pm and ended up getting back to work quite late. I don't think it's worth it. If I get to bed before 2am I should be able to get up before 10am and start at decent time and make the most of the day as well. So, that's my new resolution: going to sleep not too late, and getting up not too late either... could I be any more ambiguous? :p

I've made some progress today, but I'm still feeling that I won't have enough time to even finish an acceptable document, let alone a good thesis. I'm going to be so lucky if they give me major corrections... :-(

I'll drop by to say good night later... back to work now :-s

Happy birthday Ruby!!!!

You are not going to believe this, but I'm listening to Led Zeppelin right now; "No quarter" to be precise. What are the odds?

I hope you girls are making some progress. I couldn't drag my self to keep on writing what I'm now calling "the missing chapters" (I just can't find the words) after dinner, so I decided to start assembling the final document. So I put everything that I've written so far in the same file, and made sure that the headings, format, references and bibliography is maintained. It didn't take too long since I've been using the same template for all my independent chapters, so they actually merged quite well. I was also afraid that EndNote could misbehave with the transition, but since I've been using only one library, it seems to have done the trick and everything is holding together just fine. The only thing that I didn't like is that after putting every thing together I realised that the whole length of the thesis is not great, so there is still a lot more, and I mean A LOT more to write. I just hope I'll have the time and energy to do it.

Lara, how are you getting on?

Back to work :-s

Hi Ruby and Lara,

It is so good to read your posts, it really keeps me going no matter what. I haven't been able to make much progress on this chapter six (analysis), it is really hard when you have to start from scratch; but then again, it is also really hard when you already have the structure and you are trying to find the right words to fit what you have said so far... so, in fairness this thesis writing business is too hard however I see it :-s

Lara, you've got me worried for a moment with that post that read as if you were panicking and thinking about not submitting at all. Fortunately you seem to be calmer now. I've been feeling the same for a while, but a friend of mine made me see that this is not over yet, even after submitting, that is just another step ticked off, but there is still the viva and then the corrections. And that we'll be assessed both on the thesis and the viva, so all of this that you are learning as you put together the final document, will be very useful for the next step. So just keep going, submit and take a well deserved rest before tackling the next task. Come on love, we can do this :-s

Ruby, I know exactly how you feel about having a long day at work waiting for you tomorrow. Last week I asked my boss if I could set my exams the week after I submit the thesis, and he said no; they have to be ready for the external examiner this week, just like that. Now I have to go in tomorrow early enough to get it done before my lecture in the evening, and it is my last chance before I get into total seclusion before the submission day. As if I didn't have enough things to do. Any way, has to be done.

So, I'll be around for tonight's shift, at least for a while, and after tomorrow will be chained to the desk until a single pdf file is produced with the complete thesis in it ready for printing and binding.

Battle face :-s:-s

======= Date Modified 18 Oct 2008 13:07:48 =======
Hi girls,

I'm also in for a weekend of work, work and more work. I have to finish this chapter 6 and if I do, I'll definitely be on the other side. It's going to be a tough one though because I do not yet have the structure for it. Any way, as usual I can only try and do my best.

Ruby, I'm with you with the time consuming task of formatting and organising images for inclusion in your thesis, and future work as well. And since you mention the story board, why don't you make a quick note of all the steps you have to follow for each image to come out the way you need it and just keep it there next to you and follow the process, mechanically for a while. Obviously you do not need it, since you know in your mind exactly what you are doing, but if for some reason you divert your attention from the boring, and repetitive task of formatting the images, say because of a break, or you just wondered away in some other window of your computer, you can always come back to your notes and quickly say.... "a yes, I was in step two of image 3..." and so on. That way you can pick it up again with out much delay. I know you could spend the whole weekend doing something like this, ant it is boring, but it wouldn't be difficult since you have mechanised it. Then when that is done, you can actually forget about that and just use your new image library, to keep on working on the thesis. I'd say you want to get it out of the way as soon as possible since you do not want to deal with this kind of things when you are stressed trying to get the content in the chapters before submission. Just a thought :-)

Lara, I'm very happy that the feedback turned out well, so you just need to do a final editing of your document and you'll be good to go (up). The way you went about recording and transcribing your sup's comments, by the way, is exactly what I did to collect my data. I went around doing interviews, recording them and then transcribing so I can analyse them. And that exactly is what I'm up to right now with this chapter six. It is the analysis chapter so I need to bring back all the conversations I had with my informants and make sense of them.

Any way, best of luck :-s

======= Date Modified 17 Oct 2008 02:05:12 =======
Hi girls,

Just a quick post 'cause I'm wrecked and I need to go to bed now otherwise I will never make it to work tomorrow (later this morning actually). Sorry I haven't been around much, but I've been following the forum, so I'm still with you. I finally finished that horrible chapter 3 and I just emailed it to my sup. So, next up is the analysis chapter (Chp. 6) which I have to finish over the weekend... that's going to be a tough one :-(

Lara, don't worry too much about your corrections. The good news is that instead of you wondering about what you should write here and there, and if the whole thing makes sense at all, they are going to tell you exactly what you need to do. So, one week should be enough time for you to incorporate the corrections, especially if you have already read the whole thing for mistakes. You'll be grand (up)

Talk tomorrow 8-)

======= Date Modified 13 Oct 2008 12:17:32 =======
Hi everyone,

It looks like it's been very slow in this forum over the weekend. I hope everyone made good progress. I've made some myself, and I've got a plan for the rest of the month, although it could be a bit too ambitious. I'd like to have all my chapters finished by the end of next weekend, and then take the following one (which is a bank holiday weekend here) to put together the final document and work on some corrections I've been given. If that works out OK, I could submit a couple of days before the 31st (fingers crossed).

Lara and Ruby, how are you doing? I hope everything is working out.

Mira, welcome back! sorry to hear that the trip didn't go that well. It's great to have you back though.

Today I'm staying home to keep on working on this chapter and I'm only going to work in the evening for my lecture. So have to make the most of it :-s

Talk soon,

Hi Girls,

It's been crazy busy lately and I haven't been able to post any updates, sorry about that :$

TG, it is fantastic to have you back! I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your new job. You have to tell us all about it some day.

Pari, I know sometimes working in a lab can be very frustrating, but you are getting on just fine. You'll end up with a brilliant PhD ;-)

Ruby, I'm so sorry to hear that you were not feeling well, I hope you are better today. Pick something light to work on so you do not stop, but you do not tax yourself either. And if you feel like taking a nap now and then... go ahead, that's the only way to get better. Please take care of yourself *hands a cuppa*

Lara, That's great that you got a minitramp. They are great fun. Although I use them in a different way than you will. I used to do gymnastics and now I'm in the trampoline club in my uni. That's like in the Olympic sport, but I haven't turn up for training in like 6 moths; nevertheless bouncing up and down is always great fun, no mater the scale of it, so enjoy :-)

As for me, I owe you a bit of an update. It turns out that my supervisor wrote back to me with comments about what I handed in last. Apparently it is not absolute rubbish... his words were: "it's taking shape". He pointed out things that are missing that I'm already working on, so I knew that; and gave me a couple of very good points on how to make my case narrative better, which I missed, so all in all I felt relieved because I felt I'm on the right path. Still there is loads of things to do and very little time.

Now besides the days I work only on the thesis, I'm trying to clear my to-do list at work before lunch, and work on the thesis in the afternoons while I wait for the time for my lectures, which are always after 6pm. That means that I'm slipping behind in a lot of other things I'm expected to do, but all of that is just going to have to wait. There is only so much little me can do :-(

So, today is critical and I have to push it really hard so I can make good progress and then come up with a plan for the weekend to see if I can start putting together the final document, even if the last two chapters are still in draft -10 form.

So... Best of luck to you and... to work :-s

Hi Ruby,

I'm here too, working. I did make a bit of progress yesterday and last night, but nowhere near what I need. Although I'm very close to, at least, finishing this section I'm stuck in; it's driving me crazy! :-s. I went to bed somehow late last night, and this morning before starting, did some well overdue housekeeping; nothing major, just enough to keep the flat (barely) within living standards... you know yourself.

You are right about the telly, it is such a nice thing to be able to just sit down for lunch or dinner in front of the box, especially when one works in such isolation as we do. So, nothing to feel guilty about that *So I keep saying to myself* :p

Anyway... good luck with finishing that chapter, and I'm going to put the best of my efforts into it as well. Hopefully I'll give you an update at the end of the day saying that I could finish the chapter *So I keep dreaming* ;-)

Lara, I hope you are feeling better now and that you are taking a well deserved rest. Please get well first and then you can come back to work with renewed strength.

Pari, I hope you are having a nice weekend before going back to battling the chemicals tomorrow.

Angel, welcome to the thread; it is good to have you around and best of luck with your corrections. Can I take it (from the user name) that you are in Newcastle? No need to answer that if you rather remain incognito. I'm just curious because I have friends there working in the biochemistry/immunology field.

So back to work :-s

Hi girls,

Sorry I haven't been around that much. It's been crazy in work with the new class that started last night. On the bright side, it is a great class, I enjoyed last night lecture, but ended up completely knackered. I couldn't bring myself to switch on the computer again when I got home, although, I got a phone call from my family and I ended up having to switch it on anyway for skype, which resulted in me going to bed really late... Anyway.

My dearest Ruby, you have described in your latest posts so accurately how I've been feeling this past week, that it looks like I could have written it myself. Low motivation, overwhelming feeling of poor achievement, the eyes of people casting their critical views on me, and the embarrassment of having next to nothing to show for. I haven't got news from my supervisor, but I haven't written him either, as I have very little to update since the last time. So no confirmation from him about the extension, however I've got an email from IT services confirming that the expiry date for my account has been removed, which means that my student record has been modified. So, I can take that as a yes, I have the extension. But I'm far, far away from being ready, so there is loads of work to be done just before submitting, and as Lara says, there is still the Viva to prepare to and the mayor corrections I'm sure I will be given. Most likely, I'll be around for still a long time as well.

Lara, I'm glad to hear that you are having a bit of a more relaxing time and that you are working your corrections without having to fret any more. All that hard work is paying off now. I loved you *Matron report* but I'm thinking that I'll need someone a bit stronger than that; perhaps super nanny herself could come and put me in the naughty step until I finish the thesis. Although instead of putting me there for a minute per year of age, I might need a full day per year of age...:$

Celesmai, congratulations on the new arrival. That is fantastic news and I'm glad that both you and Sofia are well. Enjoy your little bundle of joy!

As for myself, I know I've said this before, but I can no longer afford to feel sorry for myself or put things off. Time is running short and I need to get this done now. So I'm going to go crazy this week end and try to get a final version of the first five chapters on a single pdf file as a "separata" of the thesis and distribute it to proof readers while I work on the remaining two chapters. :-s

I can do this!!!! :-s