That's it for me. Too tired to go on. I hope you did some progress, and that you are in bed resting now. See you tomorrow :-)

======= Date Modified 13 Sep 2008 00:12:25 =======
*sticks his head in*

Hi, I'm still here. For the late and few hours that I've put in today, it is coming around not too bad actually. I'll try to make the most of it and finish this subsection I'm working on and the link with the next one. I'm not quite sure for how much longer though since I'm a bit tired now.

So, one last push :-s and then to bed. I'll come back to see how you are doing before that.

Hi girls,

Clocking in for the night shift as well. I don't know how long I'm going to last, but I'll give it my best :-s Hopefully I'll make some progress.

Back soon with some update

Hi Girls,

I'm in my lunch break now, but I have a meeting afterward and some more work to do before going home to resume writing. I think I might be joining the night shift, need to make it up for.

I haven't heard from my supervisor yet, but there shouldn't be a problem getting the Dean's Grace. So, my deadline for submission is the last day of October. I've been planning on having the thesis fully written by the end of September (already running late there) so I can deal with formatting, printing, and perhaps some minor corrections in October before handing it in. I can't wait to see the back of it :-s

You know what is the best thing about sorting tables for the thesis, Lara? That when you are done sorting them out, the only thing you need to do is to describe them in the thesis. They actually function as a map for your arguments and make writing a bit easier. So, it's time well spent ;-)

Rubyw, you are doing great and you have time, just do not stop. What ever little thing you do everyday is fine and helps you keep the momentum.

I'm off to my meeting now... talk soon

:-)

======= Date Modified 11 Sep 2008 22:00:11 =======
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking when I made the comment about the battle face: something like :-s but with blue paint as in Braveheart... kilts are optional ;-)

Lara and Rubyw, it seems like you are cruising through the thesis. Fair play t'ya! you'll see the back of it in no time.

As I predicted, didn't make as much progress as would have liked to, but at least I finished the subsection I was stuck with and started the following one which is half done but not edited; so not too difficult to pick up again. But that's going to have to be left for tomorrow because I'm tired and I need a shower, dinner and some down time before going to bed... and then off to work again tomorrow, at least no teaching :p

Lara, good luck if you are braving the night shift (Jays, you are my hero!) I'll keep an eye on the forum before going to bed to see how you are doing.

That is great news Swantje! Well done. We all suspected that things were going to turn out this great for you, after all the work and dedication you put into it. Congratulations. Now that everything is done and dusted we just hope that you'll keep in touch. (up)

TG, you did it! it's finished! Of course that the world as we know it can implode thanks to the experiments in the particle accelerator in Switzerland, but that is completely besides the point that you have done the work and reported it in your thesis, in time. Go have a well deserved weekend off and enjoy. 8-)

Lara, good luck with today's writing. We really need to get our respective chapters 3 out of the way soon. Come on, let's go for it *battle face*

Mi writing is not going terribly bad, but it's still painfully and frustratingly slow. I really need to speed it up now. I am however very hungry now and I'm going to break for some food.

Talk soon, :-)

Hi everyone,

I came back home completely wrecked last night after lecturing and couldn't drag myself to even turning on the computer. The lecture went well though, I gave them something to think about and hopefully that'll keep them motivated for the rest of the module. I use this teaching strategy called "problem based learning" which works well: at the beginning of the course I get them into trouble, and they have to learn to get out of it and pass. That way they pull the information from me instead of me having to push it to them. Anyway...

This morning my internet service was down so only now I could read your posts. I'm very impressed to hear the progress that Lara and TG have made. Very good girls keep going you are almost there; Lara just keep in mind that after your viva they are going to give you corrections anyway, so no point in fussing to much about it now. As long as everything that you need to make your point(s) is in, you'll be grand; the fine detail you'll work out after the discussion with your examiners.

Rubyw, you and I are right behind them, so let's keep it positive and try to catch up. We can do this.

Sheena and Minamina, you are doing great integrating into the writers club. Keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

Today I'm working from home, so I'll have (yet) another attempt to finishing this chapter, I know I won't, but I'll be happy with any section completion beyond the first half of it. So, that is my aim: first half finished (section 3.1) and any progress on the second half (section 3.2). I also have to email my supervisor asking for an extension. Well, is something that we can all avail to, it's called the "Dean's Grace" and gives you a chance to submit on the end of October rather than at the normal date of the end of September, I just need to sort it out in advance.

Good luck girls, and back to work now (up)

Well done Lara, that is fantastic progress (up)

I'm only finishing preparing for my lecture that starts in about an hour. It's going to be a loooooong evening :-(

Your best choices, I reckon, for that particular area are: Trinity College Dublin (The University of Dublin) and St. Patrick's College (Dublin City University). I would check the websites and inquire directly to the pertinent academic department.

If you want to check out other cities (towns)/universities I'd recommend The National University of Ireland (Maynooth and Galway), University of Limerick, University College Cork and University College Dublin. I do not know if these ones actually have an academic department dedicated to education though.

Good morning girls,

I'm glad to hear that you are all making good progress.

Lara, you are doing great, do not panic. For what I can see, you have a great capacity to produce writing; believe me, that is the most difficult part of it all. Just do not get sucked into trying to use everything that you've read. The important thing is the argument and that you get your message across. There will be some information you will have to cut off, nothing wrong with that, just make sure that the overall makes sense and every point is well justified.

TG, best of luck with the interviews and we expect a full report when you are back ;-)

Rubyw, I hope you are feeling refreshed now and that worlds are coming to you more easily, tell us how's that going?

Minamina and Sheena, welcome to the forum, the more the merrier. please feel free to post as often as you want and keep us informed of your progress. It does help a lot.

Hi everyone,

It looks like we all kept our heads down today; the forum was pretty quiet.

Do you know how it feels when you find a fiver or a tenner in your pocket when you did not remember it was there in the first place? Well today it happened to me but with written text. It turns out that while I was reading, I came across some arguments that made me remember something I wrote long time ago, but that I discarded because I wasn't using that particular theory in the thesis. Nevertheless, I remembered that the introduction I wrote for that proto-chapter that never saw the light, could be used for the big section which is the second half of the chapter I'm working on at the moment. So, thank God for Google Desktop I found the paper and brought the said piece to my current document. I increased the word count by over a thousand words and fits perfectly with the subject... yay!!!!

Other than that, I finished reading for the next section and found the link to my arguments and have been editing until now. But I still feel I bit frustrated because I can not finish this chapter :-s

Anyway, I hope that you girls did much better than I did. I'm tired now, and I'm going to take a shower and have some dinner before going to bed, but I'll keep an eye on the forum to read your updates.

Back soon,

Hi Sabrina,

I've been following your thread, but didn't get a chance to post before, sorry about that. I'm so glad to hear that things are brighten up for you and that at least you get a different (not so negative) perspective that allows you to see your options. I just wanted to add that if you'd like to discuss the content of your research, perhaps you'd post some details about it and, I'm sure, people depending on their areas will help. I for once know that this is a huge source of frustration and disappointment, since sometimes even when you are doing fine, you can not know because there is no one around to discuss progress or to compare yourself with others; academic departments and supervisors are not great at this.

How are you getting on otherwise? We'd love to hear from you :-)

======= Date Modified 09 Sep 2008 11:22:28 =======
Hi everyone,

I hope things are going well for you all. Just a quick post to check in. I've been reading all morning and I think I still need to read some more, but will definitely start slaughtering that chapter again before lunch time.

Lara you are doing so much work, well done, keep on going. TG, you are so close, great news about chapter 7, is almost done and dusted. Rubyw, cleaning procrastinating is just a temporary condition, after you submit the thesis you'll be back to your usual self, don't worry; the Van Dyke addiction might be a different story though ;-)

K congratulations on submitting the thesis, that's the mother of all accomplishments! Now take some time off and relax, and by the time the rest of us finish, you might have some ideas to keep up this thread to prepare for our Vivas.

Back to work now (up)

======= Date Modified 09 Sep 2008 00:38:57 =======
======= Date Modified 09 Sep 2008 00:36:49 =======
Hi girls,

It looks like I missed a lot by not being around today.

Lara and TG, please don't pay attention to those comments. I know how annoying it is when people make the sightliest gesture of disapproval, disbelief or lack of sensitivity towards your work, let alone when the dare to verbalise their thoughts in the form of a comment. I for once, have heard them all: "are you sure you are going to finish on time", "please, get it over with...", "What do you mean you don't know how long is going to take?". You can imagine that none of these comments have made me feel any better about myself, and don't even get me started on the conversation that followed each of them. So, I've decided that I'm going to heed none of it and just do what I have to do and that's it. I'm doing the PhD for myself and for myself alone, so if I make it or not, is my own business and I'll deal with the benefits or the consequences as I so suit. As you can imagine, so did I have a similar conversation recently. Anyway, to be fair, I have to say that both, my colleagues at work and my fellow students in the uni, they are all very supportive. Not as much as my writing buddies in the forum though ;-)

This thesis thing is coming around anyway: TG, you've got your chapter 7 and the introduction almost sorted; and Lara, you are cruising through the writing, you'll have those chapters drafted in no time; and Rubyw you've got that "graphic novel" of your PhD sorted. I tell you this thing is coming around... you are almost there.

Today I could only do a little bit of reading before going to work, and I was planning to do a bit more before going to bed; but I'm too tired for that. Tomorrow I'll get up early and start working straight away. I do not have to go to work, so I'll make it an intensive thesis day.

By the way, my mouth has gotten used to the new shape of my tooth and I'm not getting the tongue nor the inside of the cheek scratched any more, and eating doesn't feel awkward either, so it's fine now. I still have to be careful no to brake it again, otherwise it would be beyond repair. My lecture this evening (2 hrs) was OK, but I also have another one on Wednesday evenings (4hrs). I'm only dealing with lecturing and preparations on those two days leaving all other days of the week for the thesis, I really need to keep focused.

Have a good night, and I'll talk to you in the morrow 8-)

Hello again,

At the end I did some reading following my mind map which gave me more ideas to resume writing. It did take the best of my efforts to stay focus, and I think I could only do it because I had the telly showing the proms in the background; no point in actually watching it so just sat with my back to the box and read, it also kept me from changing the channel and watching something else. So there you go, new reading technique ;-) By the way the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was brilliant playing Brahms Symphony No.3.

I do not know when I'll be able to come back to writing, since tomorrow I have a busy day at work. I can however, read some more if I get there early enough, and I could even write something off the computer while reviewing the papers... yeah, I think I'll do that.

Lara and Rubyw, I hope you girls could make some progress, but also have some time to relax. After all it is Sunday :p

TG, we know you did have a great day, I'm so envious. Well done (up)