Hello people!!!!
I hereby declare that all of u deserve 5 gold stars for all the work u have done!!!(up) hip hip hurrah!!!!!
Tractor girl.... Wow, can u send me a copy of the thesis please...I just want to see and feel and smell a freshly bound thesis...as I cant wait for 3 more years to experince the feeling!!! I am sure that u r on Cloun number 9!!! U deserve more than fish n chips.... *uncorks a bottle of champane* Cheers!! tractor girl!!!! Ur parents must be sooo proud of u.....
Rubyw...Oh!! dear wat a crisis situation at home...Thank God u got it fixed...I am sure u r back on track with ur work..... I am soooo happy that u r solution oriented, I would have just felt bad abt the whole situation and ruined my day!!!
Lara.....keep the words comming!!! The last lap is always the longest; but it is also the most satisfying!!!!
Had a gud day at collage today...had to design experiments for the next week along with a small proposal....Now, I am just going to read some papers so that I dont seem like a too much of a dufice when I speak to my Prof next....
I know all of u r swamped with work and writing up is taking up a major chunk of ur lifes...but please take care of ur health and eat on time....try to catch ur share of 40 winks each day....I know its tooo much to ask but do try....
Take care all u lovely people...
c u in the morning!!!:-)

Thanks Pari, you are very sweet. I promise I'll take care of myself :-)

Rubyw, I'm glad to hear that you've got that pipe sorted, on the bright side, it happened when you were at home so could deal with it without major drama. There is never a good timing for things like that, I know. Good luck with going back to work, I hope you'll be able to work out something so you can stay focused on the thesis. I talked to my boss yesterday and told him that since I needed as much time as possible to keep writing, I will be only turning up for my lectures. He was happy with that and now I'm excused from any faculty meeting from here until I finish. I still have to teach a lot of hours though.

Lara, regardless of how much progress you've made on that chapter, remember to get some rest and dinner before the night shift tonight. And remember to put on your battle face :-s Best of luck!

TG, well done on submitting and getting everything sorted. Now you can take it easy and relax, you have plenty of time before the Viva.

I have found it really hard to gather any motivation to finish this chapter. I practically didn't make any progress and feel like I wasted the whole day. I know that when I finish this chapter two more will follow very closely because they are already written and I will only have to write two more after that, but it is taking so long that I do not know if I'll ever be able to actually do it. Anyway, no point on wallowing, so I'll try again tomorrow.

Talk soon,

Hi,

Armendaf, try not to get despondent about not feeling you've made any progress on that chapter, that's the way it goes sometimes. You've been working hard this week and can't do everything - if only we could switch our brains on and off when we need a bit of inspiration, but we can't. I did virtually nothing yesterday, but sometimes that happens. Would it mess up your flow of thought to start working on one of your other chapters, even though it's in the wrong order? I'm thinking of shelving my chapter 1 for a bit and looking at the other 3 I've got to do, as I think they're more straightforward and it might make me feel like I'm getting somewhere. I know I'll have to revisit the dreaded chapter 1 several times again, but maybe a bit of mental distance between you and your problem section is needed sometimes to get you motivated again.

Good that you can get out of work commitments though, these things take up so much time - I already know what meetings they're got in the diary for me tomorrow!

Pari, thank you for your enthusiasm, it's very cheering! Hope your papers are interesting!

Lara, hope all is going ok with you, take care.

I've done my amendments to my chapter and emailed it to myself for tomorrow, so I'm off to bed in a bit. I know it's still a right old mess, but I'm finding it difficult and I know it'll need loads more work, but that's fair enough as it's an important section.

Oooh, work tomorrow... what's in store for me, I wonder....? It will be nice to see other people again though!

Anyway good luck with the work, but that's me finished for now - night all.

Hi: Just thought I'd check in as a new person on the forum: settling in for an allnighter on my 3rd chapter which is due for my review..... I keep thinking why am I doing this? I work part time and have taken this week off to work on my chapter, I know that if I want to do it I have to do an all-nighter for each chapter: but I am just irritated, I don't think it's interesting, etc etc.
so just posting on here rather than sending an email to myself rambling on. It was great to read your postings too, to make me feel I'm not alone.

Hi Fiona,

Hope your writing went well!

You can still ramble on this thread actually (I'm guilty of that, it just happens...) but you get replies, which is nice.

Hi to Fiona, hope u r keeping it up. I'm fairly new to this writing madness as well.
Tractor girl-congrats on your job, you will get more confident as you go on. But be happy that you got it and you like to do it which most people don't find just after writing.
My progress has been clouded by family issues for the past few days and uni stuff which is the annoying admin things that goes wrong. But I'm back on writing today and need to finish off my first results section at least by tomorrow. Then hopefully get a start on introduction before next week.
Good luck to all -keep sitting on that chair and go on & on & typing!

Hey!

What's going on here? our thread went over to the 2nd page, that's not right!

Anyhow, Rubyw thank you very much for your kind words. I was feeling a bit down last night. Probably because I got into one of those conversations where people check you up if you are on target... you know yourself. But you are right, full time job and thesis at the same time is not easy, and there is only so much I can do. So, today I'll try to get work related stuff out of the way as soon as possible and perhaps put aside a couple of hours before my lecture this evening to do some thesis work. And then tomorrow I'll give it the whole day again. Thanks Rubyw, you are a star. How's work? :-)

Lara and Fiona, I hope you're having a well deserved rest after your all-nighter. How did it go?

Talk soon,

======= Date Modified 17 Sep 2008 12:43:44 =======
Hey everyone! and a warm welcome to the newcomers!! great stuff! the more the merrier!

just a really quick message for now, as i am behind schedule! but just wanted to register my attendence!

and say hello to everyone.

i didn't stay up till that late, only managed around 3am i think it was. i was so sleepy. so i still have to finish chapter 4. so i've given myself a deadline to finish it by 3pm. i'm sitting on my bed with my laptop so i'm comfortable. so not getting up till its done (battle face) grrrr :-s

thanks everyone for their lovely messages!! i will reply to you all individually soon. but i just wanted to say thanks so much for the encouragement and the compliments. you all are so great!! :-)

be back soon!

======= Date Modified 17 Sep 2008 13:00:44 =======
quick question!

i keep swapping tenses, which is bad!.

so when i am describing my results and findings, present or past tense??

"Even though this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.08) the trend suggests that the levels ..."

or ""Even though this difference is not statistically significant (p = 0.08) the trend suggests that the levels ..."

i once read that what is most important is sticking to one tense and keeping consistent. so i just need to pick one and stick with it, but cant decide which.

======= Date Modified 17 Sep 2008 13:20:34 =======
The second version looks best, I think... the results haven't been superceded by a new lot of results, so maybe present tense is ok. As you said, consistency is the best thing.



See you later for a proper post after lunch!

Thanks Ruby! i agree , :-) it sounds better. okay will be consistent now and make sure when im proof reading to look out for tense changes.
have a good lunch!

Woooow!!!!! Just logged on now between reading some papers... and wat do I see.... A whollle lot of posts!!!!
Hello Everybody!!! How is it going???
....Sometimes u need to shift concentration from one thing..take a break and get back... U will perform better!!!! Not that any of u need any tips coz all of u are giving up ur 100 percent for ur PhDs....!!!
Welcome to the new commers... (though I am preety new here myself!!!) I am sure u will find a good sounding board in this forum....
Will post a longer mail later.... Got to get back to my work.... and I need to bake 2 cakes as well.....
Keep the spirit roaring!!!!
;-)

======= Date Modified 17 Sep 2008 18:12:25 =======
i love your enthusiasm Pari, you remind me of Tiger! from winnie the poo.
----------
yeh!! i have finished the results section of chapter 4. its all finalised with figures and a few extra analysis, but cant think of anymore, so its done. it's good enough , as they say! will need another read through and final checks for grammer and table numbers and figures and other tid bits. which i will do later.
--
now to completely finish chapter 4, i have to proof read and edit the discussion i wrote last week. and then fix the introduction bit. and then i can tick off my list. and then after dinner move onto chapter 5.
--

i glued myself to the bed with my laptop for the past 5/6 hours! i'm bursting for the loo now, sometimes you just have to be really strict with yourself to get something done. i'm 3 hours past the deadline i set myself though! things always take longer than you anticipate!!
==
hope everyone is having a good day. (up)

Lara, not that strict - there are limits!!! Some bodily functions shouldn't be ignored! Great that you've done so much today - so chapter 4 is nearly all done and ticked off, well done, another step nearer The End! Good luck with the rest tonight.

Armendaf, I hope you're feeling a bit perkier today, there are so many ups and downs in this PhD business, aren't there.

Pari, how have your cakes turned out?

Sorry I didn't write anything earlier, I felt a bit cheeky popping in from work, so to speak. It was completely madly busy there, but that's not surprising really. Quite nice news on the PhD front, apparently they liked my pics for that exhibition and they're giving me extra space for it. Interesting to see which ones went down well!

I'm knackered and I'm off tonight, but good luck with your work, those of you still glued to the computer.

Hi girls,

Thanks Rubyw, I am feeling better, and actually had put the thesis out of my mind for the moment since I'm in the middle of a lecture. Only that my students are finishing an activity, so have to wait for them. It's still a good hour and a half to go, so will get home quite late and tired. Just wanted to post a quick one to see how you are doing. So, your first day back to work went well?

Well done Lara for finishing that, you'll be out of it in no time. Now, don't over do it. Take a good break, or even better leave the rest for tomorrow. You need your rest. If you can afford it, that is ;-)

I don't think I'll have the energy to switch on the computer when I get home so I'll sign off now. I will be, however, working from home all day tomorrow.

Talk to you later 8-)