Sorry to hear about your brother, I hope he will get well/ better soon. But I am also happy to know/read about your progress. Well done!(up)

Hi Ady and Huhu, thanks a lot! He has recovered completely :-)

How are you both doing, sorry I have been away again. I hope both of you are getting on fine with the work :-)

I have completed one of the chapters of my work, working on the second and will be finishing by the first week of Nov. I am planning to hand in both of the chapters after polishing mid Nov. I have made time table for the next whole month. If everything goes ok and if I stick to the schedule I will have finished 2 descriptive chapters on algorithms and models (5000 words each) and half of two other main chapters by the end of Nov. This might sound too ambitious but I will have to!

Good luck every one!! (up)

Hi Cindrella, Just to check how have you been? How is your work going? Swetch

Hi all,

I am extremely sorry, I have been away for a long time as I was so stressed with everything - the thesis, new relationship, funding running out, further extension?, simulations crashing and so on. I have vaguely written down two chapters and still plodding on. I don't know if I will be able to finish this thing ever! Oh well, am going to keep going. I don't have a choice!

Swetcha,

How are you doing? and how are you getting on? Hope all is well :-)

Hi Cindrella

Good to see you back:-) - life sounds like it is full on for you at the moment. Keep plodding on as you say and you'll get there. Tick those things off your 'to-do' list and it'll happen, we have every faith in you (up)

Hi Cindrella, Glad to see you back. I am struggling to finalize my conclusion chapter. Sups had some comments such as to include implications, contribution to knowledge etc. I found this the most challenging chapter. I am almost done with the rest of the chapters - needs some corrections though. It has been very difficult to keep myself motivated...

Hi Ady, Thank you very much for your words! That was very much needed :-)

Hi Swetcha, wow it is great to hear that you have pulled the threads together. I am pleased for you :-) I am sure your conclusions chapter will be as fantastic as the rest (up)

Oh dear, am I ever going to hit the finish line? I am really loosing hope, end of Dec is long gone and I am dreading the end of March when funding will run out. I am totally burned out and I can't sleep other than panicking :-( I was supposed to submit the first draft of all the chapters today but I haven't even sent one chapter to my supervisors yet. I am dying of guilt and am burying myself in my tiny little room, not wanting to face the outside world :-( God, save my PhD!!! Sorry for the rant :-( am in a low point!!!

Hi Cindrella,

I just saw your thread.
I understand the feeling. As you know, the Dec 2011 deadline has also gone for me and I even still have a major part to simulate. I'm trying to just keep going.

Is it possible if you take a break for a while/ few days? Go to the parks or anywhere? Usually, thinking/ trying to figure out things when you are panic only make things worse or at least appear worse than they really are. After refreshing, how about if you just send whatever that you have. It's the the first draft-  for sure you will need to edit it later, no matter how perfect you want it to be this time.

Feel free to rant- don't worry.

Hi Cindrella, u r not alone. We all r in the same boat. yeah, our Dec 31 deadline is gone but we have no choice other than think positive. I too was feeling very down few weeks back and could not work for many days. I felt completely blank but now things r going ok after few days of break from conclusion chapter. I felt mental block and therefore was doing easy tasks....reading old chapters, referece checking, entering pending references into endnote, updating a chapter with recent data etc. I am sure u will also come over this phase....lets be positive !!

Hi Swetchha, Huhu and Cindrella - you all sound a bit blue so I just wanted to say that you will do it, and the forum is behind you and believe that you will get there. The last few months/weeks I found terribly difficult and it's hard to maintain the motivation but you will all get there.

A virtual pressie for each of you, each filled with lots of positive thoughts (gift)(gift)(gift)

Hi Ady, so sweet of you. Thank you for sending positive vibes :) :). BTW, the link you sent to me on Harvard system of referencing has been a great help. It has made my life much easier. Thanks once again for that but I still have some silly questions. Please help me this as well ! The questions are again on referencing:

Craig writes: This is a "mass psychology". I quote Craig as - As Craig says, indeed "[t]his is a "mass psychology"".

Q.1. Is the way I put [t] correct? as I changed it from caps to small.
Q.2 See the problem two quotes together. I then changed 'mass psychology' in italics. Am I allowed to do that?
Q.3 If the quotes I am referring to has American English, should I change to British or leave the quote with what the spelling it has.

Please don't laugh at me.

@Swetcha,
I think its ok to add italics to a quote but you need to say that that is what you've done e.g. "a 'mass psychology'" (emphasis added). Not sure about changing capitals but your approach looks ok. I would leave American spellings as they are, to stay as true as possible to the original.

Hi Swetchha

I would agree with Clupea in that you should add something like (emphasis added) or similar. While I know what you are do with the quote, I think it could be dangerous changing a quote; some examiners just might not like it. I would also leave American spellings in quotes as they are. If the rest of your thesis has British spelling you may feel you need to add (sic). However, I have a few 'sics' in my thesis which in my heart of hearts I felt were unnecessary but decided to play it safe.

Why would I laugh?; it sounds like you are going great guns :-). Far from laughing at my own typos, some of them were downright embarassing and almost brought tears to my eyes :$

Hi Ady and Clupea,

Thank you for your suggestions...these are just few quotes. I would also make sure with my sups. :)