i certainly wouldn't entertain the calls - thats invading 'your' time and space. i think thats too much. why don't you speak to him about it, tell him its making you loose trust? how would he feel if a guy kept calling you and writing you emails? anyway, i don't have the best tack record with relationships, so you're best asking someone else.

don't know why that song reminds me of a cat. :- ) sorry juno.

it was somewhere in Zandvort. beautiful beach, but again i was alone and i don't speak Dutch so the beach wasn't much fun either. we only went to Amsterdam for a day and i think it was at a lawfirm and then the tour of the town followed. it was in Sept and i almost froze in my suit during the boat trip. never again!

i would say go. you'll be surprised at the good comments and questions you get that will help your work. i reluctantky went for conference last year and looking back, it saved my thesis. a lot of the ideas in it came from there.

i found that working without a break meant i wasn't productive after the second week. i hated my phd for taking over my life. well then, i always say its you and your phd. i come first. am only willing to get it in good health and without a nervous break down, so i try to have time off. being in the social sciences, my sup has no clue what i do with my time as long as i submit work, so i guess in that sense am lucky.

i wouldn't call it intimidation CompSci. its more being unfriendly. Juno - mine was in Amsterdam as well. everyone, stay well away from Amsterdam conferences!!!!

i try 9 to 5. comes to about 6 hours minus breaks. used to work a lot more but it took away the life in my life so i decided to keep it more balanced. free evenings and weekends.

has happened to me before. in an international conference. i sat next to these oxbridge and harvard professors during dinner. they kept going on about stuff i couldn't contribute on. they tried to include me by trying to talk about sports and wine and that but by that time i had decided that making an effort was no good. during the boat trip, no one spoke to me either. and yes, i went alone. other phd students all knew each other and hang out with their sups. so i can emphathise.

hey everyone,i had my transfer interview today. had to talk about my research and i hadn't prepared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! after spending the weekend out with my surprise guest. had a few hiccups at the start - very short answers - but when i got my nerves under control i just kept talking. was surprised by how well i know my work. a bit of a confidence booster for the week! am happy :-) results next week though.

last time i checked my word count was 944. almost halfway there. have decided to take the evening off to clear my head for an early start tomorrow at 5 am. next weekend i should be starting my next chapter - i can join everyone who will be writing then.

thanks everyone!! am glad everyones work is going so well. i haven't been able to do as much as planned. a friend paid me a surprise visit weekend. didn't know whether to be happy or sad. , so i spent the weekend being a host and trying to work in the late night and mornings. haven't done half as much as i'd have liked. means i have to recover in the week for submission on Friday. big ups to everyone

use your boyfriend's laptop ?

i still prefer the uk system - excruciating yes, but at least you don't wait for an entire 3 to 6 months only to get pages of corrections. usually you have your viva in about 2 months of submission and say you get pass with minor corrections, you just need another month to do the corrections. so no disputes. its all a done deal on the day of the viva. that means that you can forget all about the thesis sooner. i must admit though that the possibility of not having a viva is quite attractive. how come nobody told me that before i registered . enough of that!

404 - has to be writing up, coz your word count has at least increased since yesterday

chris - tell me about it! the pain of corrections. you will get there - eventually.

sue - for me saying how much, gives me a target to work out, weeds out less procrastinating and provides the necessary pressure of a clear goal to achieve - whatever works for you i guess. i used to write that slowly, coz i was aiming for perfection. nowadays, i just get on with it - and come back to revise it later.

hermaatje - ya, methodology.... all the best. the misery will all be worth it when you're done. i did mine only last week and got it approved. it's one of those excruciating parts that leave you smiling when you hand in.

all the best guys. i just managed a first draft of about 500 words with hiccups all the way