Our parents' generation don't seem to understand that men ought to do their share. I still remember the horrified response of my father when I told him I wasn't a great cook:

"But what on earth will you do when you get married?!"

Noisy eaters (slurping, smacking, chomping). Puts you right off your own food.

He...thanks for the replies. To finish:

4. Jimmy Carr (why is he on TV?)
5. The office "wit" who feels the need to chirrup "Bless you!" every time you sneeze. Which, when you have a hayfever fit, is every two minutes..."Bless you! Bless you! Bless you! Bless you! Bless you! Bless you!" ad nauseum.

And who funds you: even if it was your work, sometimes the funding body has the ownership.

Our uni sends all postgrads on a compulsory IP course (which was so dull that I zoned out, so can't remember too much). But my point is that your uni almost certainly has an IP advisor or even department: try making an appointment with them.

Sorry...wasn't trying to spoil it.

Happy birthday again!

Five things that would go into your Room 101? Here's mine:

1. Girly sneezes (girls who try to make their sneezes sound cute: it's a big snotter, you can't make it sound attractive so quit trying).
2. Child actors who can't act (the Zafira advert, grrr)
3. Nuneaton train station

Oops, engineer here to service my MS. Back later.

Where's Bobby, our soon-to-be TV presenter?

Happy belated birthday from me too.

O.Stoll, if you're so concerned for the man's safety it may not be the best idea to post the link to all his personal details: techno-dumbasses like me would never have seen that if you hadn't posted it.

Hooray! Must feel good to be told you are through to the next stage

I found Boots own brand antihistamines didn't make me tired.

With me the sneezing is worst: it's embarrassing to be sneezing every few minutes

So true. My supervisor has often commented that grades at undergrad taught level are little indicator of ability at research level. He calls some brilliant undergrads "parrots": able to say all the right things in exams, but hopeless when it comes to working independently.

Ha...I bet my "angel" could out-nut yout nutters

I agree with Ann and co. There's no shame in making a mistake, everyone (at least, everyone honest) will admit to making slip-ups. But knowing that there is a mistake and still publishing or submitting would not be good science - although I know it does happen, but you sound like too genuine a person to do that.

I had to re-do 600 samples once: the quality of my HPLC column had dropped so much that my results were irreproducible. Took 2 months but at least now I have some valid results, and also now know much more about validating methods, which will be useful in future.

I've had two nutters: one in the academic world (she thought she was an angel sent by God to teach humanity how to live; difficult to have a sensible converstaion with someone like that), and one in industry. The industry one was my boss so eventually had to quit when he decided payment was optional.

Compared to those two the everyday nutcases seem quite normal.