That sounds just like me! Just keep going, it's got to get better or much worse and then you will know the right thing to do

Just gave my lab meeting presentation and my supervisor absolutley slated me. I was presenting on a technique that I was shown just three weeks ago and have been trying to make work myself and he was asking horrible questions and not accepting my answers. I wouldn't mind so much but he doesn't offer much support day-to-day I'm given experiments to do without so much of a protocol so I'm bound to make mistakes and some of them are because I took the advice of someone who really should know the answer! I feel pretty rubbish and like I should quit so just wanted to rant and see if anyone else has had similar experiences!

Nuts! eat lots of nuts, high in protein and good fats, and high in "good" calories. You can use chestnuts (available tinned from most big supermarkets) in lots of recipes that use meat and they are a good substitue in things like lasagne and pasta. I wouldn't eat quorn if I were you, it's massively processed and not really that good for you. Tofu is good though, and eat lots of brown and wild rice to up your protein. Boys need protein!

My mum keeps telling me I should work longer hours when I say something isn't working, not sure she understands what an overnight incubation is and how it means it wouldn't make any difference if I worked 24/7!

I'm really sorry to hear about that Pea, sounds like a pretty horrible situation. I live with my boyfriend and everything is in his name so I would be in the same place if we broke up. If the split is amicable maybe he could give you some help financially to help you? I don't think it is unreasonable thing to suggest even if stuff isn't in your name, you are the one that is left with nothing and that isn't altogether fair. I hope you are ok.

You should ask him out definitely! Although don't ask me how, I have very dubious pick-up techniques, they work but I'm not sure why.

Leaving your fiancee, even just an hour apart, would be difficult, really difficult I imagine. Your PhD might actually suffer as you'd be trying to fit in visits at weekends whilst trying to meet deadlines at uni. If you took the PhD at your current uni you would have her to support you which I think would be more valuable than experiencing different institutions.

I read the times, well ok, I read T2 and do the sudoku and half the crossword but I think that still counts!

I did my first southern blot last week and it worked, I was very happy! There are lots of little acheivements during PhD that really keep me going, the harder something is to begin with the better the feeling when you finally work it out!

I am fitting a new kitchen, supposedly, although being "newly grown-up" I'm not really sure how to do this. My boyfriend is doing all the hard work but I'm meant to be moving all the stuff out the cupboards and not quite sure what to do with it all so it isn't all in the way (we have a smallish house) Don't know why it seems such a scary task but it does!

I can't write on books that are mine, even when I was doing GCSE english and we were told to write in the margins etc I hated it, it just feels wrong somehow!

I find flow diagrams really useful to explain methods, especially if you can accompany the words with pictures, and helps you not to miss anything out because you are thinking step-by-step.

Writing to-do lists for almost everything I do, started out just PhD related stuff but has now encroahed onto normal life,

To Do...
Run PCR
Read so and so's paper
Post letter
Eat lunch etc

If it's not on the list I won't remember to do it!

I like ths ound of Paulas project, would be nice to research something that could be really useful to future generations.

I am researching the role of certain ion channels in the transmission of pain using tissue-specific knock-out mice. (Basically knocking out a channel from pain neurones and then looking at the altered behaviour and pain states of the mouse and the characteristics of it's neurones.)

It's meant to be helping develop new drugs for pain management but it's all a bit pie in the sky!

Depends on your research I presume, some people publish at undergrad level.