Ann, think I might kidnap your boyfriend for a month or so, releasing him only after he's done all my DIY!

Ann, when you're stressed by all the DIY activity in your kitchen, make yourself feel better by thinking of me with only a pile of brick dust where a kitchen should be! Good luck with it all ;)

9 YEARS!!!!! Ann, I really hope you haven't been in as much chaos for all that time as I am now. Unfortunately I can't enlist the help of my boyfriend as his musician status renders him useless at DIY apparently!

Pete Waterman's honorary doctorate from University College Chester is well dodgy!

Thanks for all your suggestions. I just feel a bit overwhelmed and under pressure to produce papers, write abstracts & get lab work done, at a time when I'm in chaos at home due to having a wall knocked down and needing to get a kitchen (have lived without one for over 3yrs). DIY sucks!!

Don't worry Jojo, you're not alone. It is very difficult to feel much certainty or security when you're in research. I'm not very clear what to say to the "What are you going to do after your PhD?" question either, as there are so many issues affecting it. I'm not keen to leave the city I'm in now, having gone through the house-buying process. Believe it or not, taking each week at a time is probably the best thing you can do to avoid feeling overwhelmed by it all. Everything you're feeling is normal. It'll all fall into place, you'll see.

I still need sleep but can't seem to get it at a time that fits in with the normal working day. Missed my first day back at uni this year cos woke up at 3.30pm after 7 hours sleep. I wish humans could hibernate during winter! Alarms are unnatural in my opinion; if you're fast asleep, your body probably needs it and shouldn't be disturbed. Definitely can't cope with those vicious buzzer alarms. A recent article in Nature has confirmed just how groggy and inept we are on waking, and suggests taking a bit of time to 'come round' gently before doing anything important.

Having a bath is a sore point at the moment, as had a kitchen wall knocked down last week that ran under the bath above. Haven't dared to have a bath since. Could try chatting to someone dull, as long as they're not still there when I wake up!

Anyone got any tips for stopping useless brain activity that prevents sleep? Tried herbal remedies with no success.

What do you win anyway, for being last to post ?

A set menu with no specified veggie one is why I'm not going to our Xmas do. I've been called a stick-in-the-mud, but don't happen to have £37.50 to spare with the possibility of no suitable food.

Our department is having an Xmas do (meal and disco) at a posh venue, costing £37.50! Best bit will be the secret santa though, where everyone going gets an anonymous present from another person attending who drew their name. My supervisor got a raunchy thong last year. Bags of potential for embarrassing some of the lecturers.

Good for you Jen, for being a principled person. It's all too easy for people to become desensitised these days. It can be alienating to work in scientific research whilst also respecting the lives of all sentient beings. I know I am looked upon as odd because of my objections to killing animals for research purposes, but aside from ethical considerations, using cells/tissues from the species which suffers from the disease you're investigating makes much more sense scientifically.

Jazzy lab coats would go down well in my lab. We're always short of them.

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