Hi Ruby :-) aww thanks for the kind words. yeh for some weird reason i seem to be quite relaxed, i think because i'm near the end, and just have to submit what i have done so far, no time for new writing and making it a good thesis. i've also been getting a good night sleep each night. and i just had to be realistic about the corrections cause of the deadline, in an ideal world, without the uni threatening me with termination, my sup wanted me to spend another 3 months on the thesis to really pull it up to standard. but you gotta make the best out of a bad situation really. and knowing i HAVE to submit it, i really just have to draw the line and say thats it. everything else i will leave for viva studying. and prepare like hell for the brutal viva exam i will get because the thesis isnt up to standard. but will cross that bridge when i get to it.

yah my brother is an absolute star, sorting out the printing for me, he's got a new colour cartridge installed at his workplace and got 100g paper for me. it really is a load off my mind knowing the printing will be taken care of.

i've just finished correcting chapter 2. so all chapters are corrected now. phew! i probably could do alot more. but i've done the corrections i wanted to get done. so thats it, i'm drawing a LINE!

i still have to do final proof reading for typos for all 7 chapters. then format the chapters. rewrite the abstract. write a declaration page. write the acknowledgments. sort out the appendix numbering. make TOC , check references. and all those other little bits and pieces! that take ages.

i'm going to take a little break now and then come back to rewrite the abstract.

Ruby, thats a nice idea about the new moon tommorow :-) well that is my deadline , to get my pdf made by tommorow night.

Hey Armendaf, hope you're doing okay.

======= Date Modified 27 Oct 2008 13:03:49 =======
Good morning folks! what a lovely blue sky today. I'm clocked back in. I ended up falling asleep last night. So i still have chapter 2 methods and materials to correct! my deadline to get it done is 1pm!! :-s

I HAVE to email my brother the pdf tommorow so he can print it at work!. so today is the last day, yikes!!

good luck Armendaf!

Hi Ruby and Butterfly.
will report back as soon as methods chapter is corrected.

battleface:-s

edit:
my brother just emailed me, and cause i am behind schedule told me he can print the document the latest on weds. so that's bought me one more day for final proof reading and checking and sorting out appendix stuff. but i must email him the pdf tommorow night.

am half way through the methods corrections. hope to get it done within the next 2 hours. just going to get something to eat.

======= Date Modified 27 Oct 2008 01:22:03 =======
Thanks for that boost Armendaf! :-) that put a smile on my face. hehe

knowing you all are working hard, really motivates me.

i finally finished my conclusions chapter. its only 5 pages. but its the best i can do.

Armendaf, totally get what you mean about if it wasnt for our deadline, we would be so impressed with ourselves how hard we are working!! so let me pat you on the back *pat pat - well done*

i just had some food and feeling very tired, i think i might just sleep and finish everything tommorow eeeek. abit risky. but working through the night makes me feel sick.

Butterfly, thanks so much for sharing that comment about a thesis will never be perfect, just the perfect thing i needed to hear at this crucial time, thank you! good luck with the meeting and let us know how you get on. and YES you can totally do the corrections in 11 days! you can do it!

Ruby, i am glad you took some time off from your phd and enjoyed yourself with your friends :-) hope chapter 5 is coming along.

*gives Armendaf a cup of coffee* hang in there buddy, you're doing great!

Oh no i overslept! ooops naughty me. i am just about to start now.

Hey Armendaf good luck with today!!
Good luck Ruby and Butterfly!! looks like we all have tuesday as a deadline! today is going to be a toughie

Ruby hope you had/have a good birthday evening with your friends , i cant remember which evening it was. me being so self absorbed and all!

my aims:
1. rewrite chapter 7. (i want to get this done within 2 hours hopefully! and before lunch)
2. correct chapter 2

i definately agree about eating loads! but i'm letting myself to eat as much as i want whenever i want this weekend as its my last week to finish my thesis. i think when i am stressed i eat as a comfort.

i will worry about the weight and exercise and going on a diet when im finished!

you know what this is a VERY common occurrence! just the other day i was talking to my friend and he is super stressed that he thinks the sup will drag out his final year just so he can use him for slave labour. its a toughie. because sup's have this power of convincing you that the data is not enough you need more and more and more!!!

my advice, start writing up. because one day you will get a letter from the uni that you MUST submit then your sup HAS to let you stop and submit.

hey armendaf, how are you holding up? i'm really sleepy and tired now :-(. i dont think i can/want to stay up any longer. maybe i will take your advice and go to bed and then work tommorow, after being rested. but i am really worried that i will physically run out of time! still loads to do.

i have to re-write chapter 7 and correct the methods chapter.

but yah i will go to bed, i am really tired. and hopefully after being rested, will be able to work faster. instead of working at snail pace and torturing myself through the night.

but this means i wont have my pdf thesis ready for monday, so will have to ask my brother if he can print it on tuesday instead.

tommorow is defnately the LAST day of finishing and finalising all my chapters including abstract. then monday, TOC and final proof reading and checks and compiling the pdf file.

okay see you tommorow Armendaf. get some sleep

======= Date Modified 25 Oct 2008 23:36:37 =======
======= Date Modified 25 Oct 2008 23:34:32 =======
good idea Armendaf, get a good rest. i agree - I think when you're rested you're more alert, and you actually speed through things faster.

don't worry Armendaf, you will get it done in time. i have faith in you! and dont worry about how good it is, just do your best and as long as you mention the important bits even if its not that much detail thats OK. your priority is to just present *something* and to just tie up the loose ends.

whatever you have written so far, stick with that and polish it up, if you dont have time to write a paragraph about something, just write a few sentences and during the viva they can ask you about it and then you can expand on it. now is not the time to do any major new writing. and if you think something is going to take too long to write about, leave it out.

as long as you can present a thesis that is readable even if its short, and doesnt have to have everything in it. it doesnt matter, you can study like mad for the viva and explain the stuff you couldnt fit in the thesis during the viva. you and me will study for the viva, and just hope we get thrown a lifeline!

i feel the same way as you, that i think my thesis isnt really a thesis just a short report lol but we just have to submit something otherwise we will be terminated. so i'm just keeping things really simple and succint.

well i'm back at my desk now, about to start on chapter 6 corrections. then will move onto chapter 3 discussion editing, and then the dreaded and yucky chapter 7 conclusion. i will keep you company for the next 2 and half hours (up) knowing you are working till 2.00am, i have glued myself to my chair. i'm so glad you're in the same boat as me! miserly loves company he he he

my aims by 2am:
1. correct discussion chapter 6
2. edit discussion chapter 3
3. rewrite chapter 7

i have finished chapter 5 corrections and restructing/rewriting discussion section. it actually took less time than i predicted. thought it was going to take me all night, but only took 1 and half hours. i deleted alot of stuff! and rewrote some sentences here and there. i actually like deleting stuff, less for me to read for typos!

i will say one thing, supervisors feedback and constructive critisism, really does help. it isnt pleasant to hear it, but when you extract out the logical and rational comments away from the emotional side, it is true what they say, they do know what they are talking about and makes sense.

now that i am looking at the chapters armed with their comments and critical mindset i noticed that i repeated myself ALOT!!! but hidden by using different words and i never noticed it when i first wrote the first draft and rewrote it and proof read it. i was too close to it. but after some time, am now quite happy to delete stuff.

i think it all boils down to the fact you spend so much time writing those paragraphs that its difficult to delete them, unless sufficient time has elapsed. and you feel that you just have to write it again, incase the examiner forgets lol. my sup said, say it ONCE and leave it alone!

i'm going to take a little break now, and then edit and correct chapter 6 discussion.

i've dumped alot of stuff into chapter 7 conclusion which is a right mess!! thats going to take me all night:-s i'll worry about that later.

how is everyone else doing?

hi everyone! i'm clocked back in for the night shift, i am not going to sleep until i get all my chapters done. tonight is the night to get it all done! yikesamondo!!

Ruby, totally understand how you feel, i too think, am i wasting and missing out on my life , huddled in my study room cut off from the outside life, sacrificing everything in my life to write a thesis. is it even worth it? i feel like my life is passing by and one day im going to wake up and find myself very old and feel that i missed out on so much. but i think thats just a form of depression that is probably common to writers and phd'ers.

but i do want you to have fun with your friends for your birthday, take the evening off. because your phd will still be there. its not like you have to submit it to the examiners, if its not perfect for the tuesday deadline, its OK. just do your best, but make sure you have fun! because its your birthday and you deserve to have a day off, even JB says so explictly in her book! so there you go, you have her permission!!

i'm glued in and i have NCIS on in the background as a way of motivating me. all that sciency stuff hehe.

well update, i finally finished rewriting my discussion for chapter 4. alot of stuff is lifted from my 2nd paper that my sup rewrote, but i did try to write as much as i could in my own words, but eventually its hard to reinvent the english language. but its okay, the paper isnt published , just been submitted. so the examiners wont see it. i put a couple of my own ideas and extra discussion, so its not an exact word for word copy of the discussion from the paper. and right now, im just desperate to get it finished.

i now have to work on chapter 5, and completely rewrite it, cause ive focussed on something that i cant really say. so alot of deleting and rewriting.

will report back when im done, its going to be a toughie:-s

Armendaf? how are you doing there buddy!!

Butterly, welcome! :-) the more the merrier good luck. and I concur with Ruby, its good that you will have something to give to them, as it will help in improving it. good luck!!

Hey Armendaf, good to hear about your progress!!

me panicking abit! still got quite abit to do!! but i've given myself a deadline of tommorow, where i MUST MUST finish all my corrections. because i then have to start formatting, TOC and final checks and proof reading. which take a ridiculous amount of time.

my aims:
1. rewrite discussion chapter 4
2. rewrite discussion chapter 5
3 edit chapter 3 discussion
4. edit chapter 4 discussion
5. write chapter 7
--
6 correct chapter 2 methods

i am just going to have to be very quick today!

woohoo congratulations! that is super! well done :-) (up) you make sure you take a break and treat yourself!!

hold on a minute is it your birthday Ruby? or have i missed it? in any case. Happy Birthday!

totally agree with you about the jumpsuit era, i love Elvis best during the 50/60s myself :)

i am also taking a break now and having some dinner, as i am hungry! and i am drowning in my discussion chapters, DROWNING!! i've printed them out and they are on the floor as my desk isnt very big. so i will be working on the floor for the rest of the night. i also have to cut out alot of repeating stuff, and somehow make it coherent and tie all the chapters together. its very hard though - considering i dont have much time left!!! it's going to be an all nighter tonight! i will have to kill myself over this tonight.

======= Date Modified 24 Oct 2008 13:40:17 =======
hurrah ! Ruby is on board the train of deadlines-ville. glad to have the company! :-) good luck with your aims. i know what you mean about flaky, my chapter 7 is super flaky. if the examiners hold onto it too tightly it might crumble like a cadburys flake.

my laptop has become SUPER SLOW. sometimes it just freezes for a good minute, which causes my blood pressure to increase!! :-s i have the music channel on tv , so when it does decide to rest for a while, i distract myself by looking at the tv, i have to calm myself and just *wait* otherwise i am in serious risk of throwing my laptop out the window. or smashing it. :-s but beggars cant be choosers, and this is my only equipment to finish my thesis! so i'm trying to be very patient and understanding. also imagine the days when phd'ers had to write on a type writer! so we're lucky like that. but with new technology comes new frustration.

update on my progress: yesterday i corrected: chapter 5 and chapter 3. i didnt work on chapter 7, but corrected chapter 1 instead. the chapters i have left to correct are chapter 2: methods, and chapter 7 conclusions.

so todays aim is to rewrite chapter 7:-s i hate writing discussions and conclusions, feel like im just repeating myself

i'm at the stage where i'm like "examiners draw your own darn conclusions, use your brain of what i've shown you so far..and put together the missing dots, do i have to spell it out for you, do some work yourself!" lol yes my alter ego, is being very lazy and also very obnoxious.

okay aim:
read through discussion sections of results chapters 3, 4, and 5 and tie everything together in the last chapter. also need to cut out alot of stuff, as sup's said its way too long. im not going to do any new writing or new ideas, just work with what ive written so far that has been checked. i will just have to work like hell for the viva. i've heard you're allowed to bring whatever written material you like, to refer to during the viva. so if i get a new idea before my viva. i will write it out as a document so i can remember it for the viva.

it's going to be a very boring and tedious and hellish day today:-s

lol Ruby. thanks for your message!

Armendaf, you can do it !! *ra ra ra* that's me cheering you on!

my ultimate deadline is monday, i have to email the pdf to my brother who will print it at work.

yep its now or never, we can do this. just gotta make the best of what we have and polish it up! less is more at this point. today is going to be a hard day for me, i have to restructure and rewrite my conclusions chapter, and cut out alot of repetive stuff frmo my other chapters and put them and tie them together. hate doing stuff like that. i alwyas end up repeating myself.

my aims for today

1. correct chapter 5 (done)
2. correct chapter 3
3. rewrite chapter 7 , including moving sections and paragraphs from discussion sections from chapter 3, 4 and 5.
---
just going to have some toast with cream cheese, and correct chapter 3 and then will take a break before cracking on with chapter 7. the worst chapter.