If people waited until an ideal time to have children, then its likely no one would ever have children, because there would always be some pressing issue like the mortgage, the job, the PhD, wanting to go out and party with friends, etc. A PhD is just a fine a time to have kids as any other--as people's individual circumstances vary greatly. Frankly, 6 hard hours of work on my PhD and I am ditheringly braindead. Thats HARD hours, not hours spent surfing the internet and posting on here...its applied, hard, thinking abstractly, etc, where I am so tired at the end I need a nap, literally. I am exhausted.

not current broken fingers...broken as in the past....

Good luck with the typing. It really is a matter of practice makes perfect. The more you do, the better you will be. Something you might want to consider is the kind of keyboard you have--I think its much easier to type on a split ( ergonomic) keyboard than the standard straight board. One thing, its better for your wrists and hands and is supposed to help eliminate problems that the straight board might cause. The spacing is more comfortable, I find, and its nearly impossible now for me to type on a straight board, though I can do about 60 wpm on a split board. I have broken fingers and injured my hand from sports and falling off my horse, and the split board is soooo much easier to type on, as I have some pain and mild arthritis and etc from the injuries.

I don't actually practice outloud any more...I do it in my head to myself, but thats it.

A helpful trick to keep time is to put the hands of your watch at 12:00 and then you can tell how much time has run since you started to talk, how much is left, etc.

I am happiest not tied to a script, but have notes as a security blanket to keep me on track and to keep me on time, and then, if I have that lost my train of thought moment, I can glance at the notes and get oriented and carry on. I try to know where I am timewise through out the presentation ( mark 5 minute intervals on my PP slide notes for myself, or other notes) and so if I am running behind, I can make subtle adjustments as I go to stay on target for time.

Its too hard to remember that you started to talk at 2:15 and must end at 2:35... half way through you might look at your watch or the clock and think...ACK!!! when did I start, when do I end?

I have heard of people talking in front of a mirror to practice and timing themselves. I think sticking to time is VERY critical, and its important to be able to stick to time without having to toss away half of your presentation, and losing the whole value of it in the process.

Lots of preparation is good...but sometimes at some points, less is more. What is your natural style and comfort level? Will you be reading a script, talking from notes, using power point?

Technology is making me about now. When I do a cut and paste option I either get ONLY the text or ONLY my lovely shapes..but not both. I suppose the other option is to redraw the whole thing in power point but that would make me even more

a Word flowchart to paste itself into a Power point presentation?

Isn't there a Spanish custom that takes all of this debate and puts it to rest, on the use of both the husband and wife's last names, and how the children are named? I also know of people who have combined their last names, not in the double barrel way, but say one was Blogs and the other Jones, they became Jonesblogs or Blogsjones..of course that is going to work with only a small number of names...

Again, I am not being critical of this view. I just want to get my head around it. If I had been presented with the other end of the ultimatum, change your name or no marriage, I would have said without the blink of an eye, hasta la vista baby, because I would have thought this position would bode ( is that a word) poorly for the future of the relationship...its dynamics, its values, and where I was seen as placed within it, and how decisions were made.

Jouri, you would really REFUSE to marry a woman that kept her name? I am not criticising your standpoint, just trying to understand it. So--the woman you love, etc,etc, want to marry--the only thing that stands between you and her and marriage is her last name, and that if she does not change it, you would not marry her. Wow. What is it exactly--that underlies the whole change/not change last name thing that would make it this kind of make or break situation? What do men see in the name question that moves it to a situation where the whole marriage hinged on the name?

does the book say not to have dogs, or not to have pugs?
I think dogs are a must when you do a PhD!!! But then I think they are a must no matter what you are doing.

That depends on your pre-nuptual agreement!

Money and house need NOT be shared...people probaby have a wide variety of arrangements, the house might be in the name of one and not the other, if owned at all, financials kept separate, whatever.

http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/food-entertaining/recipes/recipes/rachael-ray/133307

a recipe for mushroom smothered trout-does that not sound delightful!!