Answering your question, 404, the job has now finished. Ended last Friday and we had a big party to celebrate.

All the free jellybeans, beer and cream biscuits caught up with me, though. We had a weigh in at the beginning of the job and a weight out on Friday. There was a prize for the person who lost the most weight (a pile of junk food) and a prize for the person who put the most on (a pile of health food). We worked hard for 2 months, but I only lost 1 kg. I blame all the free Monte Carlo biscuits! Not surprisingly, our boss was the biggest gainer - he put on 3kg!

Sadly, I am now unemployed and have to finish my thesis. Which is why I am posting here in the middle of your night.

I am bored. B-O-R-E-D, bored.

Oh dear. case!

Tee hee. He does get embarrassed about pooping with an audience, but I was walking him on a lead, so I couldn't really give him any privacy! Poor dog. You know what they say about aliens looking down on Earth and thinking the dogs are in charge because the humans are picking up the dog poop!

Why are dogs so particular about where they will poop? It takes my dog about 8 sniffs of various clumps of grass and bushes to choose one worthy of his business and when he finally chooses one, he has to do about 17 360-degree turns before starting. Weird animals.

I am in a similar boat. I have applied for soooo many jobs in the past 8 months, but have not even had a single interview. It is downright depressing and my self-belief and confidence is in tatters.

My PhD field is very narrow (I know people look at it and say "Can you even do a PhD in that?") and there is no research in this field in my city. So, no choice but to apply for jobs in other fields and try to convince employers that my skills can be applied there. Yeah, right!

If I apply for research jobs appropriate for someone about to be awarded a PhD, I am unsuccessful because I have an obscure background. If I apply for less-demanding jobs, I get "You are overqualified" comments. I can't win. I am willing do anything if someone only I got paid to do it and I got to go to work each day. I am so far beyond the "My PhD was a waste of time" thoughts that now I am questioning why I even went to university at all.

Lie in? It is barely 7am! Anyway, I am awake now and about to walk my dog. Have a good sleep, people.

Coastman?

Insomniac - I know what that feels like. I was recently in a busy petrol station and pulled in behind a car to wait for him to finish filling so I could move forward into his spot. He realised he had driven in too far so that the hose couldn't reach his car, so decided to start reversing towards me. I honked my horn quickly to let him know I was there - it was all I could do to stop him backing into my car - only to have him get out and start abusing me at the top of his lungs with repeated use of the f-word.

I was in shock. Being honked was obviously a challenge on his manhood, so to show he was still a man, he had to abuse me repeatedly in front of a station full of people. He was still yelling abuse as he drove away 5 minutes later...with his kids in the car with him. He was a complete bogan. Some people shouldn't be allowed to breed.

Tee hee, 404. You are right. It is clear that I spent my undergrad years watching midday television!

continued...

As alicepalace said, discussing your problem with your supervisor is essential. Maybe he/she can help you set some deadlines to work towards. You could organise to meet again on a certain date at which time you have to give him/her a draft of a paper or chapter. Also, decide on a treat you will reward yourself with when you stick to the deadline - maybe a night out with a friend? I find that works for me. Good luck.

I agree with alicepalace - if you are on a diet, you don't fill your house with chocolate, do you? If you simply remove the internet temptation, you will be more likely to do some work.

Have you ever tried the write-as-much-as-you-can-without-stopping technique? I tried it recently when I was procrastinating and it worked for me. Just sit with pen and paper or your computer (not connected to the internet for once) and force yourself to write flat out for 15 minutes. Ignore how bad the writing is, ignore how many grammar/spelling mistakes you make, just write/type on your topic for the set time and don't let yourself stop until the time is up. After doing that, you at least have some pages of words to work with - so much easier to fix bad writing than it is to fix an empty page.

Regarding what to wear, if you search the forum using 'wear' and 'conference' as keywords, you will see some comments made on this topic previously...some are relevant and some are not (ie. DanB quoting Sir Mix-A-Lot for some reason). Basically, it depends on the conference itself, the location (weather) and whether you are presenting or not (which you obviously are). Might be an excuse for a little shopping which is always fun!

WAKE UP SLEEPYHEADS!!!!!

It is oh so quiet.

Well done for getting the opportunity to speak at a national conference! The main thing I recommend is you start working on your presentation ASAP. It always take longer than you think and you don't want to place extra stress on yourself by rushing to finish at the last minute. Also, the more familiar you are with your talk, the more relaxed and comfortable you will be on the day. Practice your talk out loud as many times as you can in front of anyone who will listen...family, supervisors, fellow students, friends, your pets.

I am always most nervous about the questions I will be asked by the audience, especially when you are presenting to experts in your field. Ask your supervisors what Q are likely to be asked beforehand. When I presented my work at a conferece, I did this and thought about answers in advance. Sure enough, they were asked on the day and it felt great to be able to answer them with confidence...made up for the Q I couldn't answer!

Good luck!