It may not be you, Bug.... I've not been very lucid this weekend, so it might just be incomprehensible and Melsie has psychic powers that helped her unravel it.

I'm excited too!! I can't remember ever seeing snow like this in London before, everything's so quiet outside and it all looks lovely, even my sickly twiggy plants. I think the last time they stopped all buses was during the big storm years back, so the roads must be quite dangerous for TFL to withdraw them. I believe some bendy buses slithered off the roads or something. The only bad thing is I've run out of coffee...

Yes Melsie, but he didn't die or get seriously injured luckily, just shot across the room and flopped on the floor. Dodgy wiring, semi-darkness, no heating, asbestos exposure, plus general dirt and filth. A management master plan that changed direction after my colleague's shock, though I doubt the students had any idea of how us staff had to work behind the scenes! We should have got the union and HSE in earlier.

There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with a popular viewpoint, as long as you argued your case logically and weren't rude. In work situations I've sometimes argued against bizarre ideas from senior staff, but if they choose to go their own merry way after having potential problems drawn to their attention, there's not a lot you can do. The annoying thing is that these ideas are often proved to be ridiculous in practice somewhere along the line, but usually after lots of time and money has been wasted (or someone gets electrocuted in our case). I think it's better to have said your piece than kept quiet if you felt that strongly. Perhaps the majority trendy idea will run its course and then your suggestions will become noticed for being far better alternatives at some point!

I wouldn't worry about what potential employers might think, after the touchiness has worn off they might even respect you for proposing an alternative view if you did it well. You can't agree with everyone all the time and learning how to argue a case seems to be part of doing PhDs, so it would be nice if it was useful occasionally.

Thanks Lara, you're spot on with all your comments. This is the only place where people actually get why it's so difficult sometimes.

Yeah I shouldn't have looked at that work email, must have been procrastination of the worst kind lol! There are some very grumpy people around at the moment. The sooner that RAE money gets allocated the better and we'll all know where we stand.

I don't feel very perky today either, but that's too bad really, it has to get done somehow. I think I'll start with easy stuff - chasing more refs, updating the bibliography and doing my best to get more sections crossed off my masterlist. Then if my brain's ready to grapple with that methodology theory by lunchtime I'll get on with that. If not, I'll have to adapt my plan for the day. Oh yes and I will do a big backup too - good idea. Thanks so much for your comments btw, these things are indeed better in than out! (up)

Have a good time at your burger-fest! :-)

======= Date Modified 01 Feb 2009 11:30:03 =======
======= Date Modified 01 Feb 2009 11:14:41 =======
lol Missspacey! I have to admit that arguing whether or not you're a spammer is a novel way of increasing traffic to the original site advertised though.

Curiously in relation to his recent comments, on one of the fora he was "thinking of starting" either an MBA or a PhD last September. You just don't know who to believe sometimes.

Hi Lara,

You've done loads!! VERY impressive!:-)

I've been dreadfully slow I'm afraid, read and marked up more corrections for the 'M' chapter until I realised the articles I'm reading to discuss in it were just going over my head, so I rewrote my abstract, had my dinner, then started chasing refs for another chapter to get it finished. It's so tedious - I must have found about 4 refs, the computer seems really slow today and it took me ages to find my athens login. I really need to be put out of this misery at the moment, I just want the next month to be over. I am so sick of it today. Maybe it's a combination of being tired and feeling slightly queasy, a bit of the old hormones thing and reading a work email which annoyed me slightly (why did I bother to look at it??!!). A rather frustrating day overall, I'm afraid, but sorry to moan.

I think I will call it a day now, but tomorrow will be better I'm sure. Good luck with your next stint - sounds like you're on a roll today, make the most of it!(up)

That would be an issue with working FT and doing the PhD, they have a point. However interesting it is, it really does divert you from your own research and if you're being paid it has to take priority.

I'm like that with numbers too, I just glaze over when I have to do stuff with figures - I really hate it! I only passed my O level because my younger brother coached me, lol! Good luck with it - I sympathise!

I like MAC too. And sometimes you get served by exotic looking men in skirts!:-)

I'm sorry, it sounds a completely vile experience and I'm not surprised it's dented your confidence. You might not have been as bad as you think though - I heard about someone's viva recently where the team were really brutal in their examining 'technique', but at the end actually congratulated the candidate on a good thesis and passed it. I find it all a bit weird, but it shows that however you think you came across, it may not have seemed like that to others.

Also, try not to put yourself down with the shadow of the blonde bimbo chav thing, you're doing a PhD and as Bug says, you've already shown that you're really good at what you do. You're definitely not thick because you don't understand statistics, why should we all be instantly good at everything? I'd guess that you're great at writing and analysis that a statistician might find extremely difficult, as we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but there's nothing wrong with that. I'd agree with the others that it would be good to talk to your sup about it at some point, and also mention that you're having trouble with the stats, it's not a weakness to admit that some bits of what you're doing are more difficult than others - they just need more effort to get to grips with. Hopefully this is just a horrible blip and soon you'll get back to the research that you really like doing and are good at!

Hello there, Saturday morning and I'd better get down it it. My sup wondered how my timetable's going, so I should send her an update later and it had better be positive!

I'll aim to get this methodology chapter done by the end of Sunday, then Mon/Tues for the following chapter. More would be nice of course, crossing things off my master-list is so satisfying, but I'll see how it goes. :-s

Aloha, you're considered 'old' when you're past 30 these days in some reports - god how depressing!!! I've obviously had one foot in the grave for ages! I wish everyone could pop over to one of our staff do's and get an alternative perspective on this depressing glossy media stereotype crap, it's great to meet slightly eccentric 'bohemian' older or retired people who seem to get their priorities in life right.

James, all your posts sent people off to a commercial MBA site! PhDs are not MBAs and paying other people to write one's 'assignments' would not be the way to complete a PhD successfully. It is original, self-directed research and is training for a career in research or academia, not just an exam or a qualification. It is learning by doing, there is no other way. The most valuable advice on this forum is from others in the same situation who have had the same experiences. This advice is offered out of goodwill, contains no unsolicited advertising and it seems to do the job very well indeed, hence any mistrust of your posts.