I tend to do the same sort of thing as Missspacey, mainly because it allows me easy access to other tpes of material that didn't seem to fit very well into software like Endnote (which I didn't like anyway). I have a lot of handwritten notes, photographs and photocopies of non-textual material from trips to archives, plus cuttings from current newspapers that look vaguely useful when I see them, and exhibition and trade catalogues. Folders and filing cabinets seem best for all that. I think I like scribbling on paper anyway, maybe it helps with the thought processes or something.

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Hi Lara,

*** NB I just edited this as all my apostrophes turned into rubbish characters after posting.... I hope they are still apostrophes when I log out again.....***

Maybe it's not worth emailing the readers individually at this point, as I would assume that someone (presumably your main sup?) will have to decide how each chapter contributes to the thesis as a whole and come to a decision based on each reader's assessment of the section they've been given, before giving you feedback on the overall thesis. It's only a guess on my part though, so do what you think's best, obviously. I'm saying that because I know that some of my own chapters are stronger than others, but the overall argument that runs through the thesis as a whole is also very important, so each chapter makes slightly less sense on it's own. Why not ring him anyway? A definite response is better than waiting and wondering, even if he says he needs more time to give you written feedback then at least you'll have an idea of his impression so far.

I'm ok, feel a bit ill still but have to work unfortunately. Yesterday I must have annoyed the admins on here as I started a thread, was mildly insulted by someone and had the whole thing removed all in the same afternoon. I thought that a bit of discussion of the forum 'competition'; would have been ok, but I was obviously far too naive in that respect. Put it down to feeling unwell, or the full moon or something... I believe people go a bit weird at that time of the month according to popular myth, though I have not sprouted a full body of fur yet. Sorry admins :$

Went to a good work-related thing last night, it was interesting to hear from some of the more senior researchers here about how their PhDs led on to their current funded projects. It reminded me that opportunities are out there post-doc and that even established researchers didn't necessarily find the whole doctoral process easy.

Good luck with calling your sup today (up)

I wondered how the apparent lack of anonymity on that other forum might impact on the nature of the discussion and advice given, which would only be relevant if people had used both forums. I don't think that's particularly stupid.

Hi Lara,

Great that you've had a break this weekend, must have taklen your mind off it!!

Dare I ask how it's going with the work, or if you're heard anything yet....?

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======= Date Modified 14 57 2008 15:57:35 =======
Have any of you used this forum? We've just been sent it by our uni postgrad staff, and I wondered what you thought of it. I think I prefer the PGF forum though :-)

http://www.************.com/

Pete, thanks.

Not an inbox problem, but I can't see a post by Aussiegirl in the 'Following your dream' thread. It shows up in the latest posts list as a new message from this morning at 8ish, but when I click on it, the last visible post for that thread was 4 days ago. This happened a while ago with some of us.

Would it be worth you admins starting a sticky thread for us lot to report problems....?

Perhaps you should find out the reason for the cancellation, before you make a formal complaint. It may have been something completely unavoidable, like the examiner has ended up in hospital or something completely beyond anyone's control and that could never have been predicted.

If you find out why it got cancelled, you can take it from there, as that will also impact on when you can reschedule it and if you need a different examiner. ie if she's hooked up to a life support machuine in ITU, it obviously won't be happening next week, so maybe you'd either need another examiner, or stick with her after an appropriate time period. Also maybe think about when *you'd* like it to be rescheduled, as presumably you should have a say in this, as you've been inconvenienced.

Hope it gets sorted out soon anyway, I can't imagine how much extra stress it must be causing you. Good luck!! (up)

Rubyw has narrowly escaped being gored in the chest by a low-flying pigeon and feels a bit like an extra in a remake of The Birds.

Hi Armendaf,

It's great that you've been making progress with your work. Nothing wrong with making ambitious plans and deadlines, I guess it'll all have to get done in the end anyway. So the end is in sight for you, excellent!

I've just been plodding on with all my rewrites this weekend, it's going ok, just slow and tedious, but ho hum, that's the way it goes sometimes. There didn't seem much point in talking to myself on this thread, so I didn't, but apologies if you've been around too! Have to get this chapter out of the way by tonight really, then the other one the following week. It's all officially on schedule at present, but I'm horribly aware of how much there is to do and how long even little things take, like fiddling with the figures and chasing up odd references from really old field notes. Ah well, one day it will be done!

Good luck with your work this week.

Lara, I was wondering how you were doing....? Ok I hope.

Mira, sorry your field trip wasn't great, hopefully you got something out of it apart from illness.

See you later anyway.

I'm glad I'm surrounded by so many 'extra attractive and interesting' people on here :-)

Not sure it's helping me work though!

lol Smoobles :-)

I felt fine until I was told I was having a brown day (my least favourite colour ever...ugh...)

'Today you are your normal responsible, serious self.
You're getting done what needs to be done. And you're not too worried about how you're feeling.

While you're all business, you are still warm and approachable.
You are busy, but you're not too busy for a little fun down time.'

Just a normal PhD writing-up day then....

Thank you Hypothesis, you've reminded me why I like this forum!(up)

Any other educational suggestions would be welcome, of course, black or otherwise

======= Date Modified 13 Oct 2008 11:24:57 =======
I agree with Olivia, but if it carries on for months and you still think it's impeding your day-to-day work, then maybe you should see your GP, assuming you've got one that's ok. I had a phase a while back of feeling really tired and crap for months, and it just got slowly worse to the point where I started struggling with my PhD work. I thought it was just stress-related and that I should be able to deal with it, though I never mentioned it to my supervisor, who ended up thinking I just wasn't doing the work and didn't care (which I do!). It turned out to be a physiological problem, that was fixed really easily, once it was diagnosed.

In retrospect, I wish I'd mentioned it to both my supervisor and my GP months before I got really ill. It turned out not to be stress and I wasn't a hypochondriac either, which was nice! I do think it's a good idea to keep your supervisor in the picture if it's affecting your work over an extended period of time though. Also, even if your GP's crap, at least it shows you're trying to sort it out. If by any chance you needed an extension/suspension of studies in the future then you'd be in a better position, as all that stuff would be documented.

Having said all that, I find that stress and the whole idea of the final phase of PhD is tiring, plus it's not a very healthy time of year at the moment around my college, so if it's similar for you, maybe it's best not to get unduly worried. Look after yourself though. (up)