I have NEVER understood people who can eat 2-3 pancakes. I LOVE pancakes :-x :-x so I had 6. I would have had more, but I had to get pre-made ones cos my kitchen isn't wired in yet, so surviving on a microwave. If I had made them myself, I probably would have had more like 15 haha! That makes me sound super obese - but my BMI is fine, its just a strange obsession over pancakes.

'toff'?

ooh, I love Luna! How about tamara or tatiana? my other half wants to call any son we have wolverine - its not joke either! I'm trying to get him to compromise on logan.

I would caution against calling her something you hate the shortened version of. My friend called her daughter Katherine, but hated Katie/Kitty/Kate and just said that she wouldn't call her daughter those shortened versions, but then all her classmates call her katie now, which she didn't bank on, and she hates it!

isabell is supposed to be really popular at the mo because of twilight. Some of the ones in my family...

Harriet
Rosalie
Eleanor
Madeleine
Alice
Jenna (jennifer)
Anoushka

my personal 'saved' name for a girl - which I don't mind telling as if you steal it I don't know you so won't mind! - is Erin. Love it, just hoping no one I know steals it before I get to use it. My hubby's irish so will be really good! Although I have been told you can have any name lined up and when they're born you just think a completely different name suits.

ok, as I've said on my accountability thread, I am going to keep a record of my tomatoes and word count so here goes.

Today so far

Word Count: 0

My Tomatoes: 0

:$

Right, I have been way too distracted recently. I have had a new kitchen installed, so have had workmen wanting tea constantly and lots of disruption. my sup gave me until 22nd to write my whole first study up and you guessed it, I'm starting today! ARRRRGH!

So I need to be focused, dedicated & tied to my desk. My aim for today is....

- plan out introduction
- write at least the sections from the literature I already have
- plan out section of intro I haven't got any literature for (as sup changed what I should be writing about!)

My tomatoes will be used and I liked the idea of your word count thread teek, so will keep an eye on that.

They won't give you JSA if you have savings over a certain amount - probably a few K. So basically punishing you for being prudent. I am planning to put all my savings into my mortgage if I do need JSA when my funding has run out. And don't forget if you have another half you may be allowed to claim tax credits - although I have no idea how this works and whether you need a kid or not.

yes sounds a lot better that way. Having an open ended question option at the end e.g. any other things that are important? may get you off the hook if you are worried about being overly prescriptive with the options.

I may have got the wrong end of the stick here but anyway...

I would say that most people just won't understand what is required when making items for a questionnaire - therefore I wouldn't do that option.

How about just using a list of phrases/words (difficult when I don't know exactly your subject area) and then have a scale of not relevant to me - relevant to me. and then have an open ended "any others - please specify"

In rust and golombok's book they suggest getting the items for the questionnaire from thematic/content analysis of interviews, focus groups etc. But then I know you have done thematic analysis so maybe you've done it already!

- I can't get to my home PC today - can you leave DNS up for a little longer for me? :-)

realistically most employers probably have no idea what goes into completing a PhD. Many think it is another 3 year degree, with exams and coursework etc. I guess you just have to list the skills very clearly underneath the qualification e.g. communication, adapting and coping, organisational skills, using initiative etc etc

I'm going to start job searching in my local area before my funding runs out in october. After going through this process after my MSc and having no luck (no one understands my subject area when I'm not in London - even though it is highly relevant to the jobs I was applying to) I am going to completely change my CV. I am going to adapt the name of my masters to something that means the same but it more accessible to laymen. I am also going to not add the PhD, and am just going to put 'researcher'. If that doesn't work, I am going to just say I worked as a PA or something at a university for my professor.

Part of the problem is, that if the hiring manager hasn't got a PhD, then they don't want someone who is better qualified in their team.

19.32939%

But, I don't think I am particularly geeky about my subject - in fact I hate it. But I am quite geeky, and if I didn't have a thesis to write, would probably do things like sign up to world of warcraft etc.

it does seem that way, all my friends have had ginger kids, maybe there's something in the water?