PS Don't mean to add to your headaches here, but don't forget to clear everything with your insurance company. Most have a get-out clause if you leave the property for more than just holidays. It'd be awful to have to deal with that on top of everything else if anything were to happen (and fingers crossed it won't).

Poor you, what a nightmare. My sister and her husband are in exactly the same situation - they've been trying to sell their old place for a while, but with the current market being what it is, just haven't been able to. In the meantime, they've had to move across the country for his job. She can't get work there, and they have 2 kids, so it's a real trial.

Back to your situation: if the bank won't let you take a payment holiday, and assuming it's currently a repayment mortgage, could you try and transfer it to interest only? OR, would they let you extend the duration of the mortgage? When we got our place, they wouldn't let us have it on a 30 year term, but they didn't mind if we paid it back over 31 (?!) It worked out cheaper on a monthly basis for us, but obviously they're winners in the long-run (no surprise there then.)

If it's really not affordable (and yes, I realise this is technically not cool and fraudulent, but if desperate...) I'd be inclined to rent it in short term bursts on the quiet and on the cheap to needy mates.

Good luck x

Both situations sound tough and, whilst I agree there are always positives, (and at the risk of sounding hippy-ish) I think there's alway space for a bit of solidarity. I'm getting a bit fed up with so-called austerity measures that simply hurt the already hardest hit whilst dragging us backwards (in terms of equal pay/rights etc) into the last century.

Anyway, (rant over) I just think it's a crying shame. I hope it all works out happily for the both of you. x

I've been told cats hate citrus. So perhaps cover the stairs in lemons?

Have you tried http://www.wooloo.org/open-call/most-recent ?
They've got a search function for seminars/forums, which sometimes throws stuff up.

What's the deal - last year, it was 9 months (or 39 weeks), in line with statutory maternity pay. This year, it's 6 months. Not that I'm pregnant, or even trying, but like to know my rights just in case...

Anyway, more to the point, why have we gone backwards here??!

So, I officially kick off in a month and am (naively?) raring to go. I've been reading around my own subject, of course, but wondered if any of you could recommend more general books, sites or nifty ideas for an (arts) PhD game-plan? I'm hoping that if I can start well, perhaps the rest will follow...

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Why, thank you kindly! Shame it's not in commercial production yet, eh. Wouldn't mind one myself.

Or, alternatively, one of those colour changing mugs. At least then you'll be able to see when the tea's cold and avoid an unpleasant mouthful. (Only if the cosy isn't wholly effective, of course. Which I'm sure it will be. Good ol' Mum :-) )

How about one of these: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/the-kug ?

Have you considered private tutoring for GCSE, A-Level etc.? You can usually get up to £20/hour in London, and it fits around your timetable. My sister's doing it to fund her full-time MA, and it seems to work well for her.

Best luck, I'm sure you'll work something out.

Hadi - that's totally dependent on your subject. If it helps, for non-phone interview, mine asked me to outline my thesis, then I had questions about my specific proposal, current thinking in the field and possible approaches to research. Without knowing your proposal, it's difficult to say, but prepare for it the same way you would any other interview. The advantage of a phone interview (in my experience) is that you can jot down points to most likely questions, as others here suggest.
Good luck!