Ahh, crap. Didn't happen for me today. There's always tomorrow though.

It's a Friday and the end of the week for normal employed folk. There's probably an illegal rave taking place somewhere, or a bar open that's full of trendy urbanites. I'm 28 and supposed to be living it up. After this PhD, I'm never doing another one.

Is anyone working late tonight, because I am. Although I've made some progress so far, it's not as much as I would have liked.:-(

Hi Moonblue, I should have been more specific instead of sprouting gobbledygook. PROM in my world stands for Patient Reported Outcome Measure. I'm just really glad I'm past this specific stage of my research now because I can really accelerate the rate at which I can collect the rest of my data and move things along. Also, by hopefully having produced the first draft of my instrument by the end of today, it feels like I'll finally have something to show for all my effort.

Glasgow was a resounding success! Even though I didn't get much sleep in my hotel room - my fault because I was really excited about being so far away from home and I just had to use up all the free tea bags and coffee sachets since it would have been rude not to (subsequent massive caffeine high and the Hippy Hippy Shakes) - my research went really well. I now have all the data to put my PROM together and am in the process of doing it. Now I just have to do the pre-testing and establish some measurement properties for it - temporal stability, construct validity, clinician and patient feasibility, face and content validity - so goody goody...
By the end of today, I will have given birth - so someone fetch me a towel and a bucket of hot water!

Hi Doctor? This forum is totally anonymous and you don't need to mention any names or specifics that may identify you. There's no point in me sprouting platitudes about how a PhD is all about hassle and stress, and that it's worth it in the long run. Doubtless, you'll already have heard that. What I can say, though, is that you're so very close to finishing and whatever difficulties you're having at this stage really must be crippling, if you're considering giving up so close to the end.
I surmise being so close to the end, you must have most of your data collection and analysis done. I suppose you'll also have a fair chunk of the write up done as well. I could be wrong, so would it be possible for you to broadly outline what difficulties you are having. Trust me when I say that you're not the only one. Someone on this forum will have been through what you're experiencing - and there's a lot of advice you may be able to receive too. So please don't be shy and try and be a little more forthcoming if you can. Like you, I'm close to the end and frequently think about jacking it in.

Well, I'm furious. You don't go around saying the things I've read on this thread to your partner. I'm not offending anyone's partner but they have to have either a lack of sensitivity and/or intelligence. Back in the day, when I was hip, young, carefree and in love, I never really thought about weight (I even put some on - gone now though) - I was (sorry, sick bag alert) to busy laughing, chatting and making short term plans. It was enough to know that there's someone who loves you loads and you love them as much back. My partner could eat all the cake she wanted, nay, I fed her bloody cake when she wanted it because I was doing something for her that made her happy. Simples. I despair of relationships nowadays - it's all Hollyoaks and Skins fast loving, raving, KFC and interrelationship abuse.
Right, well, there's only one thing for it. Let me give you some general rules about men without self-flagellating and making apologies for my sex ...

1) We really are an insensitive bunch, you know? When you're stressing about the things that matter in life, we're too busy thinking about food, Ford Cortinas, mates, and the lest savoury amongst us even have carnal musings.

2) Women really are smarter than men. Proof required? Any man that truly excels among his peers is psychologically affected in some way. If he claims he's as wholesome as Mighty White bread, he's also partly mouldy. Proof? Einstein did a runner on his first wife.

3) Women live longer than men. 'Nough said there.

4) Women can multi-task...men can't. Proof other than the overwhelming scientific evidence? Meh...me trying to shave whilst listening to music - the blood loss is of biblical proportions.

5) Women rule the wor-

I'll stop there. I do have a reputation and male friends who will beat me up if they ever find out that I have written this. I feel almost like being a glamorous spy divulging top secret information, unfortunately in a rather less glamorous ITV drama premier, starring Robson and Gerome. Anyhow, take no flaming notice of what they say. There's more crap can come out of a man's mouth in 5 minutes than I can hope to type on this forum throughout the whole course of my PhD. In fact, express inner thoughts of sympathy the next time they say something silly - along the lines of 'awww, but he's just a ickle man'.

Ev, in my opinion I would say a day. That's how long it took me to do my abstract for my upcoming major conference. I had a fair idea of what I wanted to say, but I had to refine it, refine it and refine it. Maybe I'm a bit anally retentive but I thought about every word, the structure of it, and then formulated a catchy title to make it stand out from the others.
I am perhaps a little slow though, when it comes to these things. I wouldn't have thought more than a day though.

Haven't quite come to the stage yet - still quite a bit away. However, I'm going to forward them a pdf copy of my thesis by e-mail with their names emboldened and italicised in the acknowledgements to cut costs.

Well, I'm at my hotel, gearing up for my research tomorrow. I am, in fact, the furthest I have ever been away from home. And Glasgow is different, very different from my little hill top village. I had to draw some money out to get a taxi - and it's not even English money. Let me just get my wallet...
It looks like one of them note versions of the Euro... Sir Walter Scott is on one side (looking very angry and demonic) and there's a picture of a Viaduct on the back of it.
I'm also having a couple of issues with communication - nowt serious though. In the taxi, I couldn't understand the nice lady - so I had to keep saying pardon and sorry. The hotel manager is a bit stern as well. I asked him if there's a shop and he said, 'A shop for what? What do you want to buy? There's a wee shop around the corner'.
On the upside, to say it's a budget room - it's not all bad. I have my own shower, soap, 4 towels (4? how many washes do they think I'm going to have?), 3 mirrors (I'm not even vain), an electric kettle, 4 mini cartons of milk and an assortment of tea bags and 4 freeze dried coffee satchets.
Hope my research goes well tomorrow and I get the data that I need.

Right, Teek and Eska, I see that I'm going to have to have very serious words with you both about your taste in movies! Juno? Pretty Woman? Pffffff!
There's a new Sylvester Stallone movie coming out, not to mention a Rocky 7, The A Team, there's going to be a Bourne Identity 4...I hope you can see what I'm getting at - there's better things to watch. A new Version of Clash of the Titans, yes - in 3d, is coming out as well.

No pancakes for me. I had a tin of Heinz Ravioli, warmed up.