thank you for your replies! I wasn't able to access the forum yesterday afternoon for some reason

feeling better this morning - went out with friends last night to a union production of the full monty whih provided some much-needed laughs (plus a few nice bums!!) ;-)

OH stayed at work o/n last night and seems in a better mood this morning so hopefully that will be a bit pleasanter later! unfortunately he is very stubborn and clicker training would never work... normally he is ok, but sometimes he forgets he is a member of the human species!!

plus the plumber is supposed to be coming out this afternoon - so fingers crossed!

I'm off into town now to a nice cafe to sit and warm up for a bit

thanks again for your kind replies! The video just made me feel jealous unfortunately!

xx

I'm sooooo p***ed off right now I am close to tears

we have had no heating for nearly two weeks and i am cold beyond words. plumber had to order in a part (fair enough) so they arranged to come on monday just gone. they had to cancel as the part hadn't come in. were meant to come yesterday and cancelled as the courier hadn't picked up the part. were meant to come today - even had a phone call advising approximate time this morning - and they have just rung to say they aren't coming as they STILL don't have the part. apparently they're coming tomorrow but will believe that when i see it!! :-s

other half was in a real mood this morning and completely useless around the house so wanted to throttle him (fortunately he went to work around lunchtime) - is it really completely unreasonable to ask him to make the bed and to pick up rubbish (actual rubbish by the way) he had left on the floor?! :-s

i've also had the worst headache for the last 3 days - all i want to do is lie down in a dark room and sleep :-(

sorry for posting my woes, but i'm at home on my own and just needed to vent

Just noticed tis thread and I am all in favour of home-made presents. Last year I did a few hampers for people and filled it with goodies I had made - chutney, piccalli (sp?), jams and even some pickled onions! They went down really well and I was getting compliments on the food for months afterwards. This year I am making some friends some cushions and have made my mum and sister bags. I've found that people really appreciate the effort and thought that have gone into the gifts.

hey apple,

i personally wouldn't send it to them just to be on the safe side. they may not quote it or use it, but they may pass it on and it might get used then. i think once you have heard back from the reviewers and ammended the paper it would be ok to send to them. that's just my opinion though!

alternatively you could send it to them as a pdf. and just make clear it is a draft (e.g. impose 'draft' on the background) if you are keen to send it to them

L xx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VRBWLpYCPY

A professor has sent this round our department and it made me chuckle so thought I would pass it on... enjoy!

Hey

I've often been recommended to use a sans-serif font as it is easier to read. I have downloaded free fronts from urban fonts and that is a great website. I'm using sans times new roman for my thesis and I really like to look of it

Font decisions are a great form of procrastination :-)

Hi,

It may be best to speak to your university finance office. I get a bursary which is tax-free because it is classed as a bursary rather than a wage. I receive £1000 per month now, but I do know people that receive more - both in my department and across the university - all tax-free.

x

I agree that some teaching and research is good - in fact I think it is an essentail part of being a PhD student. It just came across on the news that this student had done the work and the supervisor was receiving the glory - I would've been miffed if I was the student to put it mildly!!

Sorry to hear this jojo - i too know it is difficult to explain to family and friends what a PhD is and why it is such hard work! You are not alone in that respects

Not really sure what else to say, but wanted to let you know you are not the only one like that (((hug)))

I'm sure that there is no way they regret having you - they are clearly proud of you or they wouldn't be supporting you financially. Clearly they love you :-)

xxx

Congratulations on your pass! No corrections is amazing - Well Done!!
xxx

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8364447.stm

This story was just reported on by News 24 and it said that a student had been researching the atrocity and had tracked down this man. He found his phone number etc. and then his professor rang him and interviewed him. In essence it seemed like the student had done the work and the prof. had taken credit. It didn't say whether the student was a postgrad or undergrad, but I'm guessing by the level of detail it was postgrad.

I am lucky in that my supervisor doesn't take advantage and is very fair. However I know of lots of students whose supervisors make them do lots of teaching, research etc. for them and this story made me think of that.

Anyone got any similar stories? Or comments?

I think it is a difference between disciplines. I don't know anybody who has done a social science thesis in less than 75, 000!

I am still aiming for 100, 000 - will have to be harsh with the editing though I think - I'm a concise writer too! I obviously have far too many interesting things to say for my own good ;-)

The guidelines here are for 80, 000, but it more of a hard science uni so I think the limit has been drawn up with quantitative work in mind. Picture says 1000 words and all that!!
xx

Hey,

I am in the process of writing an analysis chapter and have just realised it is going to end up being VERY long - about 15-20 thousand words, so it got me thinking about the overall word count. I have been aiming for 100, 000 words, but am now thinking that this doesn't sound like a lot!! :$

My research is in social psych and I use transcript data so that will artificially inflate my word count

What is everyone else aiming for? Or what have people ended up with? Just interested :p

xx

Hi Buttercup,

I can get the Fiske et al. one - if you PM your email address I can send it to you

x