I'll check with them on Monday.

Has anybody else had problems accessing articles from JSTOR. I can log into other sites using my institution log-in but JSTOR won't let me. It seems that they have done something to their interface (no idea what this means!) and from what I can tell from the techno jargon it's changed the way people can access stuff. It may be a case of checking with my own library but I just wondered if anyone had had problems.

I once applied for a job in which I had stated in my application that I had organised 'pubic meetings'! I got an interview but not the job so I don't know if they actually noticed.
I had a journalist friend who was writing about somebody called Angus and a letter got missed out.....

You've got me worried now! But if I am going to be living back in my house occasionally, hopefully if they do check up then they will see that I am living there.

I was in the same situation. My husband and I bought a house three years ago but it took so long and our relationship was fragile anyway so by the time we'd been through all the hassle of trying to get a mortgage on my stipend etc we actually split up a few months after moving in. We lived there together but separate lives for a while and then we both met other people and I moved in with my boyfriend. I didn't want to sell the house because I saw it as an investment and we were tied into a three year fixed rate. So we thought we would rent it out. The letting agent was great but then I got the same as you from the mortgage company saying we could not let it out. I'd already paid money to the letting agent but they refunded it and were really nice about the whole thing.
So I went down the renting out privately through spareroom.com. Initially my ex hubbie was still living there so we rented out the other room. Unfortunately the first two tenants ended up messing me about and one left owing two months rent. But I know have a lovely Bulgarian couple living there and they always pay the rent on time. My ex has now moved out but is still paying his share of the mortgage. I can't get hold of him so as there is now a free empty room I am actually going to stay there when I am up at uni, as I live with my new partner 200 miles away.
It's all pretty complicated, but basically I'd say rent it out anyway and hope that the mortgage people don't find out. If you make sure you keep that as your address with them and make sure you pick up any post from them then how are they going to know that you aren't living there. How many mortgage companies check up on people?

What about exam invigilating? I know the summer is the main time to do this but I think schools have resits in November. Get in touch with secondary schools in your area.

I think there are quite a few of us in the same situation. I had a meeting with my supervisor last week and she said how would I feel if I could just be locked in a room for 6 months with nothing to do but work on my PhD. I thought that would be wonderful so I could just get it finished. I have a part-time freelance job for two days a week so I decided not to look for other work and spend the rest of my time finishing my thesis. Then me and my bf sat down to work out the finances and even if he paid all the rent and bills, he would not have much left and I would still not have enough. So I am having to look for more work and then I know I won't be able to get on with my PhD as quickly as I want to. It just seems as if it is going to go on for ever when all I want to do is just finish and pass and then at least there will be post-doc jobs open to me. I've seen a wonderful job at the V&A researching French Fashion from 1500 working in Paris and Lyon and if I had my PhD I could have gone for it. I want to be able to at least apply for things like that rather than slogging on for months, years doing work that I don't really want to do.

The Institute for Historical Research is good for conference listings. It is history-led but they have international conferences on various themes.

http://www.history.ac.uk/events/categories

I've been through the same thing twice and you should not underestimate how traumatic something like this can be. I'm sorry to hear about your sister. My mum died a few years ago of breast cancer and just being in the same hospital brings back memories so I can understand how you must have felt.
My partner recently went through a health scare after having chest pains and we had to wait for scans and results etc. It was very stressful and in the end there was nothing wrong at all. But I know the feeling of relief was palpable. And it does make you tired so take the day off, sleep and watch TV, knowing that tomorrow is another 'healthy' day when you can work again.

My partner's daughter had her account deleted. I thought it might be because she swears a lot with the c word and stuff (only in a young persons humourous way) But there's worse on the web so I don't know. She did set up a new account and everyone got new friend requests from her which was worrying as then we didn't know if that was genuine until we checked with her. But she has managed to get her original account back again - I don't know how but I can check next time I'm on FB!

My work is so interdisciplinary that it became clear one lit review wouldn't work. So I am doing a review of the literature that covers the general theme I am working on as part of the introduction but it won't be very long. Then for each chapter I'll be reviewing the relevant literature as part of that chapter so overall who knows how many words it will be. Is anyone else working like this?

I have got access to the second one. Again, let me have your details and I'll send it to you.

If you want to be a journalist you will really need the NCTJ qualification. I gave up journalism to go back to uni but when I was an editor of a local newspaper I wouldn't consider employing anyone without NCTJ training. It was the shorthand and law knowledge which was vital. Generally journalism degrees at the time didn't equip students to work in the real world of journalism but I don't know what the content is like now.

Be warned though that the newspaper industry is in a bad state. The company I worked for has closed down all its district offices and made a lot of people redundant. This is going on across the board.
I'd say do the NCTJ - if you can get it paid for then it's a no brainer. Try to get work experience as well and hope that by the time you have finished you will get a job. If not you could have the masters as a back-up. Good luck.

Since my funding ended in May I have had to spend more and more time doing paid work and I've realised that I haven't done any real PhD work since then apart from writing a paper and attending a conference in June. The situation isn't going to get any better and I'm probably going to have to find more paid work to pay the bills. It's so easy to say I'll do some of my Phd at the weekend or in the evening but I'm so tired by then all I want to do is sleep. I'm still motivated to some extent and want to get working again but I always seem to find an excuse. I know it requires willpower on my part but I just wondered if anyone had been in the same situation and how you got going again.

I can do Manchester too, but as I live far away from uni I won't be around until the last week of September but from then on will be kicking around most of the time.