Good luck with the interview Sneaks! Sure you'll knock their socks off :-)

I actually stuck the headphones on and managed to work for about 2 hours solid, don't know when I last managed that!! Now have my graphs tarted up and can start the scary bit of figuring out how to lay them out on pages....

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What a petty thing to say! Some academics just like to throw one liners at young researchers, it makes them feel big and clever (idiots). Don't be disheartened though, you know your work is relevant and as you say - why would they accept it otherwise (let's face it, joke's on them if they feel they have to accept "old wine" for their own conference).

I agree with the others, take this as an early guidance for how to approach your topic. If you're giving a talk I'd even be tempted to put:

"Actual talk title: Old wine in a new bottle?" as my title slide, then explain to the conference that this was what the organisers suggested (should get a giggle). Then go on to explain what the failings have been in past studies, and why your work is so helpful. It's a good angle to present from as it shows immediately why your research matters.

If it's a poster you could even sneak it in, perhaps a little intro saying "when I applied to this conference I was accepted, but with the rebuke 'isn't this just old wine in a new bottle?', this poster explains the research in detail, and why it is a very much a new vintage"

Good call button! But I have to ask, which flavour? IMHO there is only butterscotch (preferably with banana chunks hidden in it)!

phrase not word but I like...

"when one considers"

(very queenly I feel)

Teek's WOTD:

indicative

There you are wally, was wondering if you were ok. I'd like some schematic diagrams, unfortunately I'm not very good at them, perhaps crayon doodles would suffice?

Good luck Ev, I'm a sleep monster just now as well (you know it's bad when getting in before mid-day seems a genuine achievement!).
I was a bad Teek yesterday and barely started goal 2, I think I need to break it down more. So...

goal 1: make a mindmap of the section.

Today has been mediocre but I shall cheer myself up and then head over to the one goal thread....

*Meditated this morning
*Watered the plants
*Washed my hair and managed to look halfway presentable
*Does planning to exercise count?
*Made a more realistic plan for my week

Now for the goal thread and some actual work!

Hehe, now that is impressive procrastination! Nice CD though :-)
My favorite tactic is to worry incessantly about what to wear, and waste precious pre-conference/interview hours frantically shopping instead of preparing.

I feel totally shafted now, I've been on £12k the whole way through!

Hi Sue

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog :-( don't push yourself too hard while you're dealing with all this, if you're crying a lot then you probably need a break.

Knowing how hard it is for you to get work, and assuming this job might not be permenant anyway (assume it's for the period of the grant?), would your partner not consider at least a temporary move to that place? You've put so much into this career change, it seems terrible to have to pass up this opportunity now it's arrived. And if you know you'll get resentful, what will that do to the relationship? I think you can only choose to pass this up if you genuinely feel it's your own decision and that you're at peace with it. If you feel "I'm going to spit this out in every argument over the next ten years" be honest now.

My husband and I are driven crazy by geography as well, for the past few years I've made the sacrifices and stayed where he was originally based, the irony being that having settled here, he's now away every week with work anyway! A lesson in itself about how apparent certainties can vanish in weeks. But I made the decision positively and we agreed that the next move has to be for my career. Would your partner really not consider something like this, even if you said "we'll go there for x years then you get to pick the next step"?

As for the dog, while it's not ideal to be moving when she's sick, if you're there and your happy, I really think she'll be ok. Dogs are much less concerned about places than about people, she's tied to you and will probably respond to your mood more than any location. We actually moved house a few weeks before our dog died, he really didn't seem to mind (in fact despite being half blind and doddery he was just chuffed to bits about sniffing this new garden!) and it helped my husband to have had him there in that home, and to be able to bury him there.

*hugs* these situations are utterly crap I know, all I can say is to go with your gut, and not to berate yourself for whatever choice you make.

You shouldn't be begging Satchi! You're a customer, not a servant! Don't ask the agency for a bed, demand it! After all, they're getting a cut of your money precisely to sort this stuff out. If they have a busy office you could even threaten to stay there crying in front of their customers until they fix it 8-)

Hmm, it's tricky, if he didn't put that provision of the bed in writing it's hard to prove, but then if the agency are following it up, they must acknowledge it's part of the agreement. I don't think your real estate lady is as nice as she's making out, nice would be getting you something to sleep on! I'd tell her that the bed was part of the agreement and that if the landlord doesn't provide one within the next fortnioght then you'll either have to buy one yourself and deduct it from the rent, or you'll terminate the contract and move eslewhere. Ideally phone her and follow up with an email so you have it in writing (remember to put a read-receipt on the email if you can). If that doesn't give them a kick up the behind....

Also, it maye not apply where you are, but if your university has an approved landlords list you could make sure this guy is blacklisted so no other students get taken advantage of.

Hahaha, thanks sneaks :-) and you're tactic must have worked because I've just finished goal one! (turned out to be a ten minute job, ah).

So, goal two: Decide how to present results for subsequent section - graphs ahoy.

It's a bad day here, the black dog has harumphed itself down upon my chest and is sitting there, looking disparaging. But I have made it to the office, made tea, erm.... yeah.

Ok concrete goal: I shall fill in that missing table in chapter 4 *shuffles off to root out data*