Hi Ev. Depression, whether mild, moderate or severe, is a horrible experience. Whether caused by a intrinsic chemical imbalance and/or a combination of external factors, the one thing that is certain is that it can be just plain crippling. The incidence of depression seems to be higher amongst PhD students - there's actually papers on it - and I've had personal experiences with it during my PhD, so I know how you feel. I second your advice concerning dealing with the problems head on, accessing support available, and hope that things improve for you soon.

@Matt. That comment could have come straight from the Daily Mail. It's so right ring that it would make a bat fly in concentric anti-clockwise circles. I don't mean to cause offence, but the NHS is something I feel passionately about. Certainly, it's not perfect and there's always room for improvement but it's care that is free at the point of delivery and an important safety net. For your information, cancer outcomes are dramatically improving and an alcoholic is very unlikely to receive a liver transplant over someone who is 'more deserving' (ethics). As for 'cretin' managers and 'over-paid' consultants...well, we're about to find out how 'useless' they are. Let's see what happens when the free market, competition and privatisation become part of the NHS. Worked wonders for trains and water, didn't it? |'d like to see how your comments r.e. the NHS change over the coming months. If you think things are with the NHS are bad now, just wait and see how difficult things will become over the next year. Of course, there's always 'superior' private health care - just don't develop a chronic illness.

I think I was really lucky at my university. There are no fees at all for the write-up year or any extensions thereafter.

Thanks Olivia and Pinknumbers. It'll be submitted by 4pm today and is currently being printed and soft bound.

I have to say; it feels really weird. I'm not elated and over-the-moon like I thought I would be. I actually feel a sense of loss and quite sad - must be my hormones or the lack of sleep. Right now, I actually feel that I miss it - and it's only 700 yards away in the print shop. It's a massive phase of my life, my thesis, just gone. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself now. God, I'm such a weirdo at times. This human condition thing is hard to fathom. :-(

Well, I have a paper to redraft and a presentation to do for Wednesday, so I can get started on that.

Thanks Cakeman, I'll look into that. I haven't thought about 3rd parties in the rush to get it handed in. There's a printing place and a big Staples not too far away from me that I can check out.

Sneaks, thanks for the quick witted point about the avatar beard - although I'd love a wispy white beard in real life (there are 15 year olds with more facial hair than me). I'll have to think of another sponsor. Got it! This should go with my old man avatar image: Axa Life Insurance. A Complex Scientific Investigation by Walminskipeasucker - have you thought about how to provide for your loved ones when you're gone?

My uni is stingy whe it comes to printing. You have to ask for permission to use the office printers and I'm not sure how to delicately phrase 'please can I print off 1017 pages please?' My home printer is a cheap-as-chips £50 special and I doubt it will take the strain, so I have only one option. I'd quite gladly have 'Just Do It!' emblazoned across the footer section of every page of my thesis if it meant that Nike would pay for it. Alas, since I'm not a footballer, golfer or tennis expert, I doubt they'd be interested....
Ah, but wait...I do use Gillet razors. Problem solved. I can see the title of my thesis now: A Complex Scientific Investigation by Walminksipeasucker - for the closest shave.

Ah good, I couldn't get hold of it myself. I can only get up to 1998 with a one year embargo.

Thanks, Sneaks! That's given me a few ideas.

Just a quick question really. I have a paper that has reviewer's comments proceeding the references. So the paper is, for example, Blogs and Jogs (2002) and then the guy I want to reference in the peer review section after the paper is Jones. How would I go about referencing something like that? Thank you.

Who the heck clicked 'yes'? If a PhD is substandard, I personally don't think that, even if it represents an advance in methods, it will be passed. The PhD, the whole thing, represents a lot more than just showing an advance in methods.

I think it's as neutral as distilled water; there's nothing to suggest you been successful or unsuccessful. Good luck (up)

Thank you, Pink Numbers and Eska. In today's episode of 216 Hours, Walminski receives a devastating shock. In other news, the paint continues to dry...

I called up the printing place at my uni to make a few enquires - namely, what's the cost? 10p per page black and white and 50p a page in colour...!

By my calculations, that's roughly 320 pages @ 10p = £32. Which, at 3 copies = £96! That's the most money I've ever paid for a rough grilling. I could just break the law and then get the same level of interrogation for free, plus a brew and a free lawyer to help me with the tough bits.

Pjlu, don't talk such nonsense (not being serious)! We're all in this together! Dave has told me that after the Age of Austerity, we'll all come out of this with more money in our pockets. I hope you don't become a rat escaping a sinking ship.

I've just seen the thread at the top (NEW!). Doh!

I've been awake for 24 hours, working for the vast majority of time - just trying to get things done. I'm exhausted and feel like an eighties throwback at an acid house party. The movie is starting to get a little bit repetitive and I think that it'll require some serious editing. At this rate it won't be straight to DVD; it's so big it'll be a Blu Ray exclusive.
I have one more chapter that needs a bit more work and then I can just focus on the typos and presentation. There's been one tense, hair-raising moment in the sage so far: I wrote what I thought was a brief abstract, but it turned out to be 194 words long and stretched to 3 pages.

How come Button and Queerface have VIP thingies on their posts? How do you get one of them. Using my powers of Columbo detection ('Just one more question...'), I can only surmise that it's related to having perhaps reviewed a book for PGF or something... I wonder if I'm correct?