Ah I get it, I have to become a Moderator to get 5 stars. Doh, silly me.

May I ask, when was the last time you had a chat with your supervisor? You'll probably find that this will clarify a few issues and motivate you to move your PhD forwards. The last thing you need to happen now is to ruminate too much and for your PhD to grind to a halt. After all, your supervisor is there to provide guidance so make use of them.

Okay, if the PhD route is where you intend to go (I have to ask that a PhD is something you really want to do), the most likely route from here is to do a Masters, get a Distinction and try to secure PhD funding on the basis of that distinction. Admittedly this may mean a gap between completing the Masters and commencing the PhD, but you could circumvent this if you're taught module marks arrive sufficiently early during your Masters that you can use them to convince prospective supervisors that you're set for a Distinction. As I'm sure you're aware, funding is highly competitive, so you'll really need to think about the things you can bring to the table that will set you aside from the competition. However, getting to know prospective supervisors prior to the application can be a big help in convincing them to fight for funding for you. Like many things in life, where there's a will, there's a way..

I haven't seen Foxy and Albert on the forum yet. Can we expect some valuable contributions from them in the near future?

Hmmm........ (holds chin, ponderously)

Well done you. It's a great feeling isn't it? Enjoy the short rest before the hard work begins in the autumn!

What, there's 5 of you now? Last time I checked there were just 3!

I think they're teasing us. H has over 3000 posts so should definitely get more stars than me (if that's the criteria). That said, a large proportion of my 2000 plus posts might be described as "off topic", so to speak. I'm confuzzled.

Another one to fix. If you go through the findaphd.com page you are routed to the old latest messages page which is frozen at yesterday afternoon. You only end up here if you press the post button.

H is on her way over as we speak (honest).

BTW, does talking up Henderson's Relish and sausage sarnies improve my star rating?

Grhhh. I was in Sheffield on Saturday, I should have got some Henderson's Relish. As it is, i'm stuck with boring old Worcester Sauce.

I appear to score 2 out of 5 on some sort of criteria. Usefulness? Quality of advice? Number of irrelevant posts? What do I need to do to get to 3 stars?

Wow, it's all new and shiny and apparently I'm second in the number of posts chart - that's a disturbing amount of procrastination. Watch out H, I'm only 1000 or so behind. Anyway, the important question of the day is whether the old smillies still work. So here goes (robin) (psycho).

Presumably therefore, you need to sell the other house first and you shouldn't have any problems getting a mortgage for the outstanding amount on the new one. If the place you're planning to buy is your dream home where you intend to stay for a number of years, you could consider dropping the price of your existing place to ensure you get this one.