A fond farewell.....for a while

[Donkey]

I shall be leaving you all for a while i am afraid. I have just about got my PhD thesis written up (all 250 pages of it) and am going home for a couple of months of doing absolutely nothing before i start my job in september.

So until i get onto the internet after being at home (no connection at the parents house) i will not be able to see what is happening here.

don't change the place too much

Rod

[daveleau]

Sad to see you go Rod, but I wish you the best of luck. I am not a PhD student, but work in a research lab whose environment is filled with them. I admire your drive and wish you all the luck.

Go get em!

Dave

[Warthog]

We'll miss ya, Rod. Always welcome back http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Warthog

[socalgal]

Best Wishes and hope to see you back soon! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Bob The Great]

Bye! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

Come back filled with knowledge to show us!

[charmler]

I shall be waiting for your return, make sure you post a topic when you get back.
Congrats on the thesis and best wishes on the dissertation. I hope no one shows up to challenge.

[krusty the klown]

BCNU Rod!

Hey, that's good news about the job m8 - well done!!!

Got a date for your viva yet?

[Donkey]

Cheers Guys (and Gals)
nice to know my small amount of knowledge may be missed.

Krusty, i'm hopefully putting the thesis into the binders at the beginning of next week, then maybe a month or o till the viva. But once it is in i really don't care. I'm just glad i've got it over and done with!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

How's yours going?

I'll let you all know when i'm back.
CU Rod

[krusty the klown]

I'm working on getting a paper published at the moment http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

The money runs out in September - I was always on a year-by-year contract... my stupourvisors reckon I should have written up by September... Hehehe, I think not http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

Thing is, there's loads more work to be done... actually potentially useful work that could have clinical benefit! It seems a shame to get this far & chuck in the towel, so I'm hoping that if I get this paper published, we can get another grant in.

Dunno what I'm doing in September... I'm putting my house on the market in July (want to buy a place in Sheffield?? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif) and getting one of these:
http://www.abnb.demon.co.uk/fdr564/abnb564e

Yes, I am mad <IMG SRC="http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/otn/angry/mad.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/otn/angry/mad.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/otn/angry/mad.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/otn/angry/mad.gif" border=0>

[Donkey]

Mad probably, but maybe you are just a romantic gypsy type at heart http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif.

Do you intend to commute to leeds every day by boat? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Seems like a pretty cool idea tough as long as you don't get sea sick http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

As for work. There is always loads of things that could be looked at. I had to make the decision to overrun with no money by almost 7 months. Not fun i am telling you, but i needed the data. I could have gone on and on aswell. but i told myself and my supervisor that i was finishing expts at the end of april and just writing what i had. It is amazing how much more work gets done when you have a looming deadline. Most of my data has come from these last 6-7 months or so.

And it is amazing how things can be written up to sound hellof a lot bettet than they are. Not that all of my data is **** though http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif
Rod

[krusty the klown]

Hehe - a gypsy or a hippy... one or the other http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Depending on the timescale, I may be moored up in Leeds, or travelling around. I really want to do the Leeds-Liverpool canal... it is supposed to be the most pictureskew of them all (picturesque). TBH, I might just take some time-out, as I never did the gap year thing, but I'll have my computer (no internet whilst on the move, unless I get a scorching 9600kbps Poserfone connection http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif) and I might tinker with my model a little and publish another paper (brownie points on the CV, really).

I've always found this guide useful when it comes to research...

Scientific -&gt; Literal

It has long been known -&gt; I haven't bothered to look up the reference.

It is believed -&gt; I think.

It is generally believed -&gt; A couple of my friends think so too.

It is not unreasonable to assume -&gt; If you believe this, you'll believe anything.

Of great theoretical importance -&gt; Well, I think it's interesting.

Of great practical importance -&gt; I can get some mileage out of it.

Typical results are shown -&gt; The only decent results are shown.

3 samples were chosen -&gt; The only 3 that made sense were used.

The 4 hour sample was not studied -&gt; I dropped it on the floor.

The 4 hour results may not be significant -&gt; I managed to scoop most of it up.

It has not been possible to provide definitive answers -&gt; It went wrong, but I published it anyway.

Correct within an order of magnitude -&gt; Wrong.

It may be argued that -&gt; I'm probably wrong, but here's my $0.02 anyway.

Much additional work is required -&gt; This paper is rubbish, but so are all the others.

The investigations proved highly rewarding -&gt; They renewed my grant.

I wish to thank X for assistance and Y for the discussion of the results -&gt; X did the work and Y explained it to me

Can't go wrong http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif