Originally Posted by User Name

You will do fine ... just stay nervous and meek and they will (probably) take pity on you and keep it short and sweet ... or maybe they will just fail you ... in double quick time ... No, I shouldn't have said that.

Don't worry ... so long as the External is not jealous of your supervisor's recent publication, you really have no worries, absolutely none. I shouldn't have said that either. Lines from Harry Potter.

Originally Posted by st326

Naah, I wrote my supervisor's most recent publication anyway. No, I shouldn't have said that.

The external is OK actually. I've met him a few times, and he's seen me talk at a couple of conferences. I have no idea how hard a time he'll give me, but to be honest, he actually seems a bit shy (or maybe intimidated) around me. Don't know why, but he's nice enough with it.

Originally Posted by User Name

Oh, those PhD research days/memories are just flooding back, like that PG Tips tea bag ...

I remember seeing someone's (I know who he is, one of my best buddies back then) PhD thesis up on a computer - a chapter in MSWORD ... I went to the middle of one page and added this line: "XYZ, I hope you read this sentence before you submit." Then set the screen to the last page he was looking at. Oh boy, I think that line is still in his thesis, and this guy published in Nature - solved the structure of a mega important integral membrane protein. My lips are sealed from this moment on. I don't want him to find out it was me! Oh boy. No way, no sir!

Originally Posted by st326

Naah, I wrote my supervisor's most recent publication anyway. No, I shouldn't have said that.

The external is OK actually. I've met him a few times, and he's seen me talk at a couple of conferences. I have no idea how hard a time he'll give me, but to be honest, he actually seems a bit shy (or maybe intimidated) around me. Don't know why, but he's nice enough with it.

Originally Posted by User Name

Probably fancies you. Do you like him?

Originally Posted by User Name

You will love working at NASA ... just make sure you use English units or whatever units NASA are using on a given project ... don't want another Mars mission crashing for failure to use consistent units.

Originally Posted by st326

No, you shouldn't have said that.

Actually, I found a few XXX's and [cite something or other here]'s in what I thought was my final draft... All OK now, thought (said I, hoping for the best)

Originally Posted by st326

I'll actually be working on validation & verification, so I just *know* that everyone I've ever heard of wlll blame me personally for everything that goes wrong in the future. Ever. Bah.

Originally Posted by User Name

I did worse, the night before the darn oral I spotted a single mistake that I must have missed over and over again, and guess where the mistake was?

In discussing a research paper published by you know who ... the External. I was so worried that I got into the department extra early to correct the mistake and reprinted the offending pages. Thank God he did not spot the logic error - it would have been so embarrassing. But I had the freshly corrected and reprinted pages to hand out if needed. Maybe he did spot the error but was too polite to point it out!

Originally Posted by User Name

ahhh, so you are the fall guy before you even get there ... new post-docs are very vulnerable to that kind of thing. If you manage to get from the hatchling area to the sea while evading the dive bombing seagulls who want to eat you up, you might just make it to the next stage ... the second stage (quite apt when you think about it, first stage rocket, second stage rocket/scientist ... )

Originally Posted by st326

I'll be doing theoretical stuff on the techniques mostly, so I can always blame someone else. And there's a whole group doing that kind of stuff. But all my friends will blame me anyway, whether or not I actually had anything to do with the problem... :scared:

Originally Posted by User Name

yeah, I would blame you, and I haven't even met you. I blame you for working late even though I could go home to a nice cooked dinner. I blame you for my stupid car ... actually, it's quite intelligent and a gallant Knight.

Originally Posted by st326

I don't think I've cited my external *at all*, but that's our stupid department's fault for not telling me who my examiners were until after I'd submitted.

Originally Posted by st326

You are David Hasselhoff and I claim my 5p.

Originally Posted by User Name

Oh dear ... it's going to be a charlie time for you then. Just make sure you have dog-tags stappled to all parts of your body.