Running in Place

Well, there you go. I got my first response from the main clump of thesis-dross from my advisor on Friday. He was, as usual, very kind and supportive, but pointed out that there were many 'discrepancies' in my... er... 'data.' Well, that's as clear as I'm able to be without blowing what's left of my blogland cover.

Anyway, the solution was to proof many many pages of very dense, troublesome clarity-resistant 'data.' So that's what I've done this weekend. I locked myself up in a little cabinet in the library. My only escape was for a few hours to try to grade a few papers - now that's relaxation! But I got it done.

So, I'm done with the proofing, and I do feel better, because it did bring to light some troubles that I'm now able to repair. These could have very easily slipped into the final draft and caused embarrassment if anyone ever goes to the trouble to read the blasted thing. The problem is that I had to put a lot on hold to take care of this. I was supposed to be at X, but now I'm at X-2 days. Feh.

I realize however, that this thing can be finished though, and that's a very nice thing to be able to say without crossing my fingers. I'm even almost ready to say I can finish it on time (and under budget!).

Again, this won't make sense to anyone except me, but my advisor also pointed out that I have two major themes that run through the paper. He suggested adding a third one, and while it might be a bit more work, I think it's a pretty good idea. The thrid topic includes a good chunk of material and research that I decided to toss out a while back, but the way he framed it, I think I can bring it back in avoiding the problems that led me to want to toss it while putting the work I did back into the thesis!

Woohoo! Back to the grindstone!