Nearly there
Today at the museum I finished up the last changes requested for my thesis (at least, the last changes I had any intention of making). Then I printed out the whole thing and sat down with a red pen to proof read it.
My thesis is 294 pages. Admittedly, that includes title, contents, appendices and forty-one pages of references, and it's 1.5 spaced, but still, it took a few hours to read through and mark up.
After that I sat down at the PC in the lab (a bit more reliable than my MacBook at the moment) and made all my red pen changes. This took probably an hour.
Then I loaded it onto my USB, put it back on my MacBook and took judicious advantage of the "print to PDF" option available on macs (can't seem to do this on the PC without specific software). Then I printed the new improved draft, again.
That took all day.
There was a brief lunch break. At 3pm. I had some fish and a vanilla slice because it's amazing how limited your options are when you go down to the cafe after 3pm.
I left work at about 7pm, having earned not a single red cent (since I spent the whole day on the thesis), carrying nearly 300 pages of thesis draft which will probably not even be properly read by my Chair of Examiners.
Now I have to write a letter, explaining the changes I made and the changes I did not. Once the Chair has read that, and glances at my draft, he can (if he approves, which he should) sign my "completion of degree" form and send it off to grad studies. Meanwhile, Belinda has to sign a form with my 50 word summary on it and send that to grad studies, and I have to then print out four (FOUR) copies of my thesis for hard binding which will cost a small fortune (apparently I can claim it all back), leaving two with the Chair, giving one to the Museum and keeping one for myself because of course I'm fucking keeping one.
Oh and I have to upload a PDF to the pnline depository. Then it is done. There might be a ceremony. Who knows.
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