At exactly this time 24 hours ago, my Ph.D. viva kicked off in #228C of the Skempton Building of Imperial College London. It proved to be quite an ordeal: a 5 hour long grilling session, faced with many questions and queries related to my thesis. By the end of it, I felt physically drained. But the experience proved many things.
Firstly, it is clear that my heart is rock solid, for I faced the stress with no cardiac complications of any sort.
Secondly, truly, where there is a will there is a way. This was no easy task and was a roller coaster of ups and downs, many tears and much fewer laughs, but, at the end, through persistence, everything can be overcome.
Finally, in the words of the Bard, all's well that ends well. Or rather, all's well that ends. Full stop.
Having said that, I have a few corrections to make for the examiners' complete satisfaction, which should not take too long (at least that is what I envisage), but what matters now is that the mission I started back in October 2009 is now complete and that goal has been replaced by an accomplishment: a doctorate. Finally, I am Dr. Karl Micallef, Ph.D.
Friday 19 April 2013
Tuesday 16 April 2013
Spring...finally
A quick break from reviewing my Ph.D. thesis prior to my viva next Thursday, primarily induced by the 'shouting' outside the window from a handful of children playing in Evelyn Gardens. Children happily running around in the sun.Yes, the sun. Finally, it is warm: 17 degrees by day, 10 degrees at night. The first 2 digit temperatures in the last 3? Maybe 4 months? An unbelievably long winter seems to be coming to an end.
In the same way that this 'mission' I started back in 2009 is (hopefully) coming to an end. But that is another story...
Monday 8 April 2013
Monday blues...not
The reader might not be familiar with my 'new' daily weekday routine: get up, bus 14/211/414 from round the corner down to Fulham Broadway Station (6 stops), then a District Line train to Wimbledon (another 6 stops) and then a South West train to Guildford (10 stops) and a short walk from the station to the campus. 'New' simply because this has been going on for 2 months now, but in the absence of any previous posts outlining this procedure, it is still new!
In any case, missing any of the first 2 parts of the commute would inevitably lead to delays to the final time of arrival at the office, which is not pleasant, especially when you have a meeting to attend. And the Monday factor does not help. But today, it was a different story.
As soon as I was walking towards the bus stop, a bus drove past me and hey presto I was at Fulham Broadway only 4 minutes later - no lights and almost no stops. Down the stairs at the station, and the dot matrix board turned from "Wimbledon - 1min" to "Stand back, train approaching". I was at Wimbledon 15 minutes later after having skimmed through the "Metro", including seeing a biggish Starbucks ad which entitled the reader to a free latte upon stating a 'magic' word upon order. Superb. The next Guildford train was due in 6 minutes, just enough time to get a return ticket and the free latte from the Starbucks booth on the platform, I thought.
The turnstiles were open, saving a few precious seconds and the ticket machine was free. The weather was 'warm' enough not to need gloves, which meant handling the touch-screen was hassle-free and 2 minutes later I was on the platform. There was a significant queue at the coffee shop and by the time I had placed my order, I could see the train slowly approaching. As soon as the barista put the lid on, the passengers had finished boarding the train and I was the last on before the doors closed! Quite a good start to the day...and week!
9 hours later, I was on my way back home, expecting to read all about Maggie's demise on the front page of the "Evening Standard", only to find that the leading headline was on the death of another woman - an unfortunate cyclist crushed to her death in the morning rush hour. For 2 seconds I was amazed that the ES had failed to mention anything at all about the Iron Lady's passing away, but then I realised that the paper must have long been in press by the time the news was out just before 13:00...
In any case, missing any of the first 2 parts of the commute would inevitably lead to delays to the final time of arrival at the office, which is not pleasant, especially when you have a meeting to attend. And the Monday factor does not help. But today, it was a different story.
As soon as I was walking towards the bus stop, a bus drove past me and hey presto I was at Fulham Broadway only 4 minutes later - no lights and almost no stops. Down the stairs at the station, and the dot matrix board turned from "Wimbledon - 1min" to "Stand back, train approaching". I was at Wimbledon 15 minutes later after having skimmed through the "Metro", including seeing a biggish Starbucks ad which entitled the reader to a free latte upon stating a 'magic' word upon order. Superb. The next Guildford train was due in 6 minutes, just enough time to get a return ticket and the free latte from the Starbucks booth on the platform, I thought.
The turnstiles were open, saving a few precious seconds and the ticket machine was free. The weather was 'warm' enough not to need gloves, which meant handling the touch-screen was hassle-free and 2 minutes later I was on the platform. There was a significant queue at the coffee shop and by the time I had placed my order, I could see the train slowly approaching. As soon as the barista put the lid on, the passengers had finished boarding the train and I was the last on before the doors closed! Quite a good start to the day...and week!
9 hours later, I was on my way back home, expecting to read all about Maggie's demise on the front page of the "Evening Standard", only to find that the leading headline was on the death of another woman - an unfortunate cyclist crushed to her death in the morning rush hour. For 2 seconds I was amazed that the ES had failed to mention anything at all about the Iron Lady's passing away, but then I realised that the paper must have long been in press by the time the news was out just before 13:00...
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