my dissertation!!! 
Call me a happy camper! I spent the past three days solid getting it all ready and can only pray I haven’t overlooked anything. I hope I never have to revise another word of it, and, if I’m lucky enough not to, I’ll defend it within a couple of months. Hurray!!!
Alexandria
CONGRATS Now comes the joy of tenure track hunting, publish or perish and of course undergrads.
Great! I’ve been looking forward to this.
I assume you will look toward an academic career.
Always remember this: When one distills the collective wisdom of a great university’s faculty into the faculty senate, the result approaches a maximum reading on the Idiotic scale. 
This seems to be a law of nature and is perhaps one of the best illustrations of the pitfalls of collectivism.
Congratulations!
Or the pitfalls of ochlocracy, depending on how you look at it. That reminds me: I need to bug the English asschair about something…
Ha! Funny. Thanks Bill and to all for the congrats! I do hope to teach, of course, but I’m not sure about the academic career part. Teaching part-time and writing seem to be the way things are going. But I’m keeping my options open and seeing what’s out there in the big wide world. 
Congratulations!
Lucky you
Bill (et al),
Just to let you know, my defense is scheduled for next Friday (May 11). After that, my long ordeal is over and I go back June 1 for days of celebration (hooding/commencement) and my degree! So one more hurdle and it’s official…
Alexandria
That’s great, Alexandria.
As Justin Grundus, the celebrated Monacan philosopher and croupier said, “Knock 'em dead, Kid.”
Or was that Humphrey Bogart?
Alexandria,
a bit late on this forum, but anyway: Count the days until freedom, there will be no problem on Friday!
Maria
What’s the cliché? From your mouth to God’s ear? No problem on Friday, yes, I like that.
Freedom!!! Wow…
Like I said in another thread: May is excellent for defenses, and May 11 produces best results for philosophers…
Everybody except those who will be examined / have to defend says: No problem, once you have come so far, they will not put any stones in your way (do they say so in English?).
And then: Never again!
Good luck,
Maria
Well, I don’t know how or why, but you were right, Maria. It was a very good day to have a defense. The May horoscope in the flight magazine I read even said so–something about Mercury in conjunction with something or other. Anyway, I passed and had a great experience. So now it’s official. As a friend said, I am now free to be as pompous as I want to be! I thought that a very funny consequence of having ‘Ph.D’ after my name!!!
Dr. Alex!
Congratulations! I kept my fingers crossed on Friday, although I was 16 hours or so earlier. Now, enjoy being pompous for a while! Somehow it was so nice to follow your career up to this point. In a few years, I will buy one of those great introductions into Greek philosophy…
All the best,
Maria
More well-deserved congratulations. I thought about you on Friday, but wasn’t concerned – knew you could do it.
So, Doctor Alexandria, congratulations on reaching this major goal. In the future, you may find it best to call yourself Dr. only when trying to cash a check or buy airline tickets. Otherwise, be discreet, for the strangers you meet may start to describe their symptoms!
Many thanks to those who have arrived here before me.
I will take your good advice, Will! Perhaps I’ll see you at commencement, eh?
A happy and exhausted,
Alexandria