# Woo Hoo!



## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Well, Friday afternoon I successfully defended my PhD dissertation so I am now _Dr._ Traynor Garnet!  For the first time in my life I am NOT a student (I'm 37!) and it feels weird.

Anyway, I had promised myself a new guitar when I finished so within the year I should be purchasing a nice Gretsch 6120. Can't wait!

TG


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

Congrats! Now what, a tenure-track position? If so, you will never leave school  No worries though, that is the career path I took :rockon2:


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Congratulations Doc!

Anyone who can stick school out long enough to do this, particularly while they also have the ongoing concerns of making a living deserves our respect and admiration.


Now, a _friend_ of mine has this little problem. He got a viagra pill stuck in his throat and he's had a stiff neck all week.

Any advice?


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Milkman said:


> Now, a _friend_ of mine has this little problem. He got a viagra pill stuck in his throat and he's had a stiff neck all week.
> 
> Any advice?


Ahh...errr: see a _medical_ doctor (MD)? :smile:

Congrats TG. Now you've got a tough choice: stay in the hallowed halls of academia or learn how to cope outside. I've seen PhD's thrive and I've seen PhD's die out here. Good luck!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Congratulations :bow::food-smiley-004:

I would be interested in knowing what your PhD is in and what your thesis was about.

Is the new Gretsch at the store waiting for you at this moment?

Enjoy ....

Dr. Traynor Garnet

looks good...huh

Dave


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## snoglobe (Jun 20, 2007)

congratulations.

I hope your thesis was on G.A.S., or the comparative merits of tube amps vs. solid state.

enjoy your new guitar, you've earned it.


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## RIFF WRATH (Jan 22, 2007)

wow....congrats.......ok, so no more dumb posts.......they have to sound intellegent from now on, complete with all the background support information.......................


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

That's bloody fantastic! Congratulations! That's got to feel *so* good!

Peace, Mooh.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

greco said:


> Congratulations :bow::food-smiley-004:
> 
> I would be interested in knowing what your PhD is in and what your thesis was about.
> 
> Dave





snoglobe said:


> congratulations.
> 
> I hope your thesis was on G.A.S., or the comparative merits of tube amps vs. solid state.
> 
> enjoy your new guitar, you've earned it.


Well, believe it or not, GAS and tube amps vs simulation DID in fact play a role in my dissertation!  The theoretical background used Marx, Bourdieu, and Baudrillard who, collectively, talk about commodity consumption, cultural producers (like musicians) and the simulation of reality. I used sound technology and guitar players as an empirical site to explore some pretty heavy theoretical ideas (I'll spare you from the details 

My PhD is in sociology and I will be staying in academia since I love "pure" research and academic autonomy.

The Gretsch will have to wait while I save and pay off a few debts. It IS eventually coming however 

Thanks for all the congrats guys, I was surprised to see so many responses. It seems really weird to be "done."

TG


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Been there, done that, and it feels wun-der-full. So, with every ounce of empathy, I salute your tenaciousness and offer my heartfelt congratulations. When I was in the writing-up stage shortly before defending, I had a sign over my office door that said "Arbeit macht frei". More than a hint of irony there.

I imagine things have changed since the last 15 years, and electronic copies have become the norm, but as I recall, getting past the dissertation committee was a piece of cake compared to getting through the archivist in the library.

Just out of curiosity, did they spring for an external examiner from farther away than Calgary?

I've worked a bit with Graham Lowe, am familiar with Laurel Strain's work (I trained in gerontology), and while I do not know him personally, I was friends with John Gartrell's brother David (at U.Vic.) growing up in Ottawa. Small world, eh?


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

mhammer said:


> I imagine things have changed since the last 15 years, and electronic copies have become the norm, but as I recall, getting past the dissertation committee was a piece of cake compared to getting through the archivist in the library.
> 
> Just out of curiosity, did they spring for an external examiner from farther away than Calgary?
> 
> I've worked a bit with Graham Lowe, am familiar with Laurel Strain's work (I trained in gerontology), and while I do not know him personally, I was friends with John Gartrell's brother David (at U.Vic.) growing up in Ottawa. Small world, eh?


Still hard copies and yes, the archival requirements are insane! My external examiner was Douglas Kellner from UCLA (a "big name" to get) but he just supplied questions rather than physically attending the defense. Looks like I may get a book published out of this . . .

Graham Lowe is still out here but the other names are unfamiliar. The dept has gone through quite a change over the years. Did you actually go here?

TG


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I hope that this thread will encourage all the younger forum members to continue to pursue their education to obtain whatever they dream of achieving.

Dave


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Congrats. I got as far as a masters and then stopped. I've considered going for a phd or another masters but it's not going to happen in the near future. 

Do you get to take some time to relax now or are you teaching?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

traynor_garnet said:


> Graham Lowe is still out here but the other names are unfamiliar. The dept has gone through quite a change over the years. Did you actually go here?


I went to U of A, but t'was for an M.Sc. in psychology between 1980 and 1984, so I was over in the Stewart Building, staring out at the magpies and bluejays in the river valley, and strolling over to Incredible Edibles in the HUB for a coffee and pastry now and then, when I wasn't injecting rats or breathing in pigeon dust. Had a a regular music technology column in the CKUA programming guide for a while. This was all in the days when virtually everything having to do with music gear happened near the corner of Whyte and 109th. It's more spread out nowadays.

Ph.D. was from U.Vic. My connection with Graham Lowe is via his many consulting gigs with the feds (where I work). Honestly, they are so unimaginative here. The rolodex of "experts" out there to consult with is maybe a half-dozen cards thick, and one of them is Graham. I try my damndest to connect people in government more broadly with the academic community, but it's like pulling teeth.

So Kellner mailed it in, eh? I guess that's the "post-modern" thing to do! :smilie_flagge17: My own external took the ferry over from Simon Fraser, and went back the same day. The "budget defense". She told me how nicely the dissertation followed from the literature. I had to break it to her that the work itself had actually *preceded* the literature, and the writing up had been delayed by teaching and familial obligations. Gotta love moments like that. I hope you had one too.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Dr. Traynor Garnet eh? Well done.:food-smiley-004:


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Ahh...errr: see a _medical_ doctor (MD)? :smile:
> 
> Congrats TG. Now you've got a tough choice: stay in the hallowed halls of academia or learn how to cope outside. I've seen PhD's thrive and I've seen PhD's die out here. Good luck!



No Kidding?


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

kat_ said:


> Do you get to take some time to relax now or are you teaching?


I've been teaching as a sessional for years. No break for me. In fact, I had to lecture directly after my defense! Ugh . . .

TG


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

traynor_garnet said:


> I've been teaching as a sessional for years. No break for me. In fact, I had to lecture directly after my defense! Ugh . . .
> 
> TG


That's inhuman! My department in Glasgow annexed the local pub for just such occasions---coincidentally, the only place I've ever heard of a punch up starting over the correct pH and salt concentrations in RNA extraction buffer.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

devnulljp said:


> That's inhuman! My department in Glasgow annexed the local pub for just such occasions---coincidentally, the only place I've ever heard of a punch up starting over the correct pH and salt concentrations in RNA extraction buffer.


Glasgow, eh? Doesn't surprise me really. What did they extract the RNA from - Scottish Square Sauage? 

:food-smiley-004: :sport-smiley-002: :food-smiley-004:


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> What did they extract the RNA from - Scottish Square Sauage?


I think that's pure lipid. Maybe a bit of salt, but mostly lipid.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Congrats on a monumental life achievement :food-smiley-004: :smilie_flagge17:


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

You have probably already seen this but I just saw it today and thought of you.
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1102


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

kat_ said:


> You have probably already seen this but I just saw it today and thought of you.
> http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1102


HA!  Believe it or not, I was just talking about Post Docs . . .

TG


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Congratulations. Me? I just got a plain old B.Sc. But I remember hearing way back then - first you get your B.S. then you get your M.S. (More of the Same) and finally your Ph.D. (Piled Higher and Deeper). :smile:


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Postdocs are like the undocumented Philipino household visa workers that you hear about being beaten by their employers in Dubai or the UAE and having their passports stolen by the employer to prevent their escape or complaints to police.

The tales of abuse my wife would tell me about the post-docs working in the labs around her were shocking. Of course, that's medical research, where cranking out less than 10-15 papers a year puts your grant in jeopardy. the real shame happens when foreign students come hear to add some pizzazz to their CV, and basically become data slaves for overly ambitious researchers who pay them crap wages. The buzzword around such labs was "perma-doc-ing"; spending one's life moving from post-doc to post-doc without any chace to establish a life anywhere.

Years ago, when a friend of ours was having a post-defense party, I got a gag gift for him that was a little slot machine. I bought some stick-on lettering and pasted P, H, and D over the three cherries. He commented that it was about the same sort of chance model involved in getting the 3 letters to line up as with getting his dissertation data to line up in time for a defense. Maybe even easier with the slot machine.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Congrats. That's a lot of hard work. The only DR I have is in* LUV*


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

shoretyus said:


> Congrats. That's a lot of hard work. The only DR I have is in* LUV*


There are no bills, there are no fees right?


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## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

traynor_garnet said:


> Well, Friday afternoon I successfully defended my PhD dissertation so I am now _Dr._ Traynor Garnet!  For the first time in my life I am NOT a student (I'm 37!) and it feels weird.
> 
> Anyway, I had promised myself a new guitar when I finished so within the year I should be purchasing a nice Gretsch 6120. Can't wait!
> 
> TG


Traynor,

Huge congratulations to you :bow:

So when you say you're bringing home a Gretsch within the year (are we talking 2008 or 2009?) :food-smiley-004:


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## waynekp (Aug 9, 2008)

Congratulations on earning your PhD! When I was reading the various posts, it brought to mind something that one of my former teammates on a softball team said. He was relaying something that his young daughter had said, "He's a doctor, but not the kind that helps people." lol That still makes me chuckle a year and a half later.


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## waynekp (Aug 9, 2008)

And now that I actually reread my post, I should probably mention that teammate was a history professor at one of the local universities.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

lyric girl said:


> Traynor,
> 
> Huge congratulations to you :bow:
> 
> So when you say you're bringing home a Gretsch within the year (are we talking 2008 or 2009?) :food-smiley-004:


Most likely 2009. I need to save a few pennies first .

I can't wait to strap on that 6120 for the first time.

TG


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

im late to the party!

congrats! i couldnt do that, nor do i want to *L*. if your PhD. says "Dr. Traynor Garnet", i'd be impressed haha


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