I did a Facebook post recently that read: Dear World, if you value your health and sanity, never, ever, ever, ever, even think of doing a PhD...

I've addressed this topic already on Travel and Food, both head-on and tangentially. But here's more:

1. It feels like I'm working myself to death, and the horizon is receding. I'm trapped in a time warp, and it's never going to be over...
2. There's always something to worry about. It's a total anxiety immersion. Will this interviewee be cross about the way I've interpreted his/her remarks? Will this referee be cross about the way I can't totally follow her/his recommendations? Will this departmental audience understand a word I'm saying?
3. It's starting to feel serious. My ideas are starting to seep out. They might have real consequences. I might have to deal with real people hating me for them. (You think I'm exaggerating -- you haven't seen some of this vicious stuff.)
4. I feel like the BP guy confronting the enormity of the oil spill -- and, like him, I want my life back. I want whole weekends off. I want time for concerts, galleries, novels, just doing nothing...
5. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh...