I can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief. I remember looking at my 2011 calendar and counting the days and weeks to this day: Thesis submission, and thinking to myself, how on earth will I manage? Previous published reports on my project is virtually non-existent and must I mention the fact that nobody has ever done this before? It's easy if you've got heaps of senior's reports to fall back on. At least, you'd have a basic idea of what you're supposed to do.
I had to get knee deep in a gazillion papers; all to do with vortex induced vibrations, uniform cylinder, flow visualization and far out geeky stuff. When I first set out, I was so overwhelmed with the literature out there that I had my mind set on changing topics. This topic was too tough. But things didn't go my way and I had to stick with it.
It was a MAJOR undertaking for me. Nothing and I repeat nothing in the 4 years' worth of subjects I'd done has ever come close to being this difficult. All I can say is the learning curve just went from flat to exponential in no time.
From the initial planning to the minute meetings to the one week testing time and finally to results analysis; tying them all together was like trying to climb Mt. Everest without the right gear. HUGE RELIEVED SIGH.
FINALLY. I guess acknowledgements are in order here: Bishop & Hassan your paper was the best. It was surely fate that made your findings so relatable to mine! Gabbai & Benaroya, without your comprehensive review, I'd still be stuck analyzing my results and to my dear pals, Techet et al. I can't remember a single time where I wasn't referring to your paper.
You guys rock! Way to go making a living researching this far-out nerdy stuff. You guys really give meaning to "triumph of the nerds".
It really helped that my co-supervisor gave positive reviews: Nice piece of work, good job, serious and well-rounded thesis
But my main supervisor, he just smiles.
What am I supposed to get out of this??!
... it's gotta have a deeper meaning. One would hope so ey


Man, I am over the moon right now. Allah, thank you for hearing my prayers.