7:55

Going home now...tired...not finished with opinion shopping...almost no progress with opinion shopping...

(though I did do some good revisions on the previous section)

4:22

Just turned on some great Old Time music. Immediate mood improvement.

4:07

I've taken a long midday break: lunch, deal with the car, nap, talk with EK...Not feeling overly motivated. I'm definitely a little adrift with this section--I feel like it is kind of lame. The chapters I have submitted so far kind of buzz with a tightness, logic and forward movement (in my eyes at least). The chapter I am working on now is flaccid and is the dissertation equivalent of a cold wet noodle.

Of course, so were the preceeding chapters in their previous incarnations. I just need to find a way to make this one sing too. La la la la la la...

11:30

Just finished a conclusion to Chapter 4 that I realized I needed at some point last night while I was asleep (sort of). Still on schedule, despite the delays.

Now on to opinion shopping...

10:58

Why am I constantly hungry? It is getting annoying. I had a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hot chocolate this morning. I should not be hungry right now!

Ready, Set, Go!

It is now a three-way race: Who will finish first? My muffler, my three remaining tires, or me???

I came out to a flat tire this morning, and when I took it in to the repair shop, they said that it was un-patchable. The rubber is all worn out. And the other 3 are about to go. No more highway driving for this puppy.

Fuck. I was in such a good mood this morning, and it is deflated by the damn car. I will NOT let this get me down!!!

7:42

I did it! I sent it off, along with this:

As soon as I get the prospectus signature sheet back from ET (you received it, right?), you all will receive your honoraria--I think the payment is triggered when I give MM my signed prospectus.

ET, your colleagues are not being PAID because of your unresponsiveness...

6:34

Yeehaw!!!

I just finished a draft of the lay theory chapter. That means I'm half a day ahead of schedule. I think I will incorporate the readily incorporable edits of MS into the first 2 chapters and then send the first 4 chapters and 2 appendices to the committee. With a cover email that passive aggressively broadcasts how ET is delinquent...

5:26

Can I just say I am really happy today? The flip side of the hell of a dissertation is that when things are going well, it is an incredible high.

I want to make a note here so I don't forget (since my desk is a nightmare that eats everything I put on it) of a thought I had earlier this afternoon: In the model extensions chapter I should have a discussion of how personal ethics determine a portion of the auditor's penalty. Since the industry can significantly improve its payoff, if the ethics component is what stops auditors from accepting bribes, by getting rid of the ethics component, there will be an evolution towards defining ethics and responsibility away from the responsibility to look for, find, report fraud...No one should be surprised by the ferocity of the "expectation gap" if you understand that...

2:07

Oh, and just in case I was thinking of slacking off and letting my deadlines slip a little, I just got an announcement for a cool conference that I would like to submit a paper to with a submission deadline of August 1 for the completed paper. I'll submit the same stuff as for the Danish conference, but it sounds like it needs to be in a greater state of finished-ness...

So to add to my deadline list of yesterday:
July 30 COB: Finish paper version of expectation gap stuff.

102!

Busted through the 100 site visits mark! It makes me feel all giggly and girlish. (I am still a bit of a diva at heart). Thanks to all of you who stumble across here. I expect it isn't very compelling to anyone but me...

12:41

I think I have finished a draft of the technical appendix! And quite a bit of the end can be cut and pasted into the main lay text, with only modest rewriting. And I can see how it is setting up the history well. I think I will be able to make this much tighter than it all was in my prospectus...

Yippee!

I'm going to brave the office now, to print what I have done so far. Maybe I'll stick around and make an appearance at KC's going-away party, too.

Thursday 11:28

Just taking a break to say I haven't been taking many breaks this morning. I'm almost done with the appendix.

I didn't do any worthwhile work after visiting with FJ et al. I tried to read in bed what I had written yesterday, but all I ended up doing was scribbling random incorrect equations in the margins in red ink.

But it was a major confidence boost: I sat with the baby for an hour or so and succeeded in expelling huge amounts of air from either end, and thereby quieting him down for the first time (according to FJ) in a couple of days! He slept through dinner and was still totally out when I left.

5:02

Well, I didn't quite do it by the time I needed to go help JF with his quals study plan. But I'm close. I'm hanging out at FJ's tonight, so I probably won't get any work done, but maybe later this evening I can finish things off...

1:57

Snapple count: 4

I have 2 hours to finish the theory appendix. I think I can do it...

11:26

Well fuck me with a spoon.

I just went back and looked at ET's article he suggested I model. I know he has been telling me that the social planner is supposed to go first, but in his article it goes after the equilibrium conditions. So I am going to do the same. For all my inspiration yesterday, it is still awkward to do it before. And now an easy cut-and-paste of my work so far to the end, with an easier exposition...

10:55

Snapple count: 2

I think I also need to set some deadlines for myself.

By COB today: finish re-work of technical theory appendix.
Tomorrow-Friday (midday): finish lay version.
End of Friday: opinion shopping history.
End of weekend: bribe history.
Monday: re-arrange, re-write model extensions chapter.
Wednesday: draft of reform history.
(Thursday-Monday at AM wedding. Don't bring work if on track)
Thursday, July 27: Finish draft policy chapter.

That leaves 3 days of slack before I head east...

gulp.

10:48

I've decided to try to work in the office today. We'll see how my psyche holds up.

Wednesday 9:06

See this for background: Experiment

Dear TF,
I am writing to let you know that I will be in London for all or part of Aug. *-* and *-*. [Mostly for a family vacation, but I am on the verge of accepting an offer of a post doc at------- College, so I expect I'll find the city interesting in a whole new way.] I would be curious to see you again, but would entirely understand if you'd rather not.

I hope this note finds you well,
A

Not sure whether to include the stuff in square brackets...

or the whole damn thing. Any comments?

Tuesday 3:15

All in all, today is going well. I figured out (sort of) the whole question of opportunity costs in a talk with my dad last night, and, if we are right (which is a big if), then I also have the nice effect of having three different but equivalent ways of measuring the aggregate social cost of fraud! Not bad for a dumb ass ex-opera singer (blond soprano, too!).

This led to a light re-write of the chapter last night pointing out the fact that all of these disparate studies were actually measuring the SAME thing.

The today I was preparing to call ET (in case he actually answered--which he didn't--I wanted to not be left flat-footed) and I realized how to put in the optimal solution from the social perspective into my game theory section. I am currently at work on re-arranging things and writing the additional stuff.

It is nice to feel that I figured this out without help. It achieves three things:
1. Put in important theoretical observations.
2. Makes it look the way it is supposed to (and will make ET happier)
3. I am learning stuff about game theory, technical writing, and auditing.

I've been feeling on top of things enough to actually get my brakes repaired. I must go now and pick up the car. It will be nice to know that I can drive around without having to worry about killing myself or others...

5:24

What is the opportunity cost in the secondary securities market of fraud? Thinking about it is making my head hurt. As is trying to absorb a finance textbook in the hour I have to devote to the question.

THERE ARE COSTS. I know it. I just don't know what they are and how they relate to the market cap drop...

4:13

Back in the office after going with the sister to pick up her car. It is nice to have automated wheels back, though it was also kind of nice to live without. But L.A. is a limiting place if you don't have a car...

Now, of course, I have to get breaks for that car. But one thing at a time.

I'm pretty much paralyzed right now work-wise. I suppose I should figure out something to take home with me and get out of the nasty evil soul sucking office.

1:15

Oh, and still no answer from ET. Grrrr.

Monday 1:11

High-anxiety, low-productivity sort of day. I'm in the office, since I need access to a printer and all of the shit on my desk. But I haven't been doing what I intended to do and have been trying to figure out BibTeX instead. Not a total waste of time, since I'll need to do that eventually, and I'm scared by the massive conversion effort ahead of me. But not what should be top priority right now.

Sunday 3:48

I'm coffee shopping this afternoon. Getting stuff done, though the going is still slow. I had a bit of a crying jag earlier today: too much uncertainty and too little support!

I did get a little more sanity about the car today, though. My parents convinced me I was crazy to just dump it (though my dad told me he would still love me if I did--I must say I wasn't worried about that). I went and got a smog test, and it passed, so I think I will at least replace the brakes. And try to finish and move before the muffler goes...