Lost in Space

Home sweet home! Never felt to strange in my own space. I guess it's just been that long. And being through so many different spaces in the past couple weeks has left me a stranger in my own. Time to rediscover my routine! Starting with the bed! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It's been great to have you on my trip. There will be lots of thinking in the coming days about my next step. I guess I have a slightly better idea of what's in the future, but there's still plenty to be determined...

Homesick

Went to the Montreal casino last night. Surprisingly enough, it's non-smoking. Couldn't find any cheap tables, so just hung around and played a hand of blackjack.

This morning, we went to the Biodome. They have a series of very interesting ecosystem displays. Well worth visiting. This is a capybara, a 100lbs rodent.



Can't wait to get home tomorrow, had enough of life on the road.

Faites vous une idee... la confidence vous guidera

I'm sick. Coughing, sneezing, all around muscle ache. Muscle ache in the eyballs too, so maybe it's some kind of eyeball flesh eating disease. What do I expect for flying in airplanes breathing other people's breath and riding on trains touching public surfaces?

Went to the little chinatown in Montreal and had some not-so-good chinese food. I guess there isn't much competition in these two block's worth of venders. Did get an interesting bilingual fortune cookie though:

Get you mind set... confidence will lead you on.

Road Trip To Capital City

An old friend from Toronto came in to hang out for the weekend. Took a road trip to Ottawa and saw the Parliment, Aviation museum and a Science and Technology Museum.

So Relieved Haiku

Ah, what can be better?

Done with interviews.

Back in Canadiana.

Few days to relax!

One Last Interview

Perched on a "mountain" in Montreal was my last destination. Everyone in the lab was great and fun people.

It turns out post docs and grad students don't pay provincial tax here. And that's the big thing here since Quebecers get a partial federal tax refund, but have very high provincial tax, way more than the refund. And cost of living here is pretty low already so this is obviously the financially easiest place to be.

I Don't Get It

Why do people love this city so much? There's garbage in the streets, sidewalks and roads in various stages of disrepair, and foodcourt venders are super aggressive. The drivers and pedestrians are equally deserving of being run over and crushed. And everyone smokes! At least every single cubic meter of air here smells of smoke.

The fun touristy stuff better redeem this place!

You Do So Need French

Oh who said you don't need french in Montreal. Everyone speaks it, all the groceries are labeled in it and all the elevator music is in french! I'm sure I'll learn I suppose. Or enough to find the canadian equivalent of Nutter Butters. I'm still glad to be back on this side of the boarder, but can't wait to get back to the english speaking end.

Finally did get the interview all set up so it's not for nothing. Bright and early tomorrow. The traffic here is crazy! Not just busy crazy, but people just drive all over. People seem to wait for the light to turn red before crossing the street. Maybe red is go in french. There also seems to be alot of strip clubs around here.

The room is really nice though since I'm staying at a Holiday Inn. Nice and big, in a new building and it even has a kitchenette! Pizza Pocket party, room 521!!!

Another Great Lab

Had the second interview in Boston today. Thankfully, the length has plateaued. Met pretty much everyone in the lab, and they were all great, enjoying their work and really liked the supervisor. Even people I interviewed with yesterday like her. This PI is also one of the big names in the field and would be excellent "pedigree". Funding at this one is the unknown at this point...

10.5 Hours and Counting

The interviews today went very well, all ten and a half hours of it. It was for clinical molecular training at Harvard. Everyone is super nice and all the fellows in the program seem quite happy with it. It'll definitely be hectic fitting in clinical training with regular research, but the opportunity for both in the program here is unique. I just can't get over how helpful everyone was! This is just the beginning for this site though, since choosing this program will involve another process of choosing a specific lab for the research component. All very complicated...

Very Busy Week Ahead

Such a bustling metroplis that is Boston. A city of elites, the most streamlined of the ratrace. Will this flattened, headless, and defeated Barbie be foreshadowing?



I just thought the Barbie was cool. It was lying on a busy intersection, and obviously seen its share of michelin, pirellis and goodyear. I wonder where the head went?

Went to the New England Aquarium. Conspicuous lacking many clams. Perhaps all diverted to chowdas. It was very cool though, with a multi-storey tank with hundreds of big fish, and a large penguin pen, where I caught a couple do it like they do on Discovery channel.



Big week ahead with three interviews! Time to cross toes in addition to fingers!

Boston deja vu

Had a long flight from coast to coast. I'm not sure if planes are getting smaller or Americans getting bigger, but I'm not a fan of thighs of the next passenger spilling into my seat. Tried to get a few lines done on the thesis but didn't manage to chip away much. This weekend, this weekend.

And I Thought 5 Hours was Long

The visit to the Lawrence Berekeley National Laboratories went quite well. The life sciences division is located on a lush hillside east of UC Berkeley, necessitating access by car. The labs themselves are very modern and spacious. The PI is very enthusiastic, with many big projects available to me. I met with a few people in the lab, gave my talk and had a very full day. Eight hours later, I'm exhausted, but I can say everything went well and this would be a great place to do a post-doc. It'll be a different working environment than I'm used to but this is a unique opportunity.

Life in Berkeley will be expensive, but fun. The Bay Area seems to have a diverse population and great weather. I even have some relative near here.
In all, went much better than I had anticipated!

Need to Kill More

I really walk too fast. I walked around campus, around the trendy Whyte Ave. equivalent and still got back to my room at 730. I guess I just don't know what to do at night when things on campus are closed. Need a better way to kill more time. Hmmm... maybe that thesis thing can use some attention. I did get Nutter Butters though. I've heard of them but haven't seen them back home. They're pretty good!

Next Stop Berkeley

Had a very interesting flight. The passenger beside me turned out to be a freelance writer doing a story about biology and technology. We had a very in depth chat about science in general. That was cool. Maybe I could be a freelance writer!

It's so nice the BART is connected to the airport and all around the Bay Area. Much easier than by car. It did take quite a long ride, but it's good to know it'll be easy to get around. While here, I'm staying at the Faculty Club, another historical building but with my own bathroom this time. Haven't been able to reach the PI to set up the interview time though...

Post-interview Wrap Up

A previous graduate of the department (RS) showed me around Seattle. He loves the Seattle life, and I can see why. People are friendly, liberal, and anti-Bush. Live music, close to mountains and mild weather round it off.

The interview was fine. The PI (SH) is very laidback. The lab is a bit more Biosci cramped than Medsci chic. He has alot of fresh ideas, is very enthusiastic and there's a good group here.

The talk was good. Got some good comments, but not sure if anybody was 'wowed'.

In all, it was a good trip. I'm just glad my room is close to the bathroom so I don't have to walk past too many rooms full of prying eyes.

U Wash Campus

A very nice campus with lots of old historical buildings and lush green surroundings.

Made it to Seattle

Here's the homestead for the next couple days. It's a charming little historic hotel a block from the University of Washington campus. So charming, the bathrooms are down the hall.

$8 Rice

Here I am in the Vancouver airport eating my soggy $8 rice with teriyaki chicken and orange chicken. Personality-wise, the teriyaki wins since the orange one is more batter than chicken. Hospital cafeteria food never sounded so good.

Flight delayed, but that's okay

As usual, Air Canada is delayed. But at least in this connected age, I can get a WiFi signal if I sit near the bathroom!

And it just started snowing here at the airport. Haha, warmer climates here I come!

Eve

Done printing out maps. Done checking on transportation. Done packing.

I always feel like I'm forgetting something before trips.

Not so this time...

Suspicious!

18 pairs of socks should be enough!

10 lbs of ethernet cable, USB cords and AC adaptors should do!

Hmmm... where'd my passport go...

New Bag!

Decided it was too heavy to carry the laptop on one shoulder for two weeks so got a slick new backpack!

Tour Map