Friday, December 19, 2008
Snowbound
We're having quite unusual winter weather in Seattle at the moment. We typically get snow maybe once or twice a winter, and it usually melts quickly afterward. But we've had two snowstorms in the past five days and expect another tomorrow.
Last weekend it snowed a couple of inches. Our part of Seattle (West Seattle) got it worse than the rest of the city, and it apparently started with some frozen rain because there was a sheet of ice under the snow. It took until Tuesday for the ice to melt off the sidewalk. No one prepares for that here (e.g. by keeping ice melter on hand) and none of the hardware stores have any in stock.
Wednesday we were supposed to get more snow. Seattle ended up in a snow shadow of the Olympic Mountains all day while all of the surrounding areas were getting snow. But at 4:00am Thursday it started to snow and it snowed almost continuously until 3:00pm. Once again, West Seattle got more than the rest of the city (we got 8" on our patio) but the whole city got blanketed. We are also having an unusual cold snap where we aren't getting above freezing so the snow and ice are sticking around a lot longer than usual. We aren't expected to get any melting before the next snow storm hits tomorrow afternoon.
So we've been essentially housebound. Most people are just staying home - there is very little traffic even on the main streets. But plenty of people are out walking around.
We live on a bus route that loops around the north end of West Seattle. Today to get out of the house we hopped on it and rode to the nearby business district (called the Alaska Junction - where Alaska St. crosses the other main street, California Ave.). We visited the pet store and the toy store and then went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch.
Audrey was fascinated by the chopsticks. She experimented until she was actually picking up noodles with them and getting them into her mouth. No style points, but still I was impressed.
Coincidentally, Audrey and Charlotte have been getting along exceptionally well the last few days. Excellent timing since we're housebound.
I'm hoping it stops snowing, melts and dries out after the storm this weekend. I was hoping to get in a couple of bike rides during my vacation.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Destination: Boston
Labels:
family
As you can tell from the title, we've come to decision: we're moving to Boston.
This is one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. There were so many factors to consider. In the end, moving seems like the most financially and professionally sound option even though it has big family costs. Carol and I both talked about it a lot with our parents and siblings. We think we have a plan where the girls will still get to see a fair bit of their grandparents, aunts and uncles. And we're viewing it as an adventure.
We'll probably move in late May or early June. I have a long list of projects to complete in the house to get it ready to sell. I'm on vacation for the rest of the year so I was hoping to do a lot those tasks during the break, but our current series of snowstorms and cold spell are making that impossible.
Most of the readers of this blog are in Seattle. We will miss you all! But by the magic of the Internets we should be able to keep in touch. For example, this blog will continue and will relay our explorations of Boston.
This is one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. There were so many factors to consider. In the end, moving seems like the most financially and professionally sound option even though it has big family costs. Carol and I both talked about it a lot with our parents and siblings. We think we have a plan where the girls will still get to see a fair bit of their grandparents, aunts and uncles. And we're viewing it as an adventure.
We'll probably move in late May or early June. I have a long list of projects to complete in the house to get it ready to sell. I'm on vacation for the rest of the year so I was hoping to do a lot those tasks during the break, but our current series of snowstorms and cold spell are making that impossible.
Most of the readers of this blog are in Seattle. We will miss you all! But by the magic of the Internets we should be able to keep in touch. For example, this blog will continue and will relay our explorations of Boston.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Catching Up, Again!
Once again it has been more than a month since my last post. We have had several fun outings, and Charlotte had a birthday.
Not chronologically first in this series of photos, but most important in terms of milestones: Charlotte turned 3 on November 27th. That happened to be Thanksgiving. We had a small celebration in the morning with cupcakes and presents before driving to Tricia and Frank's house for Thanksgiving dinner. The thing Charlotte wanted most of all (she told us several times a day for a month) was a baby doll with eyes that opened and closed and a crib and a high chair for it. Oh, and a Belle dress (Belle is the "princess" in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast). She got both and was very pleased. Until February 2nd we have a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Charlotte is gaining a lot of motor and verbal skills lately. She expresses more and more complex thoughts all the time. And she mimics her big sister in terms of climbing, although Audrey has always been at the far end of the fearlessness scale. Charlotte has a more normal respect for potential consequences of gravity.
My parents spent Thanksgiving at their winter home in California this year, but us three kids gathered at Tricia and Frank's house in Puyallup for the traditional feast. Tricia always prepares a wonderful meal. Frank followed a recent family tradition and baked oysters with the "holy trinity": butter, garlic and parsley. Frank and Carol enjoy them the most but I usually eat a few. After dinner we celebrated Charlotte's birthday a little more with special mini-pumpkin pies just for the girls.
A different weekend made another trip to the Museum of Flight. It is a fantastic place to visit on a wet or cold day because it has lots of room to run around inside and plenty to see and explore. The girls love the kids area. They also enjoy going on the real airplanes, now reached via a new bridge. They have a Concorde and the old 707 version of Air Force One that you can tour. Very cool.
Britt and Ken joined us for a weekend walk down to Alki Beach. It was a chilly day, but we had a pleasant walk and even played on the beach for little while. Then we all went to have hot chocolate and treats at the Alki Bakery. The hike back up the hill to our house was leisurely and Audrey and Ian had a great time together. It was a very enjoyable morning.
Lately when I get the camera out Audrey has been asking to take some pictures. She does a very good job of holding onto the camera carefully and she even frames the photos pretty well. We might get them a kids digital camera for Christmas. I'm sure they'd have a blast with it.
This morning we awoke to a couple of inches of snow on the ground. It was apparently close to freezing when it fell, because the roads and sidewalks are covered with ice. Fortunately it has warmed just enough to loosen the ice so I was able to chip and shovel it off of our walks, but we aren't attempting to drive anywhere today. Nor is anyone else, the normally moderately busy street in front of our house is very quiet. The girls have been out to play a couple of times but they get cold quickly. It's not warming up enough to completely thaw the roads, so we'll see how it works out getting to work tomorrow. I definitely won't be riding my bike.
Merck has a use-it-or-lose it vacation policy; there is no carryover from one year to the next. That means the place gets pretty deserted in the second half of December. In my case, I have enough vacation left that my last day of work will be this Tuesday the 17th. 19 days off will be very nice.
The break from work will be especially nice since I also have a break from school. I took two courses Fall semester (Machine Learning/Data Mining; and Biomedical Databases). Fortunately the database course covered a lot of material I already knew, making the homework easier than usual. I have three courses left to complete my Masters degree. I'll take two courses Spring semester and the final course in Summer semester. I should complete my degree in August. That will have been a little more than two years altogether. I'm looking forward to being done and having my time back for all the projects on my list.
 Album | Slideshow Charlotte Turns Three |  Album | Slideshow Thanksgiving at Tricia and Frank's |  Album | Slideshow November/December Photos |
Not chronologically first in this series of photos, but most important in terms of milestones: Charlotte turned 3 on November 27th. That happened to be Thanksgiving. We had a small celebration in the morning with cupcakes and presents before driving to Tricia and Frank's house for Thanksgiving dinner. The thing Charlotte wanted most of all (she told us several times a day for a month) was a baby doll with eyes that opened and closed and a crib and a high chair for it. Oh, and a Belle dress (Belle is the "princess" in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast). She got both and was very pleased. Until February 2nd we have a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Charlotte is gaining a lot of motor and verbal skills lately. She expresses more and more complex thoughts all the time. And she mimics her big sister in terms of climbing, although Audrey has always been at the far end of the fearlessness scale. Charlotte has a more normal respect for potential consequences of gravity.
My parents spent Thanksgiving at their winter home in California this year, but us three kids gathered at Tricia and Frank's house in Puyallup for the traditional feast. Tricia always prepares a wonderful meal. Frank followed a recent family tradition and baked oysters with the "holy trinity": butter, garlic and parsley. Frank and Carol enjoy them the most but I usually eat a few. After dinner we celebrated Charlotte's birthday a little more with special mini-pumpkin pies just for the girls.
A different weekend made another trip to the Museum of Flight. It is a fantastic place to visit on a wet or cold day because it has lots of room to run around inside and plenty to see and explore. The girls love the kids area. They also enjoy going on the real airplanes, now reached via a new bridge. They have a Concorde and the old 707 version of Air Force One that you can tour. Very cool.
Britt and Ken joined us for a weekend walk down to Alki Beach. It was a chilly day, but we had a pleasant walk and even played on the beach for little while. Then we all went to have hot chocolate and treats at the Alki Bakery. The hike back up the hill to our house was leisurely and Audrey and Ian had a great time together. It was a very enjoyable morning.
Lately when I get the camera out Audrey has been asking to take some pictures. She does a very good job of holding onto the camera carefully and she even frames the photos pretty well. We might get them a kids digital camera for Christmas. I'm sure they'd have a blast with it.
This morning we awoke to a couple of inches of snow on the ground. It was apparently close to freezing when it fell, because the roads and sidewalks are covered with ice. Fortunately it has warmed just enough to loosen the ice so I was able to chip and shovel it off of our walks, but we aren't attempting to drive anywhere today. Nor is anyone else, the normally moderately busy street in front of our house is very quiet. The girls have been out to play a couple of times but they get cold quickly. It's not warming up enough to completely thaw the roads, so we'll see how it works out getting to work tomorrow. I definitely won't be riding my bike.
Merck has a use-it-or-lose it vacation policy; there is no carryover from one year to the next. That means the place gets pretty deserted in the second half of December. In my case, I have enough vacation left that my last day of work will be this Tuesday the 17th. 19 days off will be very nice.
The break from work will be especially nice since I also have a break from school. I took two courses Fall semester (Machine Learning/Data Mining; and Biomedical Databases). Fortunately the database course covered a lot of material I already knew, making the homework easier than usual. I have three courses left to complete my Masters degree. I'll take two courses Spring semester and the final course in Summer semester. I should complete my degree in August. That will have been a little more than two years altogether. I'm looking forward to being done and having my time back for all the projects on my list.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Fork in the Road
Labels:
family
Back on October 21 I got some big news at work. Merck is closing the Rosetta Inpharmatics site by the end of 2009 as part of a global reorganization. There was a week of shock and confusion, after which we knew that of the 300 people at Rosetta 50 (including myself) would be offered transfers to the Merck Research Labs facility in Boston.
Carol and I were really depressed at first. I often comment on this blog about how content we have been. We love so much about our life in Seattle. And we loved my job situation, which is fulfilling but doesn't demand extra time so I get plenty of time with my family.
Our first reaction to a Boston relocation was "Hell No!" But we've kept an open mind and talked to our families about it and Carol and I have played a lot of "what if" games. We took a trip to Boston last week for four days to check it out. We had researched real estate online and were able to confirm that neighborhoods we identified as affordable for us are indeed places we could envision living. We've talked to our parents about the logistics of the girls seeing their grandparents as much as possible and it seems like that could work.
If I don't accept the transfer, I will be laid off sometime in 2009 with a fairly generous severance package. The actual date I'd be laid off is completely unknown, which makes it very difficult to either look for a job immediately (and give up the severance) or predict what the job market might look like when I do get laid off. The relocation package is very generous. It would be very hard for us to find a way to lose money on the move. The company will even buy our house if we can't sell it in 60 days.
We have until December 15 to decide whether to accept the transfer offer. There are so many things to consider. Here are a few:
Pros:
Cons:
As you can see, most of the pros have to do with me and my job and the cons involve ripping up some pretty deep roots in Seattle. Is it worth it to do that for a job? In our parents' generation that was routine and unquestioned. These days it seems like a strange thing to even consider. But considering it we are. It occupies our thoughts most of the time, including many midnight hours when we wake up and can't go back to sleep because we're turning it over in our minds. It's one of those very big decisions one has to make in life.
Wish us luck!
Carol and I were really depressed at first. I often comment on this blog about how content we have been. We love so much about our life in Seattle. And we loved my job situation, which is fulfilling but doesn't demand extra time so I get plenty of time with my family.
Our first reaction to a Boston relocation was "Hell No!" But we've kept an open mind and talked to our families about it and Carol and I have played a lot of "what if" games. We took a trip to Boston last week for four days to check it out. We had researched real estate online and were able to confirm that neighborhoods we identified as affordable for us are indeed places we could envision living. We've talked to our parents about the logistics of the girls seeing their grandparents as much as possible and it seems like that could work.
If I don't accept the transfer, I will be laid off sometime in 2009 with a fairly generous severance package. The actual date I'd be laid off is completely unknown, which makes it very difficult to either look for a job immediately (and give up the severance) or predict what the job market might look like when I do get laid off. The relocation package is very generous. It would be very hard for us to find a way to lose money on the move. The company will even buy our house if we can't sell it in 60 days.
We have until December 15 to decide whether to accept the transfer offer. There are so many things to consider. Here are a few:
Pros:
- The "bird in the hand" aspect. This is not a cost-cutting move on Merck's part – it is an effort to streamline drug research and put my group closer to the scientists we support. They will spend a small fortune to relocate us to Boston and I doubt they would invest that amount only to lay me off within the next 12-18 months. The job market in Seattle is already bad and getting worse. If I were to find a new job here, I'd be the newest employee and first to go if the economy continues to worsen.
- I actually like my job. I've been in the software business for 25 years now. I've burned out a few times. The last few job changes I was happy to find a job I could tolerate, but in this job I came across work I actually love. That is completely because of the science I am surrounded by at work. I have to work 20 more years, and it sure would be nice to do that in a job and field that stimulates me. I'm looking around, but I think I'm very unlikely to find a similar job in Seattle.
- The group I am part of is essentially being promoted en masse. We thought we'd be safe in the reorganization because we are a core part of the strategy. It turns out that's exactly why they want to move us to a central research location. Our group will grow substantially after the move and there is huge opportunity for me to take on more responsibility.
- I'm approaching the end of my Masters degree in Bioinformatics (expected next August). Staying in this group gives me a transition path toward contributing more from a scientific point of view than a software one. Other companies aren't going to hire me for that new skill set because I don't have any real experience in it yet.
- The adventure of living in a different place. Carol and I have had a dream of living in a European city for a couple of years sometime while the girls are growing up. This isn't quite Europe but has the same effect of exposing them to a slightly different culture and environment.
- Along those lines, Boston is very convenient to the rest of the East Coast. We can easily take vacations to Maine and eastern Canada (Montreal, for example), New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. etc.
Cons:
- Family. All of our girls' grandparents, aunts, and uncles are here in Seattle. We love the fact that our kids get to see their extended family frequently.
- Carol's support network. Carol has a good network of friends here that help her keep her sanity being a stay-at-home mom.
- Our house. We love it, and we love the garage and studio we built and the back yard we finally assembled this year.
- Seattle! All of you who live here know what we mean. It's such a wonderful place to live.
- All of our friends, of course.
- Even though I think a job in Boston would be secure for a while, no job is secure in the long term any more. We could end up going through another transition in a year or two – and considering moving back to Seattle at our expense.
As you can see, most of the pros have to do with me and my job and the cons involve ripping up some pretty deep roots in Seattle. Is it worth it to do that for a job? In our parents' generation that was routine and unquestioned. These days it seems like a strange thing to even consider. But considering it we are. It occupies our thoughts most of the time, including many midnight hours when we wake up and can't go back to sleep because we're turning it over in our minds. It's one of those very big decisions one has to make in life.
Wish us luck!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Catching Up
It's been more than a month. Lots has happened! Time to catch up with photos and stories.
October was very pleasant in Seattle. It was dry and relatively warm for the season.
In the middle of October I took a few days off work and we had a long weekend in Richland visiting Carol's parents. That's always relaxing. Audrey and Charlotte had a great time at the playgrounds and in the back yard. Of course, we all enjoyed getting to hang out with Mary and Dennis.
I scheduled the trip to be after my two midterm exams. Unfortunately they both got moved to that weekend. So I spent three of the four days studying and sitting at the library taking exams. At least I did well. After the two courses I'm taking this semester, I only have three courses left. I expect to finish my Masters Degree (in Engineering, specializing in Bioinformatics) at the end of summer semester 2009.
Halloween was a lot of fun. Both girls were dressed as princesses. Charlotte was Sleeping Beauty and Audrey was Ariel in her wedding dress (generously loaned to her by her friend Harper).
Last year Charlotte was still a little too young to appreciate it. Halloween night last year was also quite cold, so Audrey and I went out but only to about seven or eight houses before she wanted to come home. This year it was pretty warm and pleasant out. Both girls had a blast. I did both sides of our block and the next block with them, then Carol drove them to two of her friends' neighborhoods and they trick or treated a little there too. Of course they now have big bags of candy. It takes a while to work through it when we only let them have two pieces a day! Carol and I are helping it to disappear, too.
The next day our friends Scott and Heidi, who have 3-year-old Logan and 6-month-old twin girls Fina and Emma, invited us to join them for a hike. Having been very active in the mountains before we had kids, we're a little embarrassed to say that we have done very little hiking since we had them. But we went along and had a great time. Our kids are old enough now to walk most of the way by themselves, which makes it a lot more fun for us. We both vowed to get out hiking more.
I got spoiled on my bike commute with the dry October. November began with the time change and the arrival of the Fall rains. So all this week I got to ride home in the dark and rain. Don't worry, I have flashing lights and reflectors galore. And as I remind you every year, if you're concerned for my safety you can honor that concern by respecting the safety of every cyclist you encounter.
 Album | Slideshow |  Album | Slideshow |  Album | Slideshow |
October was very pleasant in Seattle. It was dry and relatively warm for the season.
In the middle of October I took a few days off work and we had a long weekend in Richland visiting Carol's parents. That's always relaxing. Audrey and Charlotte had a great time at the playgrounds and in the back yard. Of course, we all enjoyed getting to hang out with Mary and Dennis.
I scheduled the trip to be after my two midterm exams. Unfortunately they both got moved to that weekend. So I spent three of the four days studying and sitting at the library taking exams. At least I did well. After the two courses I'm taking this semester, I only have three courses left. I expect to finish my Masters Degree (in Engineering, specializing in Bioinformatics) at the end of summer semester 2009.
Halloween was a lot of fun. Both girls were dressed as princesses. Charlotte was Sleeping Beauty and Audrey was Ariel in her wedding dress (generously loaned to her by her friend Harper).
Last year Charlotte was still a little too young to appreciate it. Halloween night last year was also quite cold, so Audrey and I went out but only to about seven or eight houses before she wanted to come home. This year it was pretty warm and pleasant out. Both girls had a blast. I did both sides of our block and the next block with them, then Carol drove them to two of her friends' neighborhoods and they trick or treated a little there too. Of course they now have big bags of candy. It takes a while to work through it when we only let them have two pieces a day! Carol and I are helping it to disappear, too.
The next day our friends Scott and Heidi, who have 3-year-old Logan and 6-month-old twin girls Fina and Emma, invited us to join them for a hike. Having been very active in the mountains before we had kids, we're a little embarrassed to say that we have done very little hiking since we had them. But we went along and had a great time. Our kids are old enough now to walk most of the way by themselves, which makes it a lot more fun for us. We both vowed to get out hiking more.
I got spoiled on my bike commute with the dry October. November began with the time change and the arrival of the Fall rains. So all this week I got to ride home in the dark and rain. Don't worry, I have flashing lights and reflectors galore. And as I remind you every year, if you're concerned for my safety you can honor that concern by respecting the safety of every cyclist you encounter.
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