Arrived in the cold

A lot has happened since the last post: Huge surf has hit the Californian coast. The swell you might have heard of that created huge waves in Hawaii. We went for one session and I almost lost a good friend. He got in trouble when his leash snapped. Swimming back to the beach (300m) and getting caught in the shore break he almost drowned. Just when he thought it's over he realized that he can touch ground. Made it halfway out the water where he got pulled out and taken care of by lifeguards and ambulance. I didn't realize what was going on as I left the water before.

The second half of the week we were on a lab retreat in the mountains behind San Diego. Very nice lodge where we had lots of food, drinks and fun. It was raining throughout the whole retreat, forcing us to stay inside and spend a lot of time together. I loved the hot tub in the rain!
The week ended very tragic with the senseless death of a friend in a car accident. Jared was a postdoc at Scripps and the captain of our Movember team. He got hit by a drunk driver on the way home from work on Sunday night. It was a complete shock to all of us. Jared was such a happy and wonderful person and is just gone. So please remember when you go to the usual Christmas parties. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! The drunk driver came back from his companies holiday party. He and his passenger were saved from the burning car by someone who saw the accident. It was too late to save Jared.
Now we are back in Switzerland. We had a good trip, my first flight with Swiss. We got welcomed in Zürich by a friend from school who now works at the airport. Got the first class treatment with limo service and special immigration. We were impressed!
Looking forward to see many of you!