Switzerland, Vegas, San Diego

Martin Naegeli, this one is for YOU!

I'm always happy for feedback from people who actually still want to read this blog. I was getting a little tired of posting the same everyday things. But I realize that not everyone is on Facebook... and that it would be nice to upload some photos every now and then. So here we go.

The last post I wrote was about my upcoming interview with CSL Behring in Bern. The interview was fun and went well but I didn't get the job. Second place first loser as the American mentality says. It didn't feel that way. It was actually my first job interview and I enjoyed it and it was a success that I was invited in the first place. Also, disappointment and relieve kept the balance. I was not prepared to leave California by the end of August. I still keep looking around but jobs in Switzerland are very rare and my chances in the US are not that good without a green card. We will see what happens...

Back in San Diego I focused a lot on our band project. The Quarter System. We played quite a few shows here in San Diego and one even in Las Vegas. That's because our drummer is from there. I really enjoyed playing and it's a great motivator to get my guitars out of their cases.

We are biking a lot. Parking at UCSD where our lab has moved to (see previous posts) costs $84/month. So we decided to take bus and bike instead. The bus here has a  rack for two bikes. In the morning we take the bus and then ride home after work. The bus is free for UCSD employees. Takes us 45' by bus and 25' by bike. Not very efficient but healthy and cheap! Selina bought a bike from our friend Bruno who went back home to Belgium. She likes it as you can see on the photo and now she's also the proud owner of a helmet...

The last big happening was the wedding of our friends Bonnie and Kit. I mainly write that because I really like the picture. The other two are Valerie, Belgian and Karsten, German. Both postdocs. Valerie is leaving us too, following her husband Bruno in one week. That's the life in science. You get a good group of people together in the lab but also outside work and after a few years everyone starts to leave. But new people come and new adventures begin. Our life is definitely not monotonous and boring!