Home and Job

I have been home for a little over a week now. It's good to be with family and to have plenty, and I mean plenty of time to do cycling. Whether I get enough in is another matter, because it is SUPER hot here. In fact, I normally leave home by 6.30 to 7 am to beat the heat and by 9 am, the heat is often too much to handle. Cycling is huge here. I am amazed at the number of cyclists and the amount of pro looking people here (by this I mean their cycling specific muscles). I joined a club that offers rides everyday of the week. However, to reach there I have to cycle 10 miles on the bike path with tons of obscure signs and turns. I went to scout out how to get there with my little brother, who has grown so much this past year that he is already taller than me (and has lost a lot of weight). Thus I thought that he would be faster than last year, not so. We left home at 8 am and I calculated conservatively that we would be home by 10 am, at a pace of 10 mph. However, we were home at 11.30 by which time both parents have gone out looking for us. My brother later went on to have breathing problems (from exhaustion) and didn't want to go cycling again, not that he particularly wanted to do so in the first place. In fact, all my siblings (maybe not my littlest brother) avoid anything to do with exercise. My mum thinks that my cycling is ridiculous and my dad's idea of fun is relaxing in front of the TV. So strange that my family is so different from me. Back on track, many of the cyclists in the club are very fast. I will give an update later on cycling in Perth as I have ridden more myself and more with the club.

I wanted to talk a bit about my future job and the search for it. Initially I wanted to go to Germany, because people are more straightforward there and because I wanted to do cycling in Europe. However, after I learnt that the pay check is on average 50 % that of in the US, I decided not to go. After this, there was a period where I was confused about where to live. Then it popped in my head that I could go to Denver, CO because of the great cycling there. Yet, that ended at the same time as I found out just how dry it is over there. Not keen on having dry skin and bloody nose and premature aging. Then for a couple of days I had a strong inclination of becoming a lecturer in Perth because you can earn 100 k a year and work schedule is of course light, such that I would have lots of time to pursue cycling. However, life would be boring without any intellectual challenges and I don't particularly want to live in Australia. Later I settled on SF. The weather, the people and the cycling culture all seem to be a great fit for me. There was one job that I really wanted. Yet, the job spec says that they are looking for a person with 5-10 years of industry experience. I still applied and surprisingly I got an email asking for scheduling a phone interview. The phone interview went well. I liked how the company gives its researchers plenty of freedom, and they liked me too. So off I went for an onsite interview. I can wholeheartedly say that I enjoyed the interview. I wasn't nervous and was eager to learn more about the company, its research and its people. Everything I learnt I liked. I waited for the job offer - this did not come easy. This is because I am a foreign national and of course there are others competing for the position. Thankfully, I got the job. I think I have been very lucky in my job search. I know of two ChE PhDs (both US citizens) in bio research whom were jobless for 9 months. I have to say that the pay is pretty good too :) Now I have a bigger budget in buying my new bike.

When everything was falling into place towards December (finishing my thesis, finishing my papers, and landing the job), I felt that a higher power, perhaps God may not let me to stay happy for long and take everything away from me. This is strange, because when my research didn't work, when I broke my back, and when I wasn't happy I never thought that I was unfortunate or that they were anyone else's problems but my own.