Farewell

All of you out there who read my blog or have ever talked to me know I was never in love with my job. Worked in a basement, politics, long commute. Well, I'm finally moving on. To what exactly, I don't know. I was there for just about 4.5 years. A long time at a so-so job. But there aren't many perfect jobs out there. I liked my co-workers and a job with a decent salary and benefits is always a good thing when you have a mortgage. I'll likely stay with UW, but am not sure what department yet. I've had official interviews with one group, an unofficial invite from another, and have heard through the grapevine that my current group actually wants to keep me. I'll be working half time for a couple weeks (another doc who took me on after we had our flood) but I hope by mid-July to be at my new job. Even without the layoff, work has been such a strange place for a while. Our lab is still shut down, it's been 6 months since the (first) flood. Work is slow, folks have been antsy. Morale hit an all time low when the layoff announcements were made. Layoffs didn't actually happen for another month after that, but the dominoes have been falling. My last day was Friday, another worker is quitting this Friday, another is finished with his PhD and heads home overseas, and a few others are hoping to get out soon. The bosses have been out of town off and on for a couple weeks at conferences. I wasn't given any instruction on who would be taking over my duties.

A few of my co-workers took me out Friday night. I was hungover for most of Saturday, but at least I remember how I got home. See if you can tell who may have had too much to drink (don't worry, he got a ride home!). Thanks for a fun night out.

Marley-Otto Update

There may be another cat in our future. This made me think of Marley and Otto's progress so far. It's still...tense. Otto is interested in Marley's every move. Marley feels the safest on her cat tower which means that's where she hangs out most of the time. Wasn't a big issue during the winter when she slept most of the time, but now that it's spring (Seattle spring=rain of course!) she does want to go out every now and then. Ding, ding, ding. As I'm thinking of this and wondering how another cat would change the dynamic in the house (tag team Otto or would it be Marley getting tag teamed?), I think of Marley's collar. It has a bell on it. A bell which broadcasts her location. A bell which lets Otto know every time she just shakes her head or jumps to another level of her tower. Duh, maybe if I remove her bell, she could actually be her stealthy self and have a bit more freedom in the house without Otto always checking on her. Took the bell off after getting home from work and she's already pushing her normal boundries. 7 months. I kept that dang bell on for 7 months!

About this other cat. A friend of a friend is looking for a new home for his Bengal cat. I've been itching for a new cat and D's expressed interest in Bengal's in the past. I am worried how Marley will take it--she already is in a stressed situation, but maybe another cat would keep the attention off of her. And maybe a Bengal wouldn't be as shy as Marley. All Otto wants is another playmate (hmmm, can our house handle another dog too?). We'll likely do a meet and greet to see how we like little Damien.