Changes of Plan
23 March 2003
It's been ten weeks since I wrote and while we have been very busy, there aren't a lot of photos to show for what we've been doing. Robert was laid off from Digitas at the start of the year and finished work there at the end of January. Because we are both here on H1B visas, finishing work means having to leave the US within a short time (typically two weeks).
We had planned a drinks party for Robert's birthday. Instead it turned into a farewell party and we ended up with about 60 guests, including a few who came from Los Angeles for the weekend, such as Billy (with me in the picture below).
We made plans to return to Australia on February 25, but at the same time Robert pursued other jobs here in the US. Surprisingly, given the state of the US economy, he was hired by a bank in Pasadena just before we were due to leave. So instead of heading back to Australia, he had to start work in Pasadena at the start of March while I continued at UCSF.
This is IndyMac Bank where Robert is the Business Process Manager for Loanworks, part of their mortgage business.
Pasadena is twenty minutes drive north of downtown Los Angeles and the public transport options in Los Angeles are notoriously undeveloped, so Robert had to learn to drive, having never learned in Australia. After a week of driving with me and then two weeks of frequent lessons with an instructor he took his driving test in San Francisco and passed. The following day he had to pick up a rental car in Los Angeles to get to and from work in Pasadena.
Fortunately the car rental companies here only ask whether the driver is under 25, not whether he got his license the previous day, and Robert took the optional extra insurance, but hasn't had any trouble in his first three weeks of driving around Los Angeles on his own.
The second problem after transport in LA was finding somewhere to live. While the bank provided soulless corporate housing in "Monrovia", a suburb of Pasadena, we were keen to find somewhere pleasant and spent the first weekend in LA driving around looking at apartments. After inspecting dozens we settled on a place in Hancock Park, which is a long way from Pasadena but reasonably close to West Hollywood and downtown LA.
The living room windows are circled in the photo. It's a largeish one bedroom apartment in a 1920s building. We will still be in the house in San Francisco many weekends and I will be there most of the time since I'm still working at UCSF.
UCSF have arranged for me to change my position there from "Visiting" (temporary) to regular faculty in order to continue working there beyond the end of June when my two year appointment would otherwise finish. July and August are very busy months there as the new anaesthesia trainees start work and require close supervision so I have agreed to stay there until the end of August most likely. The only excitement at UCSF was the publication of two papers from the lab I'm in, so now I can be found in Medline if you know where to look (try here and here).
If Robert's work in Pasadena goes well, then I will most likely move to LA as well near the end of the year. If we're not enjoying life here, then we'll most likely return to Australia. I'm doing what I can to keep my options open in that respect.
I was lucky enough when returning from the city a few weeks ago to catch the one W-class Melbourne tram that runs on the F-line in San Francisco. Having caught these trams to and from school from 1980 on I was pleased to find this one almost unmodified inside and out. It still had the MMTB logo on the side and the wooden interior with sliding doors.
Winter finally seems to be receding here. The wattle bloomed a few weeks ago and our daffodils, irises and tulips are coming up in the pots on the deck. The days are finally getting long enough that it's sometimes light when I leave work (if I'm not doing a neurosurgery list and stuck there until 8pm).
For one of Robert's driving lessons we went to Marin Headlands, a lookout across the Golden Gate Bridge which has the best view of the city. Today we went to Muir Woods with Jay, a friend from Oakland, and tried out the picnic set which Robert's mother Shirley gave us for Christmas. This picture is of Jay and Robert at Muir Beach Overlook:
I'm aware that I haven't mentioned the War in Iraq. We are certainly aware of it and watch the Australian news on the ABC website. Most Americans are completely unaware that Australia has sent troops to Iraq and when told seem a little confused as to why we would want to, as am I. I hope it's over very soon.
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We had planned a drinks party for Robert's birthday. Instead it turned into a farewell party and we ended up with about 60 guests, including a few who came from Los Angeles for the weekend, such as Billy (with me in the picture below).
We made plans to return to Australia on February 25, but at the same time Robert pursued other jobs here in the US. Surprisingly, given the state of the US economy, he was hired by a bank in Pasadena just before we were due to leave. So instead of heading back to Australia, he had to start work in Pasadena at the start of March while I continued at UCSF.
This is IndyMac Bank where Robert is the Business Process Manager for Loanworks, part of their mortgage business.
Pasadena is twenty minutes drive north of downtown Los Angeles and the public transport options in Los Angeles are notoriously undeveloped, so Robert had to learn to drive, having never learned in Australia. After a week of driving with me and then two weeks of frequent lessons with an instructor he took his driving test in San Francisco and passed. The following day he had to pick up a rental car in Los Angeles to get to and from work in Pasadena.
Fortunately the car rental companies here only ask whether the driver is under 25, not whether he got his license the previous day, and Robert took the optional extra insurance, but hasn't had any trouble in his first three weeks of driving around Los Angeles on his own.
The second problem after transport in LA was finding somewhere to live. While the bank provided soulless corporate housing in "Monrovia", a suburb of Pasadena, we were keen to find somewhere pleasant and spent the first weekend in LA driving around looking at apartments. After inspecting dozens we settled on a place in Hancock Park, which is a long way from Pasadena but reasonably close to West Hollywood and downtown LA.
The living room windows are circled in the photo. It's a largeish one bedroom apartment in a 1920s building. We will still be in the house in San Francisco many weekends and I will be there most of the time since I'm still working at UCSF.
UCSF have arranged for me to change my position there from "Visiting" (temporary) to regular faculty in order to continue working there beyond the end of June when my two year appointment would otherwise finish. July and August are very busy months there as the new anaesthesia trainees start work and require close supervision so I have agreed to stay there until the end of August most likely. The only excitement at UCSF was the publication of two papers from the lab I'm in, so now I can be found in Medline if you know where to look (try here and here).
If Robert's work in Pasadena goes well, then I will most likely move to LA as well near the end of the year. If we're not enjoying life here, then we'll most likely return to Australia. I'm doing what I can to keep my options open in that respect.
I was lucky enough when returning from the city a few weeks ago to catch the one W-class Melbourne tram that runs on the F-line in San Francisco. Having caught these trams to and from school from 1980 on I was pleased to find this one almost unmodified inside and out. It still had the MMTB logo on the side and the wooden interior with sliding doors.
Winter finally seems to be receding here. The wattle bloomed a few weeks ago and our daffodils, irises and tulips are coming up in the pots on the deck. The days are finally getting long enough that it's sometimes light when I leave work (if I'm not doing a neurosurgery list and stuck there until 8pm).
For one of Robert's driving lessons we went to Marin Headlands, a lookout across the Golden Gate Bridge which has the best view of the city. Today we went to Muir Woods with Jay, a friend from Oakland, and tried out the picnic set which Robert's mother Shirley gave us for Christmas. This picture is of Jay and Robert at Muir Beach Overlook:
I'm aware that I haven't mentioned the War in Iraq. We are certainly aware of it and watch the Australian news on the ABC website. Most Americans are completely unaware that Australia has sent troops to Iraq and when told seem a little confused as to why we would want to, as am I. I hope it's over very soon.
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