The Color of the Grass

Of all the things to think I suddenly was reminded that this platform existed. I had last thought about this over four years ago when I had taken my first industry job. And now I think of it again as I had moved to another company within the industry to pursue a new opportunity.

It's always interesting to change jobs and leave the first company you work for after leaving school. Each company approaches the same problem with different approaches, and it's always an adjustment to how another company operates. But there is always a motivation to make the move, and it's not until after we've crossed to the other side we learn whether our intuition and analysis was how we imagined it.

I've been with my current company for about 6 months now and am finally getting a hang of how the business is executed and the expectations of scientists. Even though the industry aims to deliver medicines to patients, there's always a balance of operation excellence (speed to patient) versus scientific excellence (best science at first filing), and my former company are leaders in the former and my current company are leaders in the latter. This leads to different questions needing to be answered, with my questions changing from those such as "what questions about this molecule need to be answered to enable clinical trials?" to "what levers can we pull in cell culture to create the best possible process?" I think deciding which is the better approach is more a matter of personal preference and there is a fairly narrow range in balancing the two to be able to successfully deliver medicines to patients, and learnings can be taken to improve how other companies in the industry operate.

For me this is an important opportunity to learn more about the nuances of cell culture and become a contributor to our knowledge of cell culture. At the same time there are a number of operational inefficiencies where I believe there can be significant gains in efficiency. However the balance is to not stifle scientific innovation in the name of speed at all costs. What I can say if that I've learned significantly more about the ins and outs of cell culture in the short time I've been at this company and there have been many opportunities to explore exciting side projects beyond delivering the pipeline.

So what does this hold? The view might be more short-sighted since this is mostly only a plan for the next few years. The grass is greener-for now-since the scientific aspects of cell culture was an important driver, in addition to a few other factors. I don't have delusions of this being a long-term move, partially because the locale is not ideal. So maybe the grass isn't greener everywhere; maybe I need to keep the neighbor's dog from peeing on my lawn both figuratively and literally.

Transitions

After four months the main difference between grad school and a real job is actually getting paid a livable wage. However in biotech there are still opportunities to work nonstop...

So What?

I, like most of us, spend a lot of time perusing the internet, and my general reaction to most things is just "So what?" and not much else. It almost seems like everyone has an opinion, which they are certainly within their rights to hold, but then feel the need that because they're so important and knowledgeable in everything in which the hold an opinion everyone else is obligated to listen to that opinion. I think the peak was right after the election, where everyone had an opinion on the outcome and made sure that you knew what they were saying, because somehow everyone you knew suddenly became a top-notch political analyst overnight.

Of course, this is slightly hypocritical since anything I write is mostly just random thoughts without much substance, which leads to a lot of "So what?" reactions. There's no real direction here, but for a personal "blog" or collection of ramblings, naturally there doesn't need to be. (Naturally I'm such a renown journalist and as such "journalistic integrity" is such a forte, but the lack of it in the professional world is well...another opinion for another day.) Naturally these thoughts have kept me away for a while, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing with this, though at least hopefully it doesn't seem like I'm shoving words/opinions down your throat.

In other words, no news is good news.

Another Year

It's funny seeing all the first year grad students (and undergrads) all happy and excited to be here. It's only time until they have the happiness beat out of them.

Idiocracy

The problem with watching the film Idiocracy is that, for a period of time after the film, I will look more closely than usual for any hint at society heading towards the direction of anti-intellectual attention-lacking idiots. So naturally today the latest thing I saw after I came home from work was none to pleasing.

Apparently on ESPN the audio on single-highlight videos has been replaced by music to engage viewers instead of using either existing commentary from the original broadcast or whatever the microphones at the field pick up. Think about that for a second-even for 15-second highlights ESPN feels there is a need to use music to engage the audience to drive clicks (and thus revenue) compared to any competing service, and that existing commentary is not enough to get enough people to watch a highlight. This kind of falls into the reign of click-bait headlines trying to get your attention with some ridiculously stupid phrase such as "You won't believe what happens next!"

Perhaps I'm digging down the rabbit hole a little to far...

Moved In!

So I've been a little busy but now I've moved into a new apartment in a much quieter side of town (thank goodness for that). In the meanwhile some interesting sights:

There was a metro bus with a Dianetics advertisement (on the inside). For those of you that are unfamiliar, Dianetics is the book written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology about the metaphysical relationship between mind and body (or at least in his mind). I've had the "opportunity" to visit the L. Ron Hubbard Museum in Hollywood and I spent most of the time trying not to laugh at the poor guide, who was utterly brainwashed in the workings of the cult.

IKEA now stocks the Daim candies again-there was a period of several years (up until a few weeks ago) that the candies were not sold. As an IKEA fan, I was glad they brought them back. Now if they would only restock the dessert cakes that had broken Daim pieces in them. Speaking of random foreign foods, I'm half-tempted to order a case of Guarana soda.

Too Much Clutter

I hate it when there's too much on my mind, especially late at night when I'm trying to sleep. My mind needs to be cleared before I sleep, or else I end up with stories like a few posts below...some things are just too hard to shake easily.

Apparently I'm Slow

Last week I learned I'm slower than Mantei Teo, which is a very sad thing. Granted, I also don't resemble a football player.

BRB

Getting owned :(

Merry Christmas!

Have fun, and stay safe! Don't do anything I wouldn't do... ;)

BRB

Something about applying to grad school/fellowships

Goodbye Facebook!

It feels so free not to have a Facebook :)

Finals Week

brb

...and Back!

So every once in a while I tend to get really busy and forget about this, and then I end up deleting all the posts because I think that past me was insane. I probably was insane. I'm probably still insane, but that's ok. Hopefully I'll stick to it this time and share a few more of my thoughts than I previously shared, and hopefully I don't end up forgetting about this.