Hello World

Seems a very clever idea so I created an account today. I'm far more likely to share thoughts when it only takes three minutes to post them as they occur, whereas posting my collected thoughts and commentary to lj is becoming increasingly daunting as my life reaches new pinnacles of frenetic activity.

What do you think of Twitter? Do you use it? If so, how do you use it? If not, why not?

An amazing, audacious plan...

A plan of multiple-life-goal-attaining proportions...

A plan involving many friends and loved ones...


I cannot yet speak openly of this plan, but rest assured it is in the works.


If you're dying of curiosity as badly as I'm dying to blab, hit me up on IM or email...


'cuz I have a plan and it is made of awesome!

The following comments were made this morning to a friend and colleague, in response to his post about looking for a new job:

My last big-biopharma job taught me that corporations hire people to fill specific, static company needs. Period. No matter how good you are at your job, no matter how hard you fight for promotion, you will only climb the ladder if there's already an empty space available - and even then, seniority and politics screw up everything. Raises will just barely cover inflation if you're lucky and internal department promotion will always dangle just out of reach.

So never ever take a job at a sizable corporation with the thought that you can "build a career here". It's a flat out lie, a vestigial mindset from the long-gone days of corporate pensions and lady secretaries bringing male bosses coffee on command. These days you will be hired to fill a certain specific job role, you will be paid as little as possible to get you into that job, and once there you will never see the kind of salary increases or career advancement you expect. When you outgrow the job, just move on; the company would rather lose you and hire someone new who'll be happy to work for the salary you've outgrown, than give you a merit-based promotion and throw off their salary budgets which ultimately affects share prices.

It's nothing personal with the boss, the department, or the company. It's strictly business. The company is always looking out for its own bottom line, you must therefore always look out for your own best interests as well. Which is why I anticipate staying with my current team for 2-3 years before moving on, instead of working my butt off and hoping for a promotion. Tried that at Genzyme, didn't go so well, I'm not falling for that old "career planning as part of hiring and performance review" trick again. Not at a company as big as ours.

I wonder if I've become too cutthroat when it comes to career advancement. Was the experience with Genzyme an oddity in the corporate world, or is it genuinely the lay of the land in corporate America in the new millenium?

Here is a snapshot of the top 22 biotech/pharma companies' stock performance for the day, as of 4pm:



For those playing along at home, this NEVER happens. I've been watching these companies for YEARS now and it's UNHEARD OF to see them all up at the same time.

In my library there is a growing collection of computers, monitors, and peripherals that I don't use anymore. Two of the computers are older but perfectly functional (the third is a franken-puter that I built by hand in college from leftover CCC parts and should probably go back to the scrap heap from whence it came). The 20" flat screen monitor works fine but it's a monster, and then there are all the extra keyboards and whatnot that went with each of these old setups.

SO: What to do with all these things? I want them out of my house, but I don't want to pay $25 per piece to have the town recycle them (except probably the franken-puter, it's long past its expiration date).

The two other computers, the monitor, and all the peripherals are perfectly functional. Where can I send this stuff so they can be of use to someone else?

Not Quite Safe For Work visuals,
VERY Not Safe For Work audio,

but oh. so. awesome.

Nerd Girl Worship!

zOMG I've HEARD this conversation before!

Hell, I've HAD this conversation before!

It's only funny because any one of our friends could BE one of these two stick figures...

"Science Friday" is a weekly science talk show, broadcast over public radio stations nationwide as part of National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" programming. Hosted by Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the issues at hand.

On Friday, April 27, as part of the Cambridge Science Festival, a special Earth Day edition of Science Friday will be broadcast live from Genzyme Center 2–4 p.m.

The first hour of the show will focus on environmental issues and will feature an interview with Rick Mattila, director of Environmental Affairs, about green buildings. The second hour will focus on stem cell research.

Listen to the broadcast online, available from WBUR's website (Boston's public radio station):

http://www.wbur.org/listen/