Washington Park is just up the street from our temporary housing. Another city owned park right inside the urban center of Portland, it’s 400 acres of trees, gardens, attractions and hiking trails. We’ve taken Lola to the park a few times this past week just to get out and explore. The park is home to the International Rose Test Garden containing over 8,000 rose bushes and 600 varieties. I took a few photos of the roses (so original) and also of the surrounding forest.
Later this month, we’re going to see Brandi Carlile play a show in the park. Can’t wait!!
After seeing a few different properties, we found our first official place in Portland. It’s a three bedroom bungalow in North Portland’s St. Johns, and we’re so excited. We can move in August 15, but our stuff probably won’t arrive from Chicago until a week or so after. This gives us time to paint and clean and all that good stuff before we move everything in. Julie will have to go back to Chicago the weekend before to supervise the movers. (Fun for her!)
Our landlords are pretty awesome: A married couple that are moving to the coast for a few years. We got on really well, and they are into us painting and putting in a dishwasher. It’s great that we can kind of customize the place. You often can’t do that with rentals, so it’s exciting. Not that I love to paint, but that’s what Julie’s for.
Our temporary place in the Pearl.
We went hiking in Forest Park* today for the first time (after buying some new hiking shoes, of course). We did a 2.5 mile “moderate” hike on the Nature and Chestnut trail loops. The weather was perfect — 75 deg and sunny — although most of our hike was in the shade due to the tree coverage.
*Forest Park is one of the largest city-owned wilderness areas in the country - 5,100 acres, 80 miles of trails, more than 60 native species of mammals and 100 species of birds all within about five miles from downtown Portland.
I finished my first week at my new job this morning at 4am. It was a long first week and I learned a lot and am still very excited to be working at Genentech.
I started the week off in San Francisco at Genentech’s corporate offices for orientation. New hires spend the day getting set up with the essentials like security badge, parking pass and IT system login ID. We also got a history lesson about Genentech’s two founders, venture capitalist Robert Swanson and biochemist Herbert Boyer. These two men conceived Genentech over a beer in 1976. Their conversation basically lead to the start of the biotechnology industry. Genentech is known as the first biotech company.
Following the history lesson, we also learned about the work culture and how to be successful working in the fast paced company. The culture at Genentech can be summarized by the words “casual intensity” (not my words). You can wear jeans and t-shirts every day if that suits you — but you are expected to work hard and be a strong team member. In fact, weekly “Ho-Hos” are held on site each Friday afternoon with beer and snacks as a way to encourage team bonding. All this ties back to the company’s founders and their philosophy on building a company where employees could be comfortable and be themselves.
My first day at the Hillsboro, OR facility I definitely learned that I was walking into a very fast paced environment. The facility houses aseptic fill/finish operations — bulk drug products (< 2000 L) are filled into vials (5 - 20 mL) in an environment free of microorganisms or particulate matter. There are two fill lines both of which are currently undergoing qualification and approval by the FDA for use. This explains the pace of work - everyone at the site (~ 300 people) are focused on getting the place up and running and licensed for commercial manufacturing. The facility is state of the art with the newest technology, instruments and equipment. I am nervous about getting up to speed - it will be a challenge. But I feel I am working with top notch people who are leaders in the industry, so I know I will have many opportunities if I do well.
I spent most of the rest of the week reading training materials, attending meetings and just trying to remember people’s names! Friday I got my first chance to observe some hands-on activities in the manufacturing areas. I worked a full regular day (8 - 4:30 PM) and then had to come back in at 11 PM for the observation and stayed until 3:30 AM. I think I need to get used to wacky hours with this job.
After Julie’s first day at work, we met with Jessica and Will for dinner at Trebol, a local Organic Mexican restaurant in North Portland. I’ve known Jessica for as long as I lived in Chicago, so it’s so nice that she lives here. She’s also a foodie, so that is very helpful in getting acclimated to a new city, especially one where all of the food sounds amazing. (Food trucks, I need to visit every one of you.)
Trebol had a nice atmosphere (Mexican wrestling masks behind the bar, outdoor deck) and the drinks were great, but the service and food weren’t that fabulous. We had a good time, and I love being outside when the sun is still out after 8 p.m.
Here is a breakdown of our road trip statistics:
Avg fuel economy = 26.8 mpg Volume of fuel = 80 gallons Driving time = 36 hours Bathroom breaks = 6
Julie, Lola and I drove to Troutdale on Saturday, and it only took us about 20 minutes to get to Emily and Devin’s cabin on the river. It’s right by Mt. Hood and beautifully remote, despite being so close to the city. It’s amazing that after years of living in Chicago, where you have to get at least an hour outside of the city to find such a place, we could be there so quickly and feel far from the urban sprawl.
Their cabin is family-owned and built and there are photos of past loved ones everywhere in homage to those who have spent so much time there. It was Emily’s birthday so we arrived to find a huge gathering of family and friends, a DJ and a huge karaoke set-up. The DJ was pretty much my favorite part of the event, as he was really into his job, and loved Emily Hartl’s rendition of “Teenage Dream.” I mean, we all did, but he really got into it.
We hadn’t met Emily and Devin before, as they are friends of Rachel and Emily’s. (So many Emilys!) But they were so sweet to have us come out and stay, and we got to know them better once the majority of the crowd went home and we stayed the night and spent the better part of Sunday with them as well. The morning and early afternoon was spent by a fire with some hot dogs, smores and blueberry mojitos. Eventually we had to come back to the city, but we ended up meeting them all at the Alibi for - wait for it - more karaoke later that night. Julie is so excited that Portland is huge into karaoke. Not really, but I am!
We had our first Whole Foods trip yesterday, and it’s two blocks from our apartment so we walked on over with our canvas bags. It was actually really fun to look at all of the different local selections they offer there. They didn’t have my usual Intelligentsia coffee and Milk & Honey Granola, so I got some local stuff: Stumptown and Tracy’s Small Batch Granola. Thumbs up to both. I still have yet to try the local bread I bought, but the label won me over, as well as the name: Dave’s Killer “Blues” Bread. My sandwiches better be killer!
(And because you’re all wondering what I sang for karaoke this weekend, I’ve included this list for you: “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Telephone” by Lady Gaga and Beyonce, “Volcano Girls” by Veruca Salt and a duet with Emily to “Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benetar. I’m pretty sure I’ll get a record deal soon. The DJ seemed like he’d have connections.)
In the kitchen where they belong.
We’re here! After 2100 miles across the Midwest, Northwest and Pacific Northwest, we’ve finally arrived. The final two hours in Oregon were beautiful and green with lots of geeking out over waterfalls and Mt. Hood. Now we’re settling into our new place, which is a very nice condo situation that is nestled between an American Apparel and a bistro. It’s right downtown, which I plan to take full advantage of for the two months we live here.
The corporate housing company was very generous in their welcome baskets, but we have to order add-on premium cable so we can watch True Blood tomorrow night. Until then, we’re just setting up the few things we brought with us and preparing to head down to Salem soon to meet Emily and Rachel at their friends’ cabin nearby. Being in the car again isn’t exactly thrilling, but it’s 80 degrees and sunny, and Julie and I have been the only person the other’s talked to face-to-face in a couple of days. We’re lucky we love each other.
