Up T'Smoke. 5. Stanford.
The flight to California was long, 11 h with United, even in Business Class it was tiring and I slept a lot.
My contact with the pharmaceutical group was one of the CEOs, Mervyn Toschak, who I had met with Alastair McKenzie my Ph.D. supervisor. He told me that both he and Alastair would be at the airport to meet me. Although they had found a rental unit for me, I was to stay with Jane and Alastair for a few days to find my feet.
In fact, I recovered quite quickly perhaps because of the sleep on the flight. Although Jane and Alastair had been in the US for over a month they had been here for Alastairs' postdoc and knew the system well. So I had breakfast with them and we set off in the Toyota for a look around the Stanford campus.
What a magnificent campus! The expansive grounds, the architecture, and the general ambience of the university were astounding. I had seen some pictures but nothing compared to reality. I was particularly impressed by the six bronzes by Rodin of 'The Burghers of Calais' in the main quadrangle.
I was to be part of this.
We drove to the Medical School and met with Mervyn. From there we walked for about ten minutes towards the business area where we came upon a low circular building which was to be my working home. Inside were workmen installing benches, lighting, equipment and the many facilities we had discussed in London some two months earlier. I was shown my office-to-be along with three others: one for an admin assistant, one for a general office and a fourth for who-knows-what.
The Pharma group had suggested the size of my group and Alastair and Mervyn were to help with staff selection. All positions were to be run through the Cell Biology group at the Medical School, along with my position of Research Assistant Professor.
We went for an early lunch at a nearby taco place, very relaxed and in good spirits. I had many questions about all aspects of the organization even though we had discussed many of these subjects earlier in London. Three months of thinking about the future will do that. Mervyn was patient with me and Alastair promised to explain other points. But I had several questions that neither could answer at that time, all dutifully noted in my longhand scribble.
After four hours I was beginning to show the effects of the previous day's travel and we finished for the day, promising to meet up again in two days. The next day Alastair drove me to my apartment, ten minutes from the campus: a mirror image of the one in London and also owned by the Pharma group. It was mine as long as I wanted it and rent free. I found out that it was worth about $3000 a month! Prices near the campus were about the same as central London.
I mentioned all this goodwill to Alastair later that evening. He replied that already our -- my - patents had made the group far more than I could imagine.
"If you can produce one patent every two years they will still owe you money," Alastair stated. "What's more, your area is unlimited. Whatever you want to work on, if they can't use it they will license it to someone who can, and still make money!"
"It's like being paid, well, to have a hobby" I thought.
It took longer than I thought to get the group up and running. We had
hired Dr Sharon Mitchell from the Cell Biology group as my research associate to run the day-to-day science questions: my number-one person. We immediately found we could work well together. She was married, I guess around fifty years old with two university aged children, not much younger than me. She suggested Mary Quigley as office manager and general factotum, from the same department. They worked so well together they could finish each other's sentences.
Those two hired the three lab assistants while I sat in on the interviews.
The work started off slowly. I had to be much more organized than I had been in the past. I also had to recognize that not only did I work much faster than most in the lab, but that I would change my experimental protocol as I could see something was not working. Sharon very gently pointed this out to me.
So for a long time I would do preliminary work at odd times, then write a detailed protocol for the three technicians to repeat, confirm and sometimes modify.
During this period I had monthly visits from Spokane. Fiona would fly either to San Jose or SFO: equally accessible from Palo Alto. She could leave the hospital at 4 pm and be with me by 8. So every second weekend either she visited me or I visited her: a very comfortable arrangement. She had a copy of my key and I had one of hers. I think there was a little envy of my position and perks but she was smart enough not to mention anything. And the enthusiasm for Stanford and the local amenities was obvious.
While I was waiting for my Morgan to be made and delivered I bought an old (1995) Acura Legend for exploring my surroundings and the coast. It had 140,000 miles on the clock but I was assured it was in good shape and the price was a steal. Fiona and I explored the near coastline extensively, from Pacifica to Santa Cruz. I guess my favourite turned out to be Half Moon Bay, and their Fish and Chips down by the wharf. But we also went up the 280 and across the Golden Gate to Napa and Sonoma. Wonderful weekends, lovely food and good company. What more could man ask for?
Of course it came tumbling down, almost a year after we arrived. It was for me yet another magical weekend. We had been up to Healdsberg in the Sonoma valley where they brew the tasty Pliny The Elder IPA. Yum. Fiona had a meeting the next morning so we headed back to SFO airport on Sunday with time to catch a seven o'clock plane. As we got close to San Bruno Fiona decided to drop the bomb.
"Petey, I don't know how to tell you this, but last night was our last night together. I've met a man, he's a widower, a bit older than me, and we are going to get married, soon." She bit her lip as she looked at me.
A flood of emotions hit me: I didn't know whether to be angry, sad, or jocular. I said nothing for a while then chose my words carefully.
"Well Fee, you always said this was a 'friends-with-benefits' arrangement, but I always hoped we could make a go of it. I suppose I got too involved even though you constantly reminded me not to."
"I wish you well and my congratulations on your nuptuals. He is a lucky man!" I would suck it up now and break some crockery later!
I dropped her at SFO and we had a hug, no kiss. She turned and walked into the terminal and I drove back to the flat. I felt like such a loser! I put her apartment key in the mail and she returned mine.
I buried myself in work. Good organization, a great team, and the results came in, first in bits then a gusher. I was up to my eyes in data but Sharon and Mary kept me sane. They must have noticed my change in demeanor: as they say, dead men look happier, but nobody mentioned it.
