Life in the Windy City

What a difference a few weeks make! Regular readers of this site may remember that the small pharma company I've worked for the last couple of years was purchased by a big pharma company in December 2006. On February 28 of this year, I was informed that I was being retained by the new company. Happy ending, right? Well, not exactly. As part of the transition, I have to be trained on the 2 new products I'm picking up, so I'm stuck in Chicago for 3 straight weeks. In contrast, if I had not been retained, my severance would have provided me almost a year's salary and health benefits, plus my bonus and unemployment compensation. Sort of an all-expenses-paid 12-month vacation.

So, here I am in the Windy City at a renovated hotel near O'Hare Airport. Unfortunately, the hotel's redo is not quite complete, so many of the amenities of the hotel, like sports bars, restaurants, and gift shop, aren't open. The places that are open have prices like Beverly Hills without the plastic surgeons and implants!

The new company seems to be a little suspect of it's newest employees, which isn't surprising since our products were direct competitors and we hated their guts. They don't provide bottled water during our breaks (too expensive), the breakfasts and lunches they provide are weird perversions of normal food, and we never get a straight answer to our questions. All in all, it's, "Welcome back to Big Pharma".

The worst part is being away from family. You get to a certain point in your life where time with loved ones is more precious than a few extra bucks and a title. Many times a day, I get the almost overwhelming urge to jump the next plane to St. Louis and chuck the whole thing. With only one week completed, I'm sure I'll be getting that feeling a lot in the next couple weeks.

The great thing is that I do get to fly home for the weekend on Friday, God willing and the creek don't rise.

Still, it's not something I should really complain about. Lots of people get separated from their families and end up getting stuck in a war zone, so my complaints are really pretty minor. Still, after spending some time here on Bryn Mawr Avenue, I can appreciate why the Cubs suck. They're from Chicago!
GO CARDS!!!