I have recently accepted a really good job offer from one of the oldest and best materials labs in San Francisco, Smith Emery. This is a really good step for me, and have wanted to live and work in San Fran since I was a teenager. This really couldn’t come at a better moment, since my current company CTE was refusing to get me much needed help in the lab, and they were coming up soft on delivering on the pay they promised me to get me to move from Hawai’i. The lab they run is awesome. They have all the equipment, trained personnel, and their cylinder cure room is as large as my entire lab. I got to meet some of the people who work there on my interview visit, and they seem like a real team, which is going to be a wonderful change from my current situation of working in a cohort of rivals. I am going to have quite a commute for the first few months, 77 miles each way. That is until we move closer to the bay area. It seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a job, but this company has a great reputation, and they package they offered me was nearly double what I have now. they also have an office in Shanghai, and that would be an awesome work trip. I am going to have to be a bit more frugal, and more scheduled with my time, but I can’t get over the feeling that this is really going to be a great experience for me. This makes me feel like leaving Hawai’i was worth it.