During a recent visit to my doctor, who happens to be an affiliate of Stanford, we talked about the life in general and the rising living cost in the region. I found him concerned about the pay scale of the postdocs that universities including Stanford have been offering. His personal view was that maybe this high living cost is hurting Stanford because some potential postdocs and faculty choose not to join it for that very reason. Last week, I met a friend of mine who was in the Bay Area for a job interview for a tenure track position in one of the three powerhouses in the region and again it turns out that one of his major concerns about moving to the Bay Area was the cost of housing. As a postdoc, I try not to think about the expensive housing in the area and hope everyone who Stanford offers to join could accept the offer and move in. I wonder if it has become one of the factors in decision making by likely postdocs and faculties.

We wish the living cost in the Bay Area was a little lower and affordable.

Adios

We invited my parents to visit us from Nepal. It was their first time visiting the US and it was a wonderful time spending together for three generations of us. They enjoyed our stay in Palo Alto during the great bright summer days. I enjoy driving. We drove south to San Diego and north to Portland and Seattle. The drive along very scenic California highway 1 was just amazing while going to south. We had a great time in Universal Studios, Hollywood, LA and the Sea World in San Diego. Our trip to the Disneyland during this winter break was once in a life time experience. I never saw as many people in my life in one place that were gathered in Disneyland. It was a very special experience to be part of the celebration of the holidays. I hope these pictures will reflect some beautiful scenes that we had enjoyed.

Looking forward to the year 2008, I do not see any better in terms of time pressure, the deadlines and living a life of a "postdoc". I will be updating the events in my life here more frequently which is one of my New Year’s resolutions!

I wish a very Happy New Year 2008 to you all. May peace, joy, prosperity, and success be yours.

I had an opportunity to spend some time with Dr. Benkovic while taking him out to lunch when he was invited to give a talk at Miami University. During the lunch, I asked him about the secret of being able to be active in research with such an amazing vigor. He responded saying that for him the research never felt like some work, rather he felt as if he is a small kid in a room full of toys.

About a year later, I was sitting in the meeting room in the Clark Center where Dr. Benkovic was presenting his work on T4 DNA replisome. The room was full of Stanford University veterans, junior faculty, and students. It was one of the lifetime experiences when I saw Dr. Benkovic appreciating Stanford University researchers for convincing him to make some changes in his research and a gift of E. coli at the end of his sabbatical at Stanford in early 1980s. Nobel laureate Dr. Arther Kornberg was the one who said Dr. Benkovic was probably the best person to start the research on the replisome assembly.

As a junior postdoc it was wonderful to watch demonstration of such respect and appreciation from such revered names in the field to each other.

I do not know how many of us take research the way Dr. Benkovic does. For now, I have to end this entry as I have to go back and play with my toys in the lab.