Our First Home

In what must be record time, we managed to select a house we both liked and have our offer for it accepted. We saw 15 houses in total, over 2 days and made our selection the same weekend.  We were fortunate enough to find a somewhat eager seller who we feel gave us a great price on our first home.  I think I may have come to terms more quickly with having a relatively large debt hanging over us than Leah may have.  We made the decision and I was ready to sign away; but (somewhat adorably) my wife phoned home for parental reassurance ;) I'm not certain if either I couldn't (and still haven't) processed the enormity of our decision or if I just take the debt business less serious. But in the end we both felt we made a great choice and hope everything goes smooth from here on in.

If everything goes according to plan we will be moving into our first house June 3.  We have done the house shopping, signed an agreement, got the bank's approval, and contacted a lawyer. We only lack the inspection Tuesday and the arrival of the closing date.  

The house is in the very back of a quite subdivision with a kitchen setup (among other things) that sold Leah and a backyard that sold me (pictured below).  I can't wait to be as loud as I want at whatever hour I want.  We have been married almost 6 years now and have not once lived in a location where we didn't share at least 1 wall.  Halo will be blasted, in addition to Psych and Battlestar Galactica being  watched at inappropriately loud volumes.  I can't wait to climb up on top of my roof one day to inspect things as if I somehow have a clue about what I am doing.

Here is a picture of the front.

Here is a picture of what has me excited.

France

Not surprisingly, Leah and I went to France several times since we were living so close.  What is surprising is how agreeable we found the country.  (Disclaimer: I cannot speak for Paris.  I have heard a lot of negative things from people I trust on this issue who have told me the rest of France isn't like Paris.)  What  I can speak for is Evian-les-Bain.  We have been there multiple times.  It is only about a 30 minute ferry ride across lake Geneva from Lausanne.  It is a bit of a tourist town with many seasonal shops but we still enjoy it.  Though this may come as blasphemy to many of my friends especially those from the midwest, Evian reminds me of the US.

One of the restaurants we like has random goofy stuff on the wall including a license plate from each of the 50 US states.  The food in general has terrific flavor, or at least flavors I am used to from the US...and something we could learn from is having an ice cream stop on almost every corner.  And to add to our enjoyment, apparently the French have found a way to keep the cost of living low.  A reasonable plate is about 15 euros which is nice compared to the 30 francs I expect to pay in Switzerland. (20 dollars vs 33 dollars)  While I haven't forgot the delicious items for sale at Texas Roadhouse or Outback for 20$ and below, Evian is provided us with delightful food affordably to hold us over.

Really the point of all of this is to say, contrary to the stereotype I had painted for me long ago in the US,  France seems to be a reasonable place.

Its across the lake in the background:

St. Patrick's Day 2013

Leah and I decided to take a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia for St. Patrick's Day after reading on CNN that they were rated to have the 4th best celebration in the U.S.  They did not disappoint.

The majority of the people commuting in are funneled to a large parking area across the Savannah river and ferried across to River Street for the celebration.  The number of wild men and women descending on Savannah for this two day celebration is incalculable. We went early and stayed through about 2-3 p.m. after receiving our proper sunburns, seeing part of an incredibly long parade (5 hours !), and enjoying some good food and beverages.  Then it took us about 2 hours or more to get back across as the night shift moved in.  Mostly likely the highlight of the trip was witnessing a not so big girl who had clearly been at the sauce for quite a while punish a huge (2 pounds, literally) turkey leg while sitting on a curb, gripping the bone barbaric style and ripping the flesh apart with her teeth with chunks falling to her legs which didn't get swept away on any timescale I could witness as I waited next to her in line.  If only we had a picture. This is not something which will be forgotten.  The trip was several weeks ago and it gets discussed daily in our home.

After making it back to our car we took a brief tour of Savannah seeing their famous spanish moss covered oak tree lined road at Wormsloe and Bonaventure cemetery. We enjoyed the city which had a lot of character and excellent place to eat.  We hope to make it back at a time when the crowds are not so large and enjoy a normal experience there.

Position Accepted

It has been a while since my last post on here. Since the last entry, I have switched continents (and by default countries as well).  Maybe I'll fill in some of our experiences from this 8 month gap, but for this entry I'm going to focus on our big piece of news.

We have accepted an assistant professor position at the University of Mississippi starting this July.  Thankfully, the interviewing for positions went well for us and we had a few options of places to go.  After ample deliberation about where we wanted to be, we are excited to be moving to Oxford, Mississippi soon. We are both very excited about this opportunity and planting our feet for a while.

University of Mississippi Logo

We have been looking at houses recently, which I find both exciting and somewhat intimidating. (That is a lot of debt the banks are willing to hand over!) We will being going to Mississippi this weekend to look at some of the houses on our list of around 25 or so. All of these are potentially places to settle down at and begin raising a family.  Finally, living the dream :)  I am ready for the white picket fence and my 2.4 kids...or whatever it is now.

In the mean time, Leah has helped me get a website together for my group.  You can check it out at www.delcampgroup.com.  I am ready to get this group going !  I have been very fortunate to already have two members agree to join me and begin research in July. The process of gaining group members moves a lot slower for many people; so I am counting my blessings toward getting a jump start with regard to the career.  Everyone from the chemistry department has been incredibly supportive and kind to us during this process.

Leah will be opening a full time photography studio once we move.  She has been gearing up her website www.behindalens.com and watching countless courses on starting personal business in photography.  I'm excited she finally gets the opportunity to move forward with her career goals which she has near had to completely suspend while we were in Switzerland and then temporarily here in Atlanta.

In short we're moving to the south, buying rocking chairs for the front porch and I am going to punish the sweet tea like it is nobody's business.

The square at Oxford, Mississippi

The Ole Miss Campus

All Systems are Go

A few days ago, I a had an article published in Angewandte Chemie (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201205007) which I am exceptionally proud of.  ACIE is a great journal, and it comes at a time when I am just beginning to submit applications which is rather convenient. It will no doubt aid in the job hiring process. Aside form that, this article is a completely original idea carried from a simple paper drawing into a useful, much better understood molecule series.  I was able to learn a ton from this experience with regard to how to carry a project from dirt to prosperity. I learned several new techniques, developed a personal strategy for how to do this, and in my own opinion demonstrated that chemistry does not need to be reduced to a purely applied science in the field of solar energy.   I was skeptical of this last point not long ago since the majority of articles in the solar cell field focus on physics with the chemistry as a means to get there.  I had even gone so far as write several proposals outside of the solar energy field since when you yield to becoming an applied science your prosperity is much closer tied to commercialization and the success of materials scientist.  Keeping the chemistry aspect to a much more fundamental physical organic chemistry aspect is where I want to be, since I suspect it should allow for a much more sustainable research group. Of course it is beneficial to have a variety of applications upon finishing a project, but I think it is troublesome to be dictated by these applications since your success and failure is directly tied to things like China using tax dollars to sell solar cells at a substantial loss for the last 3-5 years to attempt to drive all other competitors out of the market to set up a monopoly.   Which appears to be a working strategy considering companies crazy enough to try to compete against the Chinese tax on 1 billion people end up in big trouble *cough* Solyndra *cough*. And they are not the first, and will not be the last.

Overall, I am ready to get on with my own group doing some good research which is fundamentally interesting.  I've been in the academic circuit now for near 12 years and it is finally time to see if my efforts this far will be rewarded with the professorship position I have been focused on. I'm optimistic given that there are more than 20 position listing so far this year for what I do.  So I guess providing I am in the top 20 applicants, Leah and I should have somewhere to go. Just for fun I made a map with all the listing locations marked that I am applying to.

Closing Down My POS Time

I am literally elated to be able to mark down than my time in Switzerland is near complete.  Our debts are paid, Leah has already been securely relocated to the US with our two cats, and the plane ticket has been booked.  I feel as though I have walked through tremendous, heavy darkness with dangers at every step, but now a tiny glimmer of sunrise is visible.  I have been closing down work, writing applications for professorships in the US, and primarily finishing out our lease on this apartment that is affectionately referred to as my 'house arrest chamber'.  I am confident I have felt nearly every emotion possible with it being three months since I have been able to physically see my wife.  Recently, my sister began referring to my stay here as POS, which is much like being a POW only with 'war' replaced by 'switzerland'.  I have been keeping a short mental list of interesting things said to me since I have been forced to temporarily separate from Leah. All of them made me laugh maniacally.

1) "You are looking more like a crazy homeless man everyday." - Simon
2) "Are you going to make it?" - Numerous People
3) "It is like you are on house arrest." - Leah
4) "You can't leave. It is not allowed." - My apartment lawyer (you read that right, lawyer) referring to me after I payed off my lease completely, wanting to turn the keys in early, after forfeiting the rent.
5) "You could stay here longer and maybe even get a permanent position at the EPFL." - One of my bosses.
6) "Why is it you are here again?" - Me to myself

Anyway, I am leaving the place of cat hunting and horse meat eating soon. Note the stipulation: The cat must be more than 200 yards from their home.  We kept a close watch on ours.

Fortunate Career Stuff

Recently, I was notified that my application for National Science Fondation funding had been approved based on a project I had proposed to work on in Switzerland.  For those outside science, these awards are tremendously useful for my resumé (CV) as a post-doc seeking an academic position this fall.  They are an indicator that I will be able to successfully apply for funding in the future, which is a necessity to support an active research group.  Given the importance of maintaining a well funded lab, these types of additions to my CV are noted and should help boost me up some during the interview season this fall.

The funding is clearly limited as it is supplied by tax payer dollars...which we all know are in high demand for many programs in the the US.  For me personally, I am just thankful to have such a great confidence boost just before I take the final step into becoming a professor.  I feel this really was the missing link for me, since throughout my career, limited opportunities to secure research funding have been presented.  I am very thankful to have been selected based on an application/proposal I completely wrote from start to finish, which had no outside input or corrections.  

Again with the confidence boosting. ;)  I am not trying to blow my own horn.  I am just relaying my excitement and sense of accomplishment :)

Thanksfor the award !