Shuttling between real life and a Dilbert cartoon

There was a heavy rainstorm in the middle of the night last night and I loved it. I think it's a primal comfort to lay in a warm bed while the elements outside have their way. And because the houseboat walls aren't really insulated, it sounded like I was inside a tent. A bonus in my opinion.

When the rain stopped and I went outside this morning, the air was cold and smelled amazingly clean. It was hard not to feel happy with this amazingly beautiful weather. At work today, several co-workers commented on how beautiful it was outside.

In the midst of a gorgeous Seattle day, there were meetings with some representatives from the 'transition' team at Bristol Myers Squibb. They had scheduled two days for a representative from BMS to meet face-to-face with every single member of the Zymogenetics scientific staff. You could tell that a lot of people wore their nice shirts and slacks for the occasion. We cared enough to try to make a decent impression. However, in the end my face-to-face meeting with the BMS manager was less than 5 minutes long and consisted of him reading me the company script. It was devoid of any real content or warmth. Comparing notes, most of my co-workers had the same experience. The entire scenario was a lot like a Dilbert comic-- or a scene from the movie 'Up In the Air'.

Coming home tonight, I was greeted with brisk Autumn air and a starless dark sky. Now *this* feels real, and everything in those office walls is man-made.

The end of Zymogenetics

The reason why I am on a houseboat right now is because at the beginning of last month Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) announced that they were going to purchase Zymogenetics, the company that I worked for. I was in the middle of buying a house at the time. Not knowing what would happen to my job or if I might relocate, I withdrew my offer. This left me looking for housing.

The idea of a houseboat first came to mind when I looked on a Seattle apartment rental site and saw a link to several available houseboats. The idea clicked. The rental period coincides with the purchase and transition period at the company. I thought that I would embrace this change with a sense of adventure.

What I'm finding is that during this month of transition and instability, I am ungrounded in every way.

We got an all company e-mail this morning informing us that BMS now effectively owns Zymogenetics. The atmosphere at work leading up to this acquisition has been difficult. There has been daily speculation about what BMS plans to do to the Seattle site, what will happen to our jobs, what will happen to our projects, and just plain what will happen. Unfortunately, today's announcement did not provide any more information about their plans.

All I know is that Zymogenetics is no more and even the calming nature of on-water living isn't washing away the sorrow of another Seattle biotech company gone.