I HOPE those grooves are makeup, because that is one heinously awful picture. Damn.

So I'm looking at job openings at various places. And of course, no pharma company is in the DOWNTOWN of any place. But other than DC, I have no earthly idea how uncool the suburb would be, or how much of a pain it would be to commute from some place cooler...I mean, here in DC, they're all up north of the city, but some are farther (Germantown) than others (Bethesda, which is actually a pretty cool place), and my commute from the city to the burbs isn't so bad. But like, Woburn? I know Cambridge is cool. Irvine, clearly not. South San Francisco? Lake Oswego (wait, I KNOW that's cool, Cass lives there!)

Edit: Note to certain company: if I can't load your website, I start to wonder how long you'll be in business...this is a volatile industry...

she's playing a mom.

Better more than just a mom. Like, a harried mother of a serial killer who's on the run.

Either the mother or the killer can be running.

meara, I can tell you that if you're working in Jersey, most NYC-ish places you'd want to live would be a huge PITA commute, but there are apparely places for The Young People to live in New Jersey. I hear. My friend who works for some pharma company only had a decent commute from NYC when he lived in the West Village, right by the tunnel, but it's pricey.

Yeah, I'm kinda ruling out New Jersey, because I think I'd just be bitter to be living NEAR New York, and having to pay New York prices, but not having the cool bits *right there*.

Good luck on the job hunting, meara! Unfortunately, I don't nothing about no pharma companies, especially not in DC.

I meant to post my exercise update, since I finally got my ass into the center for the first time in two months. I was still able to swim a mile, but it did take me almost 90 minutes instead of the 70 I was down to before I went on exercise-vacation.

I'm going back tomorrow afternoon to break in my new swimsuit that I just realized is three sizes smaller than the first one I got back in February, not two!

Yeah, I'm kinda ruling out New Jersey, because I think I'd just be bitter to be living NEAR New York, and having to pay New York prices, but not having the cool bits *right there*.

I dunno. I work with some people who live in Jersey. It's pretty accessible via PATH but YMMV. It's also not NY prices, and the taxes are enviously low. (I'd get a 12% raise just by moving!)

OTOH, a friend (in no way related to work) works at Merck and is trying to get out. Says it's not happy there.

What about the research triangle?

Yeah, I have a good friend who lives in Hoboken. Twenty minutes on the train to Manhattan, and much cheaper. She seems to like it, but I don't know more than that.

I used to live in Hoboken, right by the City, and then reverse-commute to interior NJ. It's doable.

Heh. You'd think y'all wanted me to move to New York! :) I'll keep that in mind. I know here in DC, it's a lot harder to reverse-commute by public transport--sure, if you're on the lines, there are trains, but they run less often, or the connecting busses do, or whatever.

Ain't nothing cheaper than Philly. At least, not in a northeastern city. And it's decent enough, AND close to both DC and NYC!