Hello All!
I am back at work today - the University has opened to allow staff to come in and clean up, and assess what needs to be done next to get things back and running in Biology. Students shold be returning Wednesday. There was much damage at the university - the library won't open for the semester, classes must be rescheduled, and research has been put on hold while damage is assessed, equipment replaced, and labs recertified. My work is fine, but some aquarium animals died, the collections are destroted, and things are generally a mess. There is also lots of minor damage in our building that will tke time to fix. And we got off lightly - some buildings had flooding, chemical spills, ad more structural damage.
Our house is fine as we already posted. Kids slept through it, thankfully, although I thik Aya was a bit scared by the news coverage. It was good that we could all be together the last week (especially since poor Trent was so sick!). Aya and Rowan like playing "spot the earthquake damage" as we drive around. Aya calls the aftershocks "half-earthquakes", and Rowan crashes his cars and says "Earthquake!" with glee.
More bad news is that I did not get the job I wanted in Abbotsford. A real shame - it was an awesome position and much closer to family....
It looked quite positive (one member of the hiring committee told me at the time that I was the top candidate), but I think they likely went with a more experienced candidate. So we will keep looking....I would really like it is at least one of us had a permanent job, Trent is less convinced.
Trent is feeling better, and has taken a contract to sew some nets for someone in my lab. A frustrating and fiddly job, but it will give us a bit of money and keep Rowan in nappies.
The kids start back at school tomorrow - we will see how the feel about that after a whole week with both of us at home!
Thanks very much to everyone who emailed their concern. We are fine, and appreciate your good wishes!
S.
