Well, it's official now. I've both signed the offer letter and handed in my resignation (effective April 30). A bit of a banner day. It's certainly sad to be leaving the place I've been working for 8 1/2 years, but at the same time ... it is really coming apart at the seams.
Here's the quick political run-down of what's going on at TIGR. The Institute was founded in 1992 by J. Craig Venter to work on sequencing a microbial genome. In 1995, the sequence of Haemophilus influenzae was published. In 1998, just before I was hired, Craig left TIGR to help start Celera and sequence the human genome. He left TIGR in the care of his wife, Claire Fraser. The Celera business model (at least in regards to the human genome data) went bust in 2002, and Craig 'retired' from Celera and started three new institutes (IBEA, TCAG, and JTC) as sister institutes to TIGR. In 2004, he merged the three institutes into the J. Craig Venter Institute (VI), and tried to merge TIGR as well (at the same time he started divorce proceedings with Claire), but a faculty 'revolt' convinced the board to keep TIGR separate for the time being. In 2006, it was decided, with the blessings of Craig, Claire and none of the TIGR faculty, that TIGR should be merged into the VI. This prompted much groaning from the faculty, including, surprisingly, Claire, who decided to leave the VI to start a new genomics institute at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (where her new husband works.) Many former-TIGR faculty are looking to go with Claire. This is leading to many employees having very unsettled feelings about their jobs. Like I said above, the place I work is coming apart at the seams.
So, while it is convenient that I am leaving at this point, this situation is not why I'm leaving. I've been in negotiations for this position for over a year (before the merger); it's just fickle fate that led to my official offer coinciding with the announcement of the split.
Meanwhile, back at home, Sweetie has started painting the bathroom cabinets, and I continue to struggle with the disposal. I just need one more part now. I'll try to get to it tomorrow. I've also started preparations to (not) sell some toys and cameras on Ebay.
We really need to solidify our moving/vacation schedule now. Among a million other things I need to get done before we move. Sigh.
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Imagine my surprise when I found that if you search "TIGR Venter" in the Technorati search engine, this humdrum, er, humble blog is the top hit.
Hmm. So I may be getting some visitors who are looking for info on that situation rather than my own personal drama. To them I say that while there is some bias in my description (I did work for TIGR for 8 1/2 years), and some salacious details, the post is not a manifesto in support or indictment of the merge. As far as I know, all the information is true, and the fallout has affected the morale of many of the TIGR staff.
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