The Decision to Get Andy

This blog, called “Abby and Andy”, has yet to detail much about Andy, so I thought I would fast-forward a couple of years to the spring of 1998. This was the year Andy was born, and the year we brought him into our lives. I had finished my research, wrote my first draft of my thesis, and prepared a seminar for my job interviews and my thesis defense. In my line of work, medicinal chemistry, there are a plethora of jobs in the northeast and in California but not so much in NC. NC used to have more notable pharmaceutical research in Research Triangle Park (RTP) such as at Burroughs-Wellcome, Glaxo and Sphinx. Glaxo bought Burroughs-Wellcome to become Glaxo-Wellcome, subsequently reducing the number of research jobs in the area. There were lay offs as a result of this merger, and from what I heard, it wasn’t pretty. Sphinx was a rising star in the industry, was bought out by Eli Lilly and eventually, the RTP site was closed down.

I wasn’t sure about my chances of obtaining a job at Glaxo-Wellcome (GW) because some people who were in the same research group as me in grad school who had similar credentials were categorically turned down when they applied to GW. One guy did make it through and was offered a job, but he had to have some major inside connections to pull him through. He was able to have a former VP at BW write him a letter of recommendation.

At the time I was looking for work, Sphinx had been purchased by Lilly but their site was thriving and expanding at RTP. Still, I was a little hesitant about applying there because I had heard some not so nice stories about the place. I had also decided against applying to GW. I didn’t like my chances there so I set up a five year plan to improve my resume and in a few years, submit my resume to GW.

I sent out my resumes to several places in the northeast and California. This meant I would be leaving NC before the year’s end, which I did. I accepted a position at a company in central NJ, Hoechst-Marion-Roussel.

Anticipating my departure, my mom wanted to buy another dog, definitely a lab and preferably a yellow one. My aunt, upon hearing my mom’s decision to get another dog, commented “Why don’t you just name him ‘Gary’?” Of course she was joking around but there was some truth to the comment. When Princess left us, Father came into our lives. When my mom’s mom died, we bought Abby. Now that I was leaving, a replacement was needed for me. This time, not only would I not object to my mom having another dog, but I would be the one who drove down to the breeder and pick out the puppy, all by myself. I figured my mom would be happy with a puppy, and that Abby could use a companion to help fill an inevitable void in her life.

The only question was, do we get a boy or a girl? I worried that a male dog’s presence would be an affront to Father. Father was highly territorial, knew how to fight and would readily scrap if confronted. If we had a girl, it might usurp Abby’s status as the Queen. I decided to get a boy. I loved Father, but I wasn’t above playing favorites. There would be issues for Father with a male brought into the home. Dealing with those two jockeying for dominance was difficult but manageable.

More details about Andy’s arrival will follow in the next entry.