Catching up

The past couple weekends I have spent around Dublin. I am finally completely settled into my new apartment and am very happy with everything. It is really nice having the extra space and a big kitchen to cook in.

Work has been really busy because we have been having all of the brand review meetings so all of the people important to the business have been in town. We also announced the close of the Solvay aquisition which is exciting because 120 of their products fall into the MBO (division where I work) business model. Todd Chermak (the person sponsoring my position and the reason I am in Dublin) also visited recently. It was good to have him visit and our group went out to dinner in Malahide. I also was able to go out to dinner with a woman who is a commercial director in charge of $1.5 billion in product. She tried to convince me that Regulatory was busy and I really needed to get into marketing/commercial. I tried to convince her that she needed to give me job- so we'll see how that plays out. I have been able to have some really incredible experiences at this job so far interacting with people who make MBO a successful $4 billion a year business. I finished my first milestone last week and am getting involved with introducing a new drug product into 8 new markets in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Driving is getting a lot easier and I don't get lost nearly as much which is a definite plus.

Last weekend I had some fellow PDP visitors. Katie was visiting Ashely in the UK and they caught a cheap Ryanair flight over for the weekend. It was fun to have some visitors and entertain at my apartment. Daliana drove up from Clonmel and decided to play tour guide all weekend. We took them around to all of the Dublin highlights and had a Guinness or two.


I want to say congratulations to Stephanie and Craig for welcoming my first niece into the world today. I'm glad everything appears to be going well and that Sam and Eli will have someone new to terrorize. Hopefully she gets her looks from her mother...

Abbey Lorraine Schurter
born 2/21/10
5#, 6 1/2 ounces
17 inches

My Contact information in case anyone wants to send me any wonderful care packages is:
89 Hill of Down, Spencer Dock
North Wall, Dublin 1
Ireland

+353-086-877-0152

Most efficient means for staying in contact with me though is:
djschurter@gmail.com
skype: djschurter21

It is great to be able to chat with people from home to catch up so skype me if you get a chance.

This weekend we are heading to Manchester. I am excited to explore a new city/country. Will post again after the trip.

CF Invite and Immigration

To follow my trip back to the US to become completely legal, I had to register with Garda and Immigration. I spent last Thursday waiting in lines with all of the other aliens hoping to get my Irish equivalent of the "green card." I also had to register to get my Irish PPS number (SSN equiv). I spent from 8 in the morning until 3:45 in the afternoon in transit and waiting in lines in order to get my documentation in order. After all of that I was still unable to open a bank account because I did not have a letter from the PPS office saying I did actually have an address in Dublin and that I am legal to be there. After running a few other errand I ducked in for some craic and a pint of Guinness at a bar that was established in 1108. It had a really interesting atmosphere and there was quite a bustle about it. After arriving to work the next morning, I was informed of a little bit of drama my absence had caused. Only my boss knew that I was going to be gone and he had given me the 'ok' to get sorted. Catching up on his work after having the flu run rampant through his 7 child household he had locked himself in his office all morning. The women who sit around me noticed my out of character absence and kept wondering where I was, asking each other and raising the general level of concern. One of them approached my boss asking him where David was and if he was ok several times and my boss seemingly blew it off. She then asked him to call David because wouldn't he want someone to care if his son was in a foreign country and didn't show up for work. So my boss called David reaching his voicemail and left a pretty sarcastic message asking him if he was ok and to check in with Dina when he got a chance. Turns out the David my boss had called and thought she was referring to is a fifty something Irish doctor who is the medical adviser for several of our products. He was equally confused my my boss was asking him if he was alright. It was very amusing situation and it also lets me know that skipping out on work will not go unnoticed...

Crossfit Ireland also held a competition on Saturday. Although it was small (~25 people) there were crossfits from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Manchester represented. It was a very fun and exciting day.

Workout One
Tabata Mash Up
Deadlift, 100Kg 220lbs
Pull Ups (chest to bar)
8 rounds of each, alternating. 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. total wod time 7 min 50 secondsq
I did 61 deadlifts and 44 pullups finishing second in this event.


Workout Two
As Many Rounds as Possible in 10 Minutes of:
3 Snatches, 40Kg (96 lbs)
6 Toes-to-Bar
9 Calories on the Rower
I completed just over seven rounds and finished second again.

Workout Three
3 Rounds of
1 Minute Max Thrusters, 45Kg 108lbs
1 Minute Max Box Jumps, 24″
1 Minute Max Kettlebell Swings, 24Kg 1.5 pood 53 lbs
1 Minute Rest
I think my third wod I scored like 161.

The third workout came down to me and another guy who is a powerlifter. We were tied for first place going into the final event. Two rounds done in the third event he and I were still tied and I managed to squeak out 4 more reps than him. It was really intense and fun. I ended up winning the competition. It was a good time. I was fortunate with the draw for what the workouts were. 16 of us went out for dinner and then to a couple pubs to celebrate.


Sunday was spent recovering and walking around Dublin. One of my favorite things to do here is to wander around and explore. The city has a lot of different pockets that each have their own unique flavor. There is a bubbly energy you feel walking around. One interesting thing to me about Dublin is that the tallest building is 16 stories I think. Most are less than 5 or 6 so it has a much different feel than most US cities.
-Starbucks everything is the same price number as the US only it is in Euro and not $ so that 5 dollar mocha frappa carmellata is much closer to 7.50$ most of the chains feel a little different but Starbucks looks/ smells/feels exactly the same
-A gallon of gas is ~7.50$
-A lb of lunch meat from the grocery store is ~15$/lb

Our soccer team also won its' first game tonight. Very exciting to get that goose-egg off the board.

Catching up...

So it's been a while since I have updated this. In the past couple weeks I have been really busy including travelling to Chicago for the weekend, moving into a new apartment and our soccer league starting.

Due to immigration reasons, it was necessary for me to leave Ireland, set foot on US soil and then re-enter Ireland after my visa because effective. I was suppose to fly out of Dublin Friday Jan 22 at 10:30am but the flight was delayed for 4 hours due to mechanical problems with the airplane. After sorting everything out, we began the 8.5 hour journey to O'hare. The pilot missed the runway on the first approach and then overshot the gate. We spent 30 mins on the plane because they were unable to open the doors and connect to the terminal. The pilot came on the intercom and asked everyone to take their seats again because they had to get a bulldozer to come and lift the front end of the plane up and manuever it into place. Finally disembarked from the plane and arrived at Avis 5 hours late. I then met up with my friend Laura Pabst from college at her house in Arlington Heights until Dani arrived at ORD at 9:00pm. We stayed at the Marriott on Michigan Avenue on the 40th. It was pretty spectacular. Friday night was uneventful after spending 16 hours traveling and my body screaming at me it was 5am by the time we got checked in and up to the room. Saturday we spent walking around Michigan Ave and downtown and then met up with PDPs for sushi. Saturday night we went to the LaSalle Power company which was overly crowded but fun. Sunday we checked out of the hotel and then met up with my dad as arrived from helping Craig move in Spokane. It was good to see familiar faces and it was the first time in my life I ever felt like Chicago wasn't very expensive. High Irish prices and the exchange rate have changed my perspective on things.

Flying out Sunday night and arriving in Dublin at 8am really threw off my internal clock and most of the next week was spent recovering from the time change shock. Work was incredibly busy finalizing all of our goals for the year and getting the proper approval. I did meet my first milestone so this rotation has been a success so far. I also spent a day with Irish Relocation searching for a new apartment now that I had my visa. We saw 16 apartments in one day. It was very busy. Coincidently the best was saved for last. I am very happy with where I moved and am excited to have visitors. My apartment is in the new financial district of Dublin. It is 2 bedroom, 2 bath, on the 6th floor with an incredible balcony. Great location and incredibly furnished. I moved in last weekend.

I was able to move into my apartment 3 days after viewing it. Things move fast when you have Abbott backing you financially. 47 people had looked at the apartment but the landlord chose me so that was pretty sweet. I moved in last weekend. Daliana was in town because her friend Edu from Barcelona was job hunting. I found a micro brewery pub that I liked a lot. They had a good sampler deal so I was able to try a couple different types of beer. Nice to get some variety from Guinness and Smithwicks.

Our office also started a soccer team. We are of varying ages and skill levels. I am by far the youngest player on our team and also one of the most experienced. Games are played outdoors in hockey style rinks with astroturf and small goals. Games are 5 v 5 and have some slightly different rules than a full field. Loving the irish weather of 35 and misting to play our games in. I was able to pick up some turf shoes for 25€ so I don't break my ankles. So far we are 0-2 but showing signs of brilliance each week.

Some other interesting cultural notes:
-I just did my taxes for last year and was talking about it with my co-workers. Appearently the Irish do not have to file taxes unless they know they overpaid or are self employed. The company you work for takes care of paying your taxes for you. The rate the people I was talking with ended up paying last year was ~48% so that didn't sound too bad. Interest rates for car payments is also a lot higher here.

The next couple days should be interesting for me: I have to go to immigration to get my POS (Irish SSN) and register with the police and I have my first Irish Crossfit competition this week. Both should be exciting and physically/mentally draining. (converting kgs to lbs is confusing enough)

I will try and post some more pictures this weekend after I get internet for my new apartment.