New city, new job

Hi everyone! Adrian here.

I haven't posted in a long long time. Pretty much whatever is going on in Claire's world is the same as my world, they are both inextricably linked. Except for this week, where I have started my new job up in Auckland while Claire has had her last week in Lower Hutt. I have missed her, but we will be reunited tomorrow.

About a month ago I submitted my PhD thesis (I will remember, remember the 5th of November!). That was such a great feeling, and was kind of the end of a large chapter of my life in that since I was 5 years old I have been at school or some educational institution. To be fair, even before I was 5 I was most likely also at a kindergarten of some kind. Now in my 28th year of existence it seems I have enough skill to do electronics research and write a 190+ page thesis on it. I'm not quite an astronaut or an All Black, but I certainly can't complain.

Whilst writing my thesis (from June to November) we were also on the hunt for a job. Claire was a super awesome help with this - both searching for job advertisements and helping me write cover letters. One of these was found through the New Zealand Defence Force website advertising for a Research Scientist. I applied, was flown up to Auckland for an interview, and I obviously impressed them so much that I was offered the job. So that's where I am now, a Research Scientist in the Electro-optics and Countermeasures group at the Defence Technology Agency.

The biggest change has been the move from Lower Hutt up to Auckland. The DTA is based in the Devonport Naval Base, and we've managed to find a new rental house in Devonport. Claire, my super awesome and supportive wife and best friend, has had to leave her job at IRL and will be looking for something new in Auckland. Maybe not straight away though - she deserves a holiday.

What is Electro-optics and Countermeasures? Basically, our group do research into guided missiles and how we can foil them. It's definitely a very interesting area to be working in!