Scientists working in US industry, pluses and minuses

 The main plus to work in US industry is of course  the very high pay. Also, if you joined the company early enough, stock options may make you rich. 

The downside is,  US companies need scientists for a not very long period of time,  only  until the product is made and further  improvements, upgrades, etc are still needed.  This sometimes requires a very deep and specialized expertise and US industry is happy to find the right people  and to pay them well.  However, when it is done, this is the end of it; the product is passed to completely different people.

It does not necessarily mean that you will be immediately laid off; in fact you can/may stay with the company for a while,  in particular if the company is still profitable. However, your career growth stops and people gradually forget you. The new generation comes in and is going to replace you- either because the company focuses now on other things in which you do not have an expertise, or the research is stopped completely; what is left is the optimization, material sourcing , logistics  aka 'supply chain activities'.

The challenge to an industry PhD  is to constantly change and adapt, which is sometimes hard to do.

Another bike ride today

 41.6 miles,  3hrs 40 min; this translates to moving speed  of 11.34 miles/hour. The gear switcher broke and I had to ride a two-gear bike on the way back.  My little device showed 11.7 miles/hour, perhaps it accounted for more stops  I made as it measures moving average, excluding the stops. Perhaps the fact that the gear switcher broke increased my speed. I have been  very slow recently.

Another dream

 Russian Academy of Sciences is closing down. My institute is closing down as well; we were told to pack all our things and put them on storage. The building needs to be vacated. So, we are packing boxes full of papers and chemistry samples. The next thing I remember we are on a train, with open windows, with all these boxes, and the train is going through endless and confusing sequences of  train tracks, sometimes through very narrow passages between buildings. An industrial landscape everywhere. Finally, the train stops  inside  some kind of a depot, and I unload my boxes. The depot looks like a smaller version of a research institution, but there is not much room and no windows, however everything looks very neat and clean. I am greeted by the manager, who is a latino (or perhaps middle-eastern), in his early fifties. He is very polite. He says that my materials will be stored for 20 to 30 years. He also shows some familiarity with my work, as he is trying to ask questions related to my research. The questions are nice, but somewhat simplistic;  he acts as a  community college graduate wanting to excel and perhaps to look smarter than he actually  is.  I start to wander in this depot; many rooms, there are some computers here and there,  but no windows and very low ceilings.  The dreams ends there.

Before this dream I had multiple other dreams about my institute being closed down. It seems to be a recurring theme.