Loving Saturdays' trips

 As a synthetic organic chemist, I spend hours and hours in the lab performing experiments. Another chunk of my time is spent by the computer to analyze the data, writing reports, presentations, networking with other scientists, that may turn out to be my future colaborators and dear life-long friends.

A week has 7 days, but spending them all in work are debilitating (I did this for 2,5 weeks in a row at my first employer, just to see how it feels). I found myself to be less creative and uninventive, working more in a robotic fashion. 

As we speak more openly and more often about the work-life balance, I appreciate having weekends off. I love Saturdays especially. I call it a day for a trip or as I would tell Anetka, our 2 year-old daughter "Ideme na výlet". It is the time, when I can solely spend valuable moments with my daughter. Although, she is still unable to understand things I say, I can sense, she enjoys me talking to her ... and who knows, perhaps she actually gets something from my mixture of Slovak, German and English. We love to explore nature. We love to go to swimming pools in summer, play in parks and sightseeing the airplanes, that are in great numbers as we live not far from Vienna Schwechat airport. 


This past Saturday, we took a quick train trip from Hainburg/Donau to Petronell-Carnuntum. Anetka was so excited to travel in a train. She just could not stay away from the window and it was so hard to exit the train and hike to HaidenTor. Wind was really strong, but that would not stop us from having a great time together. On our way back with Jana, my wife and Michael (babyson) we would stop from Anetka's favourite black currant jouice and raspberries. Anetka deserved it. The time, we spend together as a family, unites us. I do not miss hanging out with friends of old, since I know family is forever, everything else is just temporal. 

I love what I do. I get up every day excited to do science and make progress in my project. Obviously, we do not do this for free - science is mastered by the bravest and most determined individuals. Providing the necessitites of life to my family is a bonus, that allows us to spend time on weekends and holidays as we choose. Time, spent with my wife and children, is special to me. I value it and treasure it. In turn, I am much more able to focus and think out of the box during the workdays 

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