But it has not yet oogled back. Yet. (insistent stare) Yet.
I met a Google-friend of a Google-friend for a Google-lunch, who was no doubt Google-humoring our mutual friend. For once, I’m not just being self-loathing. To sum it up: a) the Fremont office isn’t hiring; and b) I’m not technically proficient enough to meet Google’s tech writing need… in any office, probably. This was not an interview, merely an info-gathering session, so the lack of pressure made asking questions easy. What I took away from this: a) a few programming classes would do me a lot of good; b) I should learn, live, and love as many Google apps as humanly possible; and c) it’s time to revert my nice ‘n squishy, communication-oriented resume into the uber-direct software-smack it was before.
But enough about me. No doubt, if you’re still reading this, you want to know what the office is like. Concubines in the conference rooms? Chocolate fountains by the restrooms? A chimpanzee for every employee?
No, but almost as good.
The Fremont office is right by the Fremont bridge in downtown Fremont, so the commute (once I found the right bus) was a sinch. The cafeteria overlooks a trail that goes from Woodinville to Ballard and runs along Lake Union. It’s not shit-yourself-scenic, but it’s pretty nice. The food in the cafeteria is as good as what you’d find in any restaurant. The Greek-inspired choices topped most of what you’d find at Microsoft, and everything was free. The game room is like a small Dave and Busters. The office setup is open-air cubes (meh). And everyone there was really nice.
I was surprised to find the women’s bathroom fully stocked with hair and skin products, but best of all, a Chi iron. This hair-straightening tool runs for $150 to $200. Must be nice to work in an environment where everyone makes enough money not to be tempted to steal. (Not that I’ve had any experiences with theft at MSFT, but I wouldn’t leave my shit lying around for the degenerates outside my group to take.)
My taste of the good life was delicious indeed, but worth a semester-long programming class at the local community college? We’ll see…