Hi Ho Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go

No more induction for me today - it was straight to work. There was a massive pile up on the freeway this morning (Eng Trans: a large accident on the motorway) so there weren't many people in the office until about 11am. So I had 2 hours in which to stuff my face with bagels and get properly set up on my shiny new computer. Actually got stuck into work and meetings today. All good. Definitely think I can make a big difference here, so my initial fears are fading fast. Hurrah!
On to the stuff I can tell you about!! Went out and about with my camera today, surreptitiously taking photos - not cos you aren't allowed to, but because I don't want to look too much like a desperate fanboy. So here is my photo diary of my day....
This is the building that the rest of the team I'm on are based - Building 44

As you can see it's a shrine to all things Android. With the orange glow of my thumb in the bottom right corner.... My new friends all live outside the front of the building. Here are some more of them....

They greet me every morning as I stumble from the GBus into the happy shiny world of Google. I haven't started saying hello to them yet. Give me time....

I am working on the first floor. Only over here, just to confuse me, the ground floor is the first floor and the first floor is the second floor. But I'm not going to cause a scene about it.... The first floor is even more of a shrine to the mighty Android 

The white pod chairs are for you to sit in an either chillax, send some emails or have a nap. Seriously! If you're tired, it isn't frowned upon for you to go an have a little snooze somewhere. There are sleeping pods all over the place. Brrrrrrilliant. On the left is the toy cupboard - full of all the latest Android phones and stuff, and lots of little Android figures -

Obviously I took all these photos on my iPhone. Ahem. 

Even the toilets are Android-ed up

The Android building has recently gone from having the worst restaurant on campus to the best one - a gorgeous Japanese-themed place with loads of delicious sushi and other Oriental treats. For lunch today I had miso soup with Google ramen noodles, half a chicken, a bit of a duck and some assorted Oriental vegetables. They also do weird Japanese desserts - today's was green apple froyo (frozen yoghurt to you or I. In fact, it's like Mr Whippy). There's also a freezer full of Android Ice-Cream Sandwiches to celebrate the launch of the last OS - got to have one of those before I leave! Everything is self-service, so with my nightmare eating issues at the moment, it's perfect - I can just add the things I know I can eat. Happy Helen. Here's the dining room today - 

At the back you can see some screens, which are actually meeting rooms. In genuine Japanese style, they have little seats on the floor, and you have to remove your shoes before going in them. This is fine, if you know in advance you're going to have to take off your shoes. I didn't, so I had cat face socks on today. Not. Embarrassing. At. All.

Last photo for today is the marvel that is.... the micro kitchen. I shall post a photo and then explain all....

So.... Google law dictates that no employee should ever be more than 150ft from food. So, in addition to the full-on restaurants and cafes dotted about the campus, there are also loads of micro kitchens. As you can see from the photo, they are far from micro. And this photo was taken at the end of the day, by which point it was somewhat depleted.... At the back, from left to right are breakfast cereals (hot oatmeal, fry ups, bagels etc are available in the restaurants and cafes), then the shelves are full of nuts, crisps, chocolates, protein bars, granola bars, trail mix, etc etc. And then you've got the fridges full of every soft drink you could ever wish for. The main island in the middle is heaped up with fresh fruit. And then behind me are coffee and tea facilities, and another fridge full of yoghurts, little pots of humous, etc etc. And it's all free. Just help yourself. I'm going to end up getting arrested for shoplifting in a 7-11 at this rate - getting way to used to just going to the fridge and getting myself a can of pop! Assuming I don't get so fat that I can't actually leave my home....

I already don't want to leave. Although the UK office has the same perks. And apparently they've managed to somehow get a double decker bus into the offices to use as meeting rooms. WTF?! It's all the crazy little touches that just make it the most nuts place to work. Our building has its own amusement arcade. The one I had my induction in yesterday had its own bowling alley and a dance studio. Going to try and do some more exploring around the campus over the next few days. There's a dinosaur somewhere to go and see. And more crazy shit!

Literally amazing.

I think I'm going to like it here :o)

H xxx