Work Starts, Giants Walkoff, & The Dish (with Pictures!)
I realize it has been almost a week since my last post. There are a couple reasons for that: (1) I started work on Tuesday and it has taken up a lot of my time while also being a BLAST. More on this below... (2) I decided to finally order a DSLR camera and wanted the opportunity to post pictures in my next update. I went with the Canon EOS Rebel T3 since I think the Canon lens series has more options (plus I can "borrow" some from Jose and Calvin). In any event, prepare for quite a long read as I attempt to cover everything that's happened this week.
Work is unbelievable. The first couple of days, I had to be in by 10am for meetings to complete paperwork, learn about the company, meet people, etc. Everybody is wearing jeans, t-shirts... whatever they want. I have my own desk in an open area where a lot of other interns and some full-time employees sit. I was shown my desk and there is a dual-monitor setup with a bunch of desks and drawers. There's even a place for someone to sit next to me if they're at my desk for whatever reason. I've been given all sorts of apparel that I'll have to ship some of it back to Boston.
The people I work with are incredibly smart and talented. There's tons of people from MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, etc. Some of these kids have interned at Facebook, Apple, Google, and lots of other similar companies. We work on this incredible product used by the finance industry and a bunch of 3-letter government agencies. The company is rapidly expanding, as they're now in their 5th building in only their 6th year of existence. And honestly, it never feels like I'm going to work.
I usually show up around 9:30am, sometimes a little later around 10am. I don't have set hours, so I can come and go as I please, for however long I wish. I go right to the main kitchen where I get my first of 3 hot, cooked meals a day. Throughout the day, there are also plenty of smaller kitchens throughout the building where there are fridges full of drinks, and plenty of snacks. Anything I want to eat/drink, I just write it down on a clipboard and it shows up a couple of days later and they will continue to stock it if other people like it. There are nap rooms, one conveniently located to where my desk is, and there are also showers. They provide laundry service, bring in chiropractors, massage therapists, people to cut your hair. Essentially, someone could live and work in this same place full-time. I was told that if you live in the office for 30+ days, the CEO will actually pay your rent (presumably to get you out of the office), although I doubt that's actually true.
Due to the nature of the company and our work, I've decided not to post any pictures online of the office and everything in there. I had to sign at least a couple NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), so I think it's better to err on the side of caution. Plus I get to make a big deal about how secretive this stuff is and feel really important. If you're really interested in seeing some of the pictures, email me and I can some your way.
My apartment, however, is a different story. I'm a little too lazy to retake pictures of the inside again, so I'll just post new ones of the outside.
We stole the Flamingo from out neighbors who are other interns
The front of the complex
There's an awesome courtyard in the middle
Yes - the pool is open to everyone
On my way to work one day, I decides to also take some pictures of downtown. I've already described it in my first post, so I'll let the pictures do the talking here as well.
Patio area outside of the giant Borders
Apparently you can pay to use this toilet in the middle of the sidewalk
City Hall
Diner where you can spend $200 on a burger and Dom Perignon
There are lot more pictures, but I don't wanna flood the blog. I may make a Picasa account and start linking to albums there in the future, while just posting selective pictures here. Stay tuned...
On Friday night, the company organized an outing to see the San Francisco Giants play against the Cincinnati Reds. Tickets and travel there were free, and we even had a private area with free food, snacks, and drinks. We took CalTrain into the city which is very similar to NJ Transit. A friend from work and I sat next to a guy who had lived in the area since the 1940s, so he was giving us all sorts of info. One of the crazy things he said was that if you are caught on the train without a ticket, it's a $200 fine.
AT&T Park, where the Giants play, is really nice. It overlooks the bay and there are always people in the water hoping to catch some home-runs. The downside is that it gets really windy. As I gave the woman my ticket to get inside, she said "Oh, I see you're visiting form out of town." I said yes, and asked how did she know? "I see you're wearing shorts..." It did get fairly cold, but nothing unbearable.
Free food is always nice
Lots of boats
Giants win it in the bottom of the 9th!
Everyone waiting around for fireworks
Today (Saturday), someone at the office organized a group to hike the Dish. It's basically this gigantic radio telescope with lots of open land around it. There were about 15-20 of us altogether. I got to drive there with someone who was the FIFTH employee at the company, and he showed us where the offices used to be. It's also right next to where Facebook is now - I was taking pictures of the Facebook building and actually got yelled at by a security guard who made me delete them. I still snapped some more after walking away. Mark Zuckerberg may own the rights to a bunch of my information online, but I'll be damned if he tries to exert any kind of control over me in reality.
The previous office building
Eat it, Zuckerberg (I was technically off company property...)
View from the trail
The Dish!
A couple of F-18s flew over us at one point
The hike took about 1.5 hours, and then we drove back to the office. I got to hear all sorts of cool stories about how the company started, what the founders are like, and how we're going to change the world. It also completed 1 of 25 "challenges" that the company gives to interns/new hires to accomplish. Fulfilling 20/25 is supposed to show you have become a true employee. It includes things like this hike, having lunch with the CEO (who works just a floor above me), playing board games after work, and the like. I was able to get 2 in this weekend (the other being the Giants game).
My 4th and final roommate showed up today. He starts on Tuesday (for some reason they have everyone start on Tuesdays) and seems like a pretty cool guy. He actually has the same exact position as I do, so I filled him in on some stuff and am looking forward to working with him over the summer. It's only 9:30pm on the west coast right now, but I'm content with staying in tonight. Tomorrow I'm planning to explore and find more fancy cars to take pictures of.
