Google Lunch
No, it's not a new Google product. Although if the bright folks there could figure out a way to solve world hunger using codes, and make money while "do[ing] no evil", then I wouldn't be suprised if we see a Google Lunch beta™...coming to a Whole Foods near you.
Probably everyone who's cool would have already visited Google by now, but yesterday I got a glimpse of the campus, its cafeteria, as well as some strange corporate culture. (Not necessarily in that order as "I'm feeling lucky" today.)
First off, at the parking lot.
PARKING LOT: Here I was greeted by a security guard who promptly asked me for my host name. As in who's hosting you today, who's responsible for YOUR priviledged visit at Google? Parking was horrible as most people have mentioned here and there. "The parking is horrible there!" I was advised by my host friend to park up on a hill and walk 5 mins to the "quad"—four buildings which are very organically designed (thanks to former SGI).
Workers here bring their dogs to work as evidenced by a golden retriever and a pug tied to a leash outside building 43, where I was meeting my friend. (You will notice that Google is very spokes friendly, too.)
BUILDING 43: After signing in I was given a guest badge. Of course being Google, the check-in system is pretty advanced. I typed in my info such as name, company work for, etc. and electronically signed my name and captured in some database. Oooh...sexy baby! (Now I'm thinking I should have put down Microsoft as company and see what would happened.)
With the mostly carte blanche badge, I'm officially a Google visitor, thus allowing me into Googles' facilities. You still need a Google badge to get into all the buildings, minus the main cafeteria, which is where we were heading.
MAIN CAFETERIA: This is of course one of the usual three cafeterias, the biggest one. The others, which I didn't get to see, were an Asian fusion, and an all organic cafeterias. Not that the main cafeteria won't fulfill your lunch needs; there are all a variety of foods here. Being overwhelmed I just had what was closest to me: a sirloin lamb, a tandoori salmon, asparagus, a shot of wheat grass, and a jamba juice type of drink. I'm feeling SO healthy...and I haven't even taken a bite yet. (NOTE: The cafeteria is better than those food courts in the mall, and the food is really really good.)
GOOGLE EMPLOYEE #2: I was eating with my friend outside in the quad when lo and behold Larry Page walks by...in sandles, short, and a white tee-shirt. My friend goes, "there goes 12 BILLION dollars!" Okay so he is worth more than that ($12.8 bil), and it's debatable whether he's employee no. 1 or 2, but along with Sergei Brin these two guys spawned an industry...online advertising, AdSense, AdWord, not to mention a host of other cool products that I use all the time.
MIDDLE STALL AND THIS-AND-THAT: To keep this post short I'll run through some other oddities (or just plain darn cool features) of my Google visit:
+ middle stall bathrooms with seat warmer toilet, abling to wash your front and bottom at the push of a button.
+ micro-kitchen stocked with saturated fat and sugar for your brains...all within 50 feet of where you work. FACT: Google employees consumed 500lbs. of cereal each day! Yikes!!!
+ battery powered scooters on loan if you need them to get from one building to another. Although I did get to see any Segways. What's up with that?
+ a gym with those TV built-in treadmills and stairmasters, two outdoors swim-in-place pools.
+ video arcades, pool rooms, seminars and workshops on Recovery Oriented Computing and Self Managing Session State Store (ie. Google Checkout.)
Okay I'll stop and leave with a warning that after your Google visit somehow your work place doesn't feel all that special. (On the otherhand Google employees get pay less than their industry peers, or so I have heard.)
Did I mention you get FREE breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Google.
I read an article about Google that said they provide free meals because they believe time is wasted by employees traveling to and from work for meals.
ARV: That's true. Sadly I saw some people with take-out boxes...although I wasn't sure if they were visitors or Google employees.