IT Mecca

There is a sacred duty which requires all abled-bodied members of the Muslim cult who can afford it, to travel to the city of Mecca at least once in their lives. Likewise, all abled-bodied IT professionals (no, its not an oxymoron) should make the pilgrimage to Silicon Valley at least once in their's. Thanks to Doug, Geli and their friends (thank-you again Martina) I was fortunate enough to have guided tours through the headquarters of Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard, and to have lunch in the cafeteria of a little known internet start-up called Google. And I'd have to say, the religous fervour of Muslim devotees has nothing on that of the members of the cult of Google.

If the Google-flavoured umbrellas and sweaters (despite the fact there is no uniform) weren't enough, the hundreds of matching Google bicycles gave it away. And like any good cult, the brainwashing mechanisms are extremely effective; after spending a couple of hours there, I was ready to be baptised! We drove in past the vans providing hair-dressing and dental services to employees, walked past the fully-assembled Tyranosaurous skeleton, continued past the LCD screens showing live search queries and into one of the many cafeterias serving endless amounts of some of the best food I've had anywhere. Apparently, Larry and Serge (the Google high priests, aahh...I mean founders) liked a particular Mexican resteraunt so much that they bought it and installed on the campus for employees to enjoy! I also had my closest encounter with a multi-billionaire when Larry Page walked right by us having lunch.

So at least now when I complain about whatever workplace I happen to be in, I can do so knowing that the Google grass is in fact greener (at least for now; I have to wonder if financial times ever get tougher (like their money-tree gets termites), what will be the first to go; the free haircuts or the jumping castle?)

My only regret from my latest trip to Silicon Valley is that the Computer History museum was closed the day I wanted to visit it. M-A was also devastated (at least I think that's what she said?).