On St Patrick’s Day, I went about checking into Google and re-activating my badge. For me, this was no easy task because I can’t drive. It was made even harder because my desk has been relocated to SJC2460, near the Mineta airport. There are no good VTA routes to that location so I had to ask around for a ride.
At first, I thought about bothering my neighbor Ting, who’s also an EPAM contractor at Google. Before the pandemic, the two of us worked in the same YouTube building. Unfairly, his desk remains in Mountain View, so I turned to trusty ol’ Dad for help.
I arrived at SJC2460 at 11:40am. Finding the Google building inside the office complex was confusing. The receptionist was away when I arrived in the lobby. Luckily, a friendly security guard who was willing to help me find answers happened to be on call.
Lo and behold, my badge worked when I was instructed to try unlocking the door.
I stepped into an empty office with lots of open space. I counted just five other folks during my visit; everyone I talked to was from EPAM.
It didn’t take long for me to find my cubicle at 1J4N. I spent some time sorting through my goods (aka random toys and gadgets from my old desk stashed in a cardboard box), but decided to leave most of them alone. The only item I was really hoping to find was my rechargeable hand warmer battery and it happened to be missing.
Before leaving, I visited the kitchen. It was short on snacks, but there were sodas. (For my troubles, I treated myself to a Diet Coke.) The fridge also had a fair amount of sandwiches & salads, which I assumed was their way of making up for not having a Google cafeteria nearby. All in all, I couldn’t help but feel that the bothersome visit was unnecessary.
PS: to double check, I called into the 75 E Trimble Rd building where they were handing out new TVC badges; I was told that as long as my badge worked, I was fine.
