We recently launched our company’s holiday card while I was out on vacation. This was the big project I was working on, before I left – and had the fun job of assembling this group of photographs into a little slideshow.
With our office holiday party this week (Friday), we have a lot of folks back in town. This usually means an evening of Texas Hold-Em poker in the large conference room, with the much sought after Lord and Master Stein up for grabs. I wasn’t around for the last game, but Chris won it (beating out AJ, who took second).
Last month, thanks to Alexandra and our company’s Wellness budget, we had someone come in to work and administer free flu shots. I’m pretty uncomfortable with needles (who isn’t), but decided I did want to get a flu shot this year.
When the nurse arrived, I was quick to jump in line first. I just wanted it over and done with. I think Jane and I both got our forms at the same time, but I ended up finishing first.
A week or two ago, I was added to a project that would later be called “Test-A-Palooza” (a name we voted on, collectively). We’re rolling out some new functionality and tools in our current sprint, and wanted to get more folks involved in the testing process. In particular, we’re adding in a newer version of Tiny MCE, so we wanted to make sure things were functioning as expected.
Last week, a few of us gathered together after work and met up at the nearby Beef and Brandy. We were there to say goodbye to Jose, who’s unfortunately no longer with us at Emmis Interactive.
A week or so ago, we had people going up and down the exterior of our building – washing the windows that line our floor (facing onto Jackson). I’m fascinated with the guys who do this sort of work, as it involves a lot of manual labor done at a fairly precarious height. As they were coming down, I opened up the blinds to get a better view. Though this wasn’t the first time I’ve seen them work, it’s still pretty mesmerizing.
Today, Mike stopped by Cobblestone Bakery in Yorkville, where they’re known for their maple bacon doughnuts. Based off the bacon maple bar from Portland’s Voodoo Doughnuts, these things include actual, sizable strips of bacon.
We did end up having a few folks at the office dress up for Halloween, which was always a great thing to see. I was talking with AJ in the weeks leading up to Halloween, and was figuring it would just be the two of us in costume. When I arrived, I was happy to see a few more folks in costume:
Yesterday, I walked in to the kitchen to discover all manners of treats spread out across the main table. Nisha had brought in a ton of treats (some sweet, some spicy) to celebrate Diwali. Here, Shailesh is lighting some candles (fitting, since Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights).
We learned last week that, sadly, Darren is going to be leaving our company to focus on his family. He’s been a key player for the last three and a half years, serving as our QA Manager – keeping our tools and our code in check, and helping oversee our sprint/deployment process.
On Friday, we had a series of events to celebrate his last day. There was a lunch at the Berghoff… and then later in the afternoon, there was a small gathering of folks in the kitchen.
Last week, Chris C brought in two helicopters he had purchased on Amazon. They’re super lightweight, and can be charged up via USB (the one above is being charged up in his office).
The many weeks of furious Rock, Paper, Scissor action led up to a massive showdown, yesterday morning. In our large conference room, right before the monthly meeting… four of our finalists met up to do battle.
I came back to my desk last week to find my camera had been moved. When I went to check the photos on it… I saw that Mike had left me a little surprise for me to find. So, I figured it only made sense for me to return the favor, and to leave a little surprise on the blog…
Last night, a few of us met up at Villain’s after work to meet up with Brian, and to wish him a fond farewell. He’s due to start a new life abroad, and will be attending the International Journalism MA program at City University London. On top of that, he’ll also be working on his Kickstarter-funded book, London and a…
Our company kickball team, Emmis the Menace, walking down the Jackson Tunnel to the Blue Line stop. Today, we entered the Tournament mode, where it’s single elimination – on loss, and you’re out of the bracket. Our opponents this time were Straight Kickin’ It (Game 2). They had beaten us 10-6 last time around, but we played them early on…