Speaking of nostalgia… our office also is having a Ping Pong Tournament. I was a little unsure about signing up, but figured… what the hey. I’m in the office, I may as well take advantage. And besides, what kind of tech company employee would I be, if I didn’t play ping pong at work?
Today, I was in one of the hallways at the office, and I noticed how it was this long, uninterrupted stretch of carpet. And I immediately thought about Fun Slides, a toy that made a list of the most dangerous toys of 2004.
This would have made a most excellent skating area.
The new Grubhub office is large and, honestly, quite luxurious. There are numerous kitchen areas (our office spans the entire length of the Mart)… and coffee options aplenty in each one.
There’s drip coffee, which isn’t… great. But hey, the price is right.
If you imagine the CTA lines around the Loop as a clock: I was expecting to travel Clockwise, exiting at 3:00. Instead, I was actually traveling counter-clockwise (because we were “operating like a Brown Line train”), exiting at 9:00.
So I had a bit of walking to do. Ah well, more exercise.
A difficult day today, at work. While we were told that there would be restructuring and the potential for layoffs… I don’t think anyone anticipated the depth and degree of what happened today.
Yesterday (Thursday), we received an email telling folks to work from home – and that all our offices would be closed. Today, over the course of the morning, meetings were held with people who were informed they were let go.
I’m saddened to say: I was working towards a management position at Grubhub, and after the 2024 Year End Review, it was determined that I would not be offered the position.
While not quite a ghost kitchen, Wonder sets up a physical location that is capable of producing food from its 30+ restaurants. This is how they’re able to offer such a wide range of options on the same order. And they’ve figured out how to prepare a wide range of foods (pizza, steak, pasta) without gas, and without the need for vents or stoves or flames (it’s all electric).
Apparently, Wonder can cook a pizza in 88 seconds, and can cook pasta without water. It’s a little mind-bending, actually.
For those not familiar with the show or series, the decontamination chamber was an area where crew members would go after away missions. The chamber was designed to remove harmful pathogens, and involved the crew members rubbing medicinal gel over one another’s bodies, while bathing under a blue colored UV light.
That’s the scientific explanation for the chamber. For those of us who aren’t 100% Trekkies and blinded by fandom, we see it for what it is: a bit of visual erotica that aims to nudge this Sci-Fi show a few steps towards softcore pornography.
For me, I’m going back to the Mart – a place where I worked for an age, an age ago.
My first day at the Mart was in 2002, and my last day there was in 2007.
It’s been 22 years, since I first set foot in that building for work. And today, I’m headed back.
I spent my time mostly at the craps table, learning the rules of the game. Had a fun time betting, and feel like I did pretty well. That is, up until I lost all my chips.
Craps seems like a seductive game. There’s a lot of momentum with it, and a more cooperative game that I”m used to (versus something like Blackjack or Poker).
Today? I was in even earlier than usual. And the thing I noticed was that the main “Grubhub” sign, opposite the elevator banks, was dark. And when I stepped off the elevator, some other motion detection got triggered and the sign flickered to life.
For my test, I placed an order with Taco Bell… but failed to cancel it in time. So the order ended up getting delivered, and I threw my meal into the fridge.
Fast forward to today, and my conundrum: I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately, so part of me wanted to avoid day-old Taco Bell. But there was another part of me that acknowledged the fact that I spent my own money on the test order, and the act of not eating the food would just be a waste of money.
Came across some chatter in Slack, around an upcoming move for Grubhub – over to the Merchandise Mart.
Or, for some of us… a move BACK to the Merchandise Mart.
I ended up playing at a single table the whole night, and was joined by other coworkers: L to R it’s Luis, Lin, and Kiran.
Of note: all three of them did pretty well over the course of the night. But by far, Kiran was hitting Blackjacks more than the rest of us. I think he got at least 9 or 10, over the course of the evening.
It’s definitely weird to think of myself as a morning person. The Felix from 21 years ago would argue against this kind of behavior, if he wasn’t so busy taking naps.