It’s weird, the kind of special memory powers a long-running blog imbues. I forget important things like the birthdays of close family members, the kids’ names of close friends. But by god, I’m able to remember the last time I saw a window cleaner outside my office window.
Group drinks, a lot of fun conversation about cocktails, food, New York, and good bars in Chicago. It was an early night for me, but definitely enjoyed spending time with coworkers – outside of the office. And all of us, on the same side of the computer screen.
Got into the office early this morning. With our updated office rules, folks are supposed to be in the office at least two days out of the week. I tend to go on slower days, and in the mornings… I’m usually one of the first on the floor. There’s sometimes a few folks already at their desks, but today…I was…
Went out after work with a few coworkers, and the spot we ended up picking was Spin – a ping pong bar downtown. Surprisingly, the last time I was here was also for a Grubhub event, back in 2018. Which in hindsight, seems like a lifetime ago.
The warnings of pending layoffs (particularly in the tech sector) have been in the news lately. A lot of big name companies have, or are planning to cut costs by letting employees go.
Amazon has said it would be looking to lay off 18,000 people; Meta (Facebook’s parent company) is looking to reduce its workforce by 13% (around 11,000 people).
So, a few things to note here. First, as an employee of Grubhub, I get $50 in credit, per week, to use for ordering food. It used to be $35 per week a few years ago, but during the pandemic the amount got upped to $50.
If you don’t use your allocation before midnight on Sunday, it gets rolled into a donation fund… and then you’re issued another $50 on Monday. Something of a “use it or lose it” kind of thing.
Liz and I had a very quiet and sedentary morning today. But decided to get out of the house in the late afternoon, for a picnic over at Promnotory Point.
There’s been a secret project at work for some time now, nicknamed “Project Amber.” I wasn’t involved with any of it, but just heard rumors swirling here and there.
Still really weird to be back. And to experience waves of nostalgia and memories of a place that is still very much in the present tense, but also in the past tense in some respects.
A lot of fun stories, and I had some genuinely good, deep laughs that I haven’t had in a work setting in a super long time. Really nice to catch up with everyone in person, and to raise a few glasses getting to know one another again. And in some cases, for the first time.
Weird day for me today. I’ve been fully remote since March of 2020, and since that time… I’ve not been back to the office.
We’ve had some messages from work, encouraging people to come back. But I’ve still been very… apprehensive. I’ve still opted to remain home, and to work remotely.
Excited to announce that I’ve been promoted to Senior Software Engineer at Grubhub. I joined the company back in 2018 (with a title of “Software Engineer II”), and I’ve learned and grown an incredibly amount since then.
Gave a big demo/presentation of a project at work. It was the culmination of 2.5+ months of development (and a bit more beyond that, for planning). This was a project I was given to lead, and got to help shepherd from start to finish.
This was my first visit downtown again in… a year and a half. I snapped this photo right before walking across the street, and looked up to see this guy standing a few steps into the intersection, yelling “Hey!” loudly and repeatedly.
About a year ago, there were plans for Grubhub (my employer) to be acquired by Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.