I'm working downtown now :-)
Seven years ago, on my very first co-op job at KL Group, was the last time I worked downtown in a real city and I've had fond memories of the experience every since. So when VMware recently acquired another floor at Stevenson Place near Market and 2nd in SF, I jumped at the chance to work there. Today was my first day working at the new office, which I now share with Grant, who is also on the UI team.
Unlike Manhattan, where rampant paranoia requires a background check on everybody entering an office building, getting into Stevenson Place was pretty easy. Once inside the VMware suite, I found my office and discovered that the movers had managed to transport my enormous potted peace lily without damaging it, which made me happy. Grant showed up later and we eventually left the building to eat lunch at a dim-sum place up the street. The food was good but we decided that spending $30 apiece on lunch would have to be reserved for special occasions.
On our way back from lunch we decided to try gaining access to the roof. To our dismay, the topmost floor does not permit access to anything. But the real adventure hadn't begun yet. See, like most office towers, Stevenson Place has 2 sets of elevators and the VMware offices are only accessible via the lower set, although it is the highest floor served by that set. Rather than taking 2 elevators to get back, we decided to simply get off at the floor above it and then take the stairs down.
It seemed like a sound plan until we discovered that it isn't possible to get back into a floor from the stairwell. Disappointed, we decided to walk down all the way to the bottom and take the elevator back up after all. Upon reaching the bottom, however, we discovered, to our horror, that the only exit was wired to trigger the fire alarm if opened. We were trapped in the stairwell.
Fortunately, our cell phones still had a decent signal so we called one of our coworkers and got him to take an elevator down so he could rescue us. Having had enough excitement for the day, we managed to stay out of trouble after that.
It took me slightly longer to bike home than I'd expected: 21 minutes instead of the 15 it took me to get there in the morning.
Unlike Manhattan, where rampant paranoia requires a background check on everybody entering an office building, getting into Stevenson Place was pretty easy. Once inside the VMware suite, I found my office and discovered that the movers had managed to transport my enormous potted peace lily without damaging it, which made me happy. Grant showed up later and we eventually left the building to eat lunch at a dim-sum place up the street. The food was good but we decided that spending $30 apiece on lunch would have to be reserved for special occasions.
On our way back from lunch we decided to try gaining access to the roof. To our dismay, the topmost floor does not permit access to anything. But the real adventure hadn't begun yet. See, like most office towers, Stevenson Place has 2 sets of elevators and the VMware offices are only accessible via the lower set, although it is the highest floor served by that set. Rather than taking 2 elevators to get back, we decided to simply get off at the floor above it and then take the stairs down.
It seemed like a sound plan until we discovered that it isn't possible to get back into a floor from the stairwell. Disappointed, we decided to walk down all the way to the bottom and take the elevator back up after all. Upon reaching the bottom, however, we discovered, to our horror, that the only exit was wired to trigger the fire alarm if opened. We were trapped in the stairwell.
Fortunately, our cell phones still had a decent signal so we called one of our coworkers and got him to take an elevator down so he could rescue us. Having had enough excitement for the day, we managed to stay out of trouble after that.
It took me slightly longer to bike home than I'd expected: 21 minutes instead of the 15 it took me to get there in the morning.