I read a couple of essays from googliers who did this. Google provides nearly all your needs in office- free food, recreation, laundry- save a many hour sleep spot. And people work and hang out 12, 15 hours then. So why pay high rent only to sleep and put up with terrible commute traffic. In the open office environment of new techs finding sleep spots is harder. But many sleep in their vehicles in a climate rarely freezing or roasting.
I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
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Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#22I read a couple of essays from googliers who did this. Google provides nearly all your needs in office- free food, recreation, laundry- save a many hour sleep spot. And people work and hang out 12, 15 hours then. So why pay high rent only to sleep and put up with terrible commute traffic. In the open office environment of new techs finding sleep spots is harder. But many sleep in their vehicles in a climate rarely fr…
If I got paid a Google salary, there's no way I couldn't afford to find an apartment in Santa Clara County. Note I didn't say fancy condo, 3 bedroom ranch house with two car garage and spacious lawn, or townhouse.
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google Maps says Koreatown and Venice Beach are 15 miles apart. Some time late in the 21st Century or early 22nd Century humans will realize that great mass transit can really make life more enjoyable, and that'll be a 15 minute commute. It's pretty amazing how bad things have to get before people wake up.
By which you mean, Americans will realize it.. :)
Specifically, West Coast Americans :)
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#24I wonder what would happen if this form of housing became more popular. Maybe soon we'll be reading accounts about two office-overnighters who inevitably found about one another.
Well, huge factories of 19th / early 20th century did build living quarters for their workers near to the factory's premises. I think only the draconian zoning and building codes of California prevent Facebook or Google to do the same near their own offices.
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
The compromise is losing 2 hours a day in your car. This is why I didn't take the job in LA.
Google Maps says Koreatown and Venice Beach are 15 miles apart. Some time late in the 21st Century or early 22nd Century humans will realize that great mass transit can really make life more enjoyable, and that'll be a 15 minute commute. It's pretty amazing how bad things have to get before people wake up.
LA had an excellent bus system. I've been riding it almost every day for 7 years now. Also, the author already said he had a 20 minute commute, but didn't say to where.
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#26I wonder what would happen if this form of housing became more popular. Maybe soon we'll be reading accounts about two office-overnighters who inevitably found about one another.
It sounds like something Japanese people would do since apparently the commutes in Japan are horrifying long. Those capsule hotels in Japan have been around for quite awhile. I've thought of creating an apartment building of pod apartments it seems to be a Millenials thing to couch surf or share apartments.
Seattle has aPodments - http://apodment.com/
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#27Some years ago I worked at a large aerospace firm in the L.A. area. 20,000 people worked there and with that many people there are bound to be a few odd ones. Several lived in their cars in the parking lot. But the weirdest one was the guy who was living in the ceiling above his office. The story goes that one night a security guard noticed some movement in a hallway and went to investigate. He saw some wet footprint…
What a sad way to waste your life. I'm sure he had other options considering he worked in an office at a "large aerospace firm," right?
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
The compromise is losing 2 hours a day in your car. This is why I didn't take the job in LA.
Google Maps says Koreatown and Venice Beach are 15 miles apart. Some time late in the 21st Century or early 22nd Century humans will realize that great mass transit can really make life more enjoyable, and that'll be a 15 minute commute. It's pretty amazing how bad things have to get before people wake up.
Having commuted to work in Brussels, a city often described as having great mass transit (and when it's not busy, that's absolutely true)
Here's my observations :
1) despite not paying for itself (the state pays hundreds of millions yearly to make up for the losses of the public transport system) it's a little bit more expensive, per kilometer, than taking a car (train + metro vs gas). Even for longer distances, planes are actually cheaper than trains. If you get a company car and just pay for fuel, it's half the price. Otoh, parking in some places drives the price back up (but then you can park near a metro station and only use public transport for the last kilometer or so. Or a folding bike, I've had colleagues who did that).
2) when you want to use them to commute, they're not just busy, they're off the scale full. You can only stand and sometimes you miss your train because you literally can't squeeze in. (I tried first class for a week, but that makes it a multiple of the price of using a car, and you still need to stand)
3) the comfort level, compared to a car, is off the scale worse. You can take things along in a car, whereas there is a clear and very small capacity limit to what you can take on public transport. 40kg, backpack size, no more, groceries for a week is doable, furniture, electronics, not really doable (I tend to put those on a bike and walk home beside it). And I'm a 200 pound guy, I'd hate to think what the limits are if you're 80 pounds.
4) In Belgium you have one or two days per year where cars can't actually get around in the capital (frozen snow on the road combined with a lot of sloped roads makes it just too dangerous for cars, even if you walk you'll probably fall down painfully). A few more days accidents on the highways will mean you're late by 2-3 hours (I was once 7 hours late due to traffic). That is less than the days public transport doesn't work due to union actions. Because of the amount of times this happens, your boss will not, in fact understand. 5-10 days a year you can't get to work using public transport. With a car, 5 days a year you'll be 2 hours late and 1 day you won't show up.
5) If you calculate cars versus public transit capacities, it is obvious : cars scale better (I think this is mostly because car capacity expansions are cheaper for the government to implement, so they happen every time a rightist government comes to power in a given municipality, car capacity expansions happen, usually by diverting traffic. Public transport expansions happen once in a decade at best, and one line at a time. Recently a public transport line to the airport made traffic on a few lines much better)
Imho, the solution to public transport is fast, efficient, driver-less, door-to-door, car sharing. That can work, and won't be bogged down into a morass of substandard service by unions. We need to improve matters, and I no longer believe buses and trains and even metros are the answer.
Here's an article describing things from the perspective of a commuter http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/masstransit.htm
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#29Some years ago I worked at a large aerospace firm in the L.A. area. 20,000 people worked there and with that many people there are bound to be a few odd ones. Several lived in their cars in the parking lot. But the weirdest one was the guy who was living in the ceiling above his office. The story goes that one night a security guard noticed some movement in a hallway and went to investigate. He saw some wet footprint…
What a sad way to waste your life. I'm sure he had other options considering he worked in an office at a "large aerospace firm," right?
I really don't get this attitude. It's not for everyone, but it's a great way to save money. Do this for awhile and you can save up to purchase a home outright or at least have a sizable down payment.
I interviewed for a job in Chicago with a company where one of the employees lived in the office. Unlike the Salon article, this employee openly asked if he could live in the office to save himself the cost of rent. The employer had no issue with it. In his office there was a small basic cot that he slept on.
Re: I secretly lived in my office for 500 days
#30This was not rare in college. One school had a 364/24 library and students took over a study correl with their books and a few belongings. Others lived in closets or cars. I think the janitors knew but did not care. I did this a few times myself when there were gaps between residences and I run out of placed to crash.
When I was in grad school, one of the other grad students lived in his office. We all looked the other way when he shifted the desks around (leaving a couple of the other grad student desks kind of cramped) to make room for a sofa. "Yeah, that'll be real comfortable to... sit on... while doing math. That's what it's for!"
I'm pretty sure all of the faculty and staff in our department knew about it too.