
Thirteen Months of Working, Eating, and Sleeping at the Googleplex - detrol2k
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-07-22/thirteen-months-of-working-eating-and-sleeping-at-the-googleplex?utm_content=buffer5e673&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
======
uuilly
I worked w/ Ben through our google acquisition. This is all accurate. He's a
fun, talented guy. Funnily enough he was only the 4th or 5th strangest bird of
the 50 or so employees at 510 systems. Good times...

~~~
kragen
Wait, what's strange about him?

~~~
bhickey
Ben and I started at Google on the same day. I was pretty psyched to meet him
because I'd followed his website
([http://vterrain.org/](http://vterrain.org/)) for years. He's a fairly loud,
outgoing guy. Among a bunch of quirky nerds he sticks out with his 10"
ponytail. When he first told me he was living out of the parking lot, I
thought he was joking.

~~~
kragen
How quirky are these nerds if someone sticks out by _having long hair_? Did I
fall asleep in 2015 and wake up in 1962?

Thanks for the link to his website! It looks awesome!

~~~
bhickey
Yeah, in retrospect that reads way more derpy than I expected. Ben's a great
guy. :)

------
ogreveins
The rationale behind it makes perfect sense. Do you really want to give
someone $2-3000 per month or $24-36k a year just to have a box around you?
Especially if you don't own much stuff? How much do you actually need besides
your computer, phone, clothes and toiletries? Gym for bathroom and free public
wifi for internet aside from your phone and you're set.

The rental and housing market is disgusting. I wouldn't consider it except for
my wife.

~~~
zzalpha
_The rationale behind it makes perfect sense. Do you really want to give
someone $2-3000 per month or $24-36k a year just to have a box around you?_

Really? You honestly can't fathom why some people might desire their own,
private space, _away_ from their work environment, where they might, I dunno,
live their life outside of their day-to-day drudgery?

I'm not even sure how to react to that. It's such an alien way of thinking, I
simply can't relate to it... it's baffling.

I mean, the minute humans formed fixed communities instead of hunting and
gathering, we've been driven by the need to build public and private spaces in
which to live. Questioning that need is questioning one of the founding
tenants of modern human society...

~~~
civilian
Yeah, I'm with you. I have a guitar! I have books! I have a large bed and a
variety of clothes. I need some place to store my skis and my running shoes. I
enjoy cooking. I don't see myself as materialistic, just as a passionate
hobbyist/human.

~~~
saalweachter
_Tools_ , man. Where do you keep your table saw when you're living in a van?

~~~
cfallin
You joke a bit but this is one of the biggest things I miss now (in a small
apartment in the middle of a city). Growing up in suburbia with a well-stocked
garage for tinkering was a wonderful experience. Yeah, hackerspaces; not quite
the same though...

~~~
jschwartzi
I won't pay 300 more a month for modern fixtures, plumbing, or millwork, but
I'd pay it for a two-car heated garage with a 220v outlet and good lighting.

~~~
WalterBright
Haha, I told the real estate agent I wanted a 2 bedroom house with a 5 car
garage :-)

------
jarcane
Part of my ‘problem’ with some elements of programming culture, is I
fundamentally I don’t think I have that part of my brain where code is my
hammer and every problem looks like a nail, so I struggle to even imagine a
self-made project I’d have that kind of dedication to, let alone some random
corporate or startup app thing.

Like what does Google even do that’s really deserving of that kind of
dedication? There are religious orders that are less demanding than many of
these stories. I kinda get the practical argument about SV housing costs until
I think about it for two seconds and go "What? Fuck, no!"

It's a job. Might even be a good job. But if your work-life balance ceases to
be so much a balance as 'just work all the time until you're rich' I can't see
that as healthy. It's like some people are entirely voluntarily recreating the
company town, and employees are lapping it right up.

~~~
tedks
Did you read the article? I would agree with you in general, but this seems
like an off-base comment about someone whose express objective is moving back
to the farm to await the collapse of civilization.

~~~
jarcane
The impression is, in fairness, less about the main subject, than some of the
other stories told in the article.

Our future farmer may've been more 'practical suffering' than 'true believer'
but some of the other tales, and the more beyond I've heard over the years,
very much seem to come from the latter.

------
4096
[https://www.quora.com/Which-Googler-holds-the-record-for-
liv...](https://www.quora.com/Which-Googler-holds-the-record-for-living-at-
Google-HQ/answer/Ben-Discoe)

Interview with guy because of above answer.

------
asteli
My guess is that this happens more often than one would think. Discoe wasn't
even the only campus resident within the Self-Driving Car team, let alone all
of Google (there was a safety driver who lived in a van by the self-driving
car garage).

------
Turing_Machine
Some of the old school Stanford AI lab hackers were famous for sleeping in the
suspended ceiling. The way I heard the story, they even cut into a ventilation
duct to get cool air for their "nest".

------
comrh
That article was overwhelmingly depressing. Living in a van is a better life
then remote work?

~~~
jmspring
No, but one can't always get the remote work.

I've been approached to help with some bay area startups, but the mere thought
of having to sit in a car and spend a bunch of hours in the Valley? So not
appealing right now. I've done the sleep at work thing randomly over the
years, never again.

------
cpncrunch
Presumably if you got a nice big RV with double-glazed windows, aircon,
heating, TV, and there were electricity/water/sewage hookups, it could be
quite comfortable. It might be worth google making hookups available for
employees who want to live in their RVs on-site.

~~~
quadrature
Sounds like a certain CEO

[http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hsiehs-home-in-a-
trailer...](http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hsiehs-home-in-a-trailer-
park-2015-7)

~~~
cpncrunch
It would be nice if someone set up something like that in SV, although I
suspect the land would be too expensive.

~~~
ojbyrne
There's 3 or 4 trailer parks in Mountain View, one of which is basically next
door to Google.

~~~
cpncrunch
Do many/any google employees live in them? It would seem to be a cost-
effective solution to living in SV, and removes (or at least significantly
reduces) the commute at the same time.

------
supercanuck
How are these fringe benefits not taxable as pay? Should they be?

[http://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b/ar02.html#en_US_2014_pu...](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b/ar02.html#en_US_2014_publink1000193623)

~~~
simonk
Read further down, exclusions to fringe benefits include Meals, Lodging on
your business premises, Athletic facilities, and other things.

~~~
hn9780470248775
Read even further down: Exempt if furnished for your convenience _as a
condition of employment_.

i.e. this seems to imply that _optional_ lodging _is_ taxable.

~~~
ghaff
True (and makes sense) although I doubt a parking space qualifies as a housing
benefit.

------
mark_l_watson
I thought that the article would be about people who camped out inside the
buildings. When I worked at Google I got to work around 6am each day and by
after lunch I might get tired so I would at least once a week find somewhere
quiet for a nap. Easy to do.

I could imagine someone single simply living inside for short periods of time,
if necessary.

I wanted my wife to be comfortable so I spent a fortune out of pocket on a
four room Marriot appartment/suite place. But, it was fairly close to work and
my wife loved it.

------
srj
Right out of undergrad school I worked for a large software company (not
Google) and I could have pictured myself doing this. Usually around 7-8pm I'd
start exploring options for what to do that night and if nobody wanted to go
out anywhere I knew I'd only be going home to use the computer. It made more
sense to just stay at work. I'd be more likely to work on something I thought
was fun though at least.

------
mathgladiator
When I was in my mid twenties, I lived on my college campus for a year (not
approved, slept in the computer science building). It was awesome. ;)

~~~
timothybone
I think things like this are great, as social experiments these are important,
esp. b/c we are exploring how to reclaim spaces, making it less of a crime to
inhabit spaces.

------
animefan
While these people sound cool, I notice that hn treats then like heroes while
it treats people who violate zoning laws _at scale_ as villains.

To assuming considering doing this I would say please please don't. If a dozen
people did it the company would crack down and amend it's policies.

------
Reedx
Interesting. This is something I've been wondering about.

Because I've been noticing a lot of RVs and vans (with windows blacked out)
that seem to be permanently parked in areas of Palo Alto. Sometimes on fairly
busy roads. So have been curious as to whether any were actually being used
that way.

------
ljk
> _Discoe points at the screen. “When I read this, I was like, ‘Does he know
> me?’ There’s only really me who fits this description._

I thought someone who works at google should be smart enough to know that
these type of personality tests are pretty vague and can be applied to many
people?

~~~
culled
He was referring to this xkcd -
[http://m.xkcd.com/977/](http://m.xkcd.com/977/). The description, as stated
in the article, was “You like Isaac Asimov, XML, and shoes with toes. You
think the Segway got a bad rap. You own 3D goggles, which you use to view
rotating models of better 3D goggles. You type in Dvorak.” I don't think that
could be considered a vague personality test that can be applied to many
people.

~~~
caskance
They all are. That's the whole point of the comic.

~~~
cpncrunch
Yes, and it seems he is smart enough to understand sarcasm...

------
Dorian-Marie
So he got food, water, shower and toilets from Google's office.

He only used his van as a sleeping place.

He should definitely do an AMA:

    
    
        What about Internet access?
        What about the cold? Sleeping bags? Isolation inside the van?
        What about the hot? Air conditioning?

~~~
astrange
Regular California apartments don't have air conditioning anyway.

~~~
pbiggar
AFAIK it's only in SF they don't. Everywhere else in California is properly
hot.

~~~
tjohns
Living in Los Angeles as a college student for five years, none of my
apartments had air conditioning. Sure, some houses had it... but even in LA
it's a bit of a luxury.

Same goes for the homes of everyone I knew in Lake Tahoe, where I grew up. The
climate's similar to the bay during the summer, but it's still (partially) in
California. ;)

~~~
mrbill
Born and grown up in Oklahoma, and living in Texas (Austin from '96-04,
Houston for the past ten years) living somewhere without AC seems so bizarre.
What if you like it cooler than the weather permits?

Heck, I have central AC in my house here, and I keep the house generally at
75, but have a window AC in my bedroom that lets me crank it down to 66-68 in
there.

~~~
beachstartup
yes, it sucks without ac.

in california, it's the older buildings that aren't fitted for it. most new
buildings have it.

i live in an old building (built in 50s) and a year ago i finally couldn't
stand it any longer and bought a floor standing unit that i vent out the
window. it's nice.

------
Steko
This article pairs nicely with How I Gave Up Alternating Current from a few
days ago. The only place left to go in the bachelor lifehacking one upsmanship
game is to stop changing clothes and showering altogether, live under a
bridge, telecommuting and doing all your work with a prepaid Andro-- err
Firefox OS phone that you charge with a hand crank. No parrots.

~~~
slapshot
RMS, is that you?

~~~
garenp
Can't be, RMS likes parrots.

~~~
cdcarter
But would not like one as a gift.

------
akshat_h
So, commenting late so may not get a response. But I am curious about handling
stuff like bank accounts, health insurance etc. like that require you to
specify an address. How does that work out?

~~~
shanemhansen
I'd be willing to bet most people use their parents address, or a friend, or a
girlfriend/boyfriend. They can probably also use their actual work address for
some things or a po box.

------
ocdtrekkie
This is known as an "unhealthy work/life balance".

~~~
cpncrunch
I guess it depends on your perspective. Zero commute, low living expenses,
zero? crime. You can probably go to your RV to take an afternoon nap.

~~~
mb_72
Across former Soviet states there are now-crumbling collective farms with
purpose-built apartment buildings nearby, the apartments having been
constructed for the farm workers. Every time I hear about one of these 'living
at work' stories I can't help but draw the comparison, unfairly or not, to
Soviet-era apartments near these farms. Zero commute, low living expenses ...
but to me it's not any way I'd want to 'live'.

------
rburhum
Ben is one of those guys that looks at the world differently. Smart as hell,
humble and fun to hang out with. Hardcore OSM user!

------
Rainymood
Does anyone have a link so I can read the article in China? Or post a pastebin
with the text? It would be greatly appreciated.

~~~
dubyah
[http://pastebin.com/Qjx9RjQS](http://pastebin.com/Qjx9RjQS)

------
aaronbrethorst

        In Silicon Valley mythology, sleeping at the
        office is second only to working out of a garage
    

That's a depressing thought.

~~~
qmalxp
I dunno, I slept in my office in grad school. It wasn't out of needing to feel
like a hard worker or showing off or whatever, it was more that sometimes I
just felt like working until I was about to fall asleep, and then I was too
tired to head home.

~~~
brianobush
Yeah, I agree maybe for one night, but repeatedly?

~~~
jrockway
Some people are interested in their work, especially at Google. I do things
every night until I fall asleep, though not usually work.

~~~
Fezzik
I would love to sleep at work but I am not allowed to (I work at a
courthouse). Monday through Friday I work downtown, my gym is downtown, all my
going out is downtown, I am and plan to be kid-free forever... if I could save
the commuting time, which is minimal, and get an extra hour of sleep or stay
out a little longer and socialize, I would be delighted. Heck, I would even do
a little extra work if I could just recline on the couch and fall asleep.

