I’m not sure how much I will be posting on Mindstorm on the whole since it’s such a high-profile place that’s extremely concerned with security, but here are a few tidbits that I don’t think give anything away.
Periodically I get a message on my computer at work that says something about Mindstorm wanting me to update my software. When I get this message I have to ask… Wait, which Mindstorm? Mindstorm the vendor of the software that I am using or Mindstorm the entity that pays the entity that pays the entity that pays my bills? It kinda makes a difference as to how aggressively I respond.
Last week I learned how to use an Apple Macbook. I kind of find of… unexpected… that I go my entire life not knowing how to use Mac’s OSX and then learn how to use a Macbook at this particular job for this particular company.
I knew that I would get to work with a lot of cool things when I signed on to work where I do. I figured the latest gadgets and doodads. I have not been disappointed nor surprised by what I’ve found. Except for the fact that I use, on a daily basis, floppy disks and serial cables.
Working for Mindstorm is bad for the waistline. It’s not actually as bad as it was at Falstaff, though, where there was a free coke fountain. Here we have free cans of coke. Everything from Mountain Dew to V8 to milk. It’s rather hard to limit myself, though unlike with a fountain it’s easier to keep track of how much I’ve had to drink and thus easier to convince myself not to have another. Plus, Mindstorm stocks Diet Mountain Dew! And skim milk! The local grocery store doesn’t even always stock those two things.
It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly awful the parking habits of Mindstorm employees (and maybe Cascadians in general) are. Every day in the parking garage I see some car that’s parked illegally. They’re parked in a non-spot or, in some cases, use their 4-wheel drive to go onto a walkway and park there. As if that’s not bad enough, it’s made worse by being completely unnecessary! My building always has sufficient parking! I’ve never seen the lowest level full. Not once!
What can you say about a company that spends hundreds of dollars developing and producing specialty hardware so that you don’t have to get off your butt to turn computers on and off… but then drags its feet when you need a thumb drive or ask for rechargeable batteries (that would actually save the company company)?
I used to curse when it seemed like every Case I got to test was complicated and weird. Then I realized that the uncomplicated and unweird Cases have all been shipped off to outsourcing operations in Asia and I stopped cursing and became rather thankful for those Cases that couldn’t be easily replicated.
I once actually parked in a non-spot myself. I don’t know if this is the same kind of non-spot you’re thinking of, but I parked in the lane between two rows of parking spots, thinking that it was a spot. The garage is pretty dark, and I didn’t notice that there were no lines around the spot. Fortunately, I noticed the error when I got out of my car and was able to correct it. I’ve seen people parked like that several more times, and on one of my hard drives at work is a crudely-drawn (MS Paint) diagram describing the symptoms of a disorder I named Phantom Space Syndrome.
General Cascadian (or Zaulemian) parking habits are awful. It’s amazing how many people can’t seem to park in the lines. I thought this was just laziness, but I once had to switch seats with a friend and finish the job after she tried to park two or three times and failed miserably. This wasn’t even parallel parking—it was the kind where you drive straight in. (Perpendicular parking?)
My building always has sufficient parking! I’ve never seen the lowest level full.
I know which building cluster you’re not in now.
Regarding updates, I think the entity that indirectly pays your bills will sooner or later require you to install all critical security updates. And I’d be quick about it—every once in a while I come in and find that one of my machines has been rebooted without my permission in order to install one of those patches. The IT guys swear that I get warnings about this, but I never see them.
Comment by Brandon Berg — September 17, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
I so totally want to see that diagram.
The non-spots I’m talking about include places that are pretty clearly non-spots. Not just at the end of a row, which I can sort of understand if someone isn’t paying attention, but up on a curb or someplace clearly and loudly labeled “NO PARKING”.
You’re right about the auto-updates. I got burned on that once. It happened all the time at my last job at Soyokaze. I do get warnings about impending updates at Mindstorm, though, so as long as I don’t forget I can avoid it. No warnings at all at Soyokaze. The messages I’m talking about are for non-critical updates, I think. I think.
Comment by trumwill — September 18, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
Hmmm…I have a software client up here that offers the same type of drink perks — could it be the same one? I’ve heard they do it to try to keep people working longer hours (and staying more alert).
Comment by Becky — September 25, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
If it’s a big company, it’s probably the same. You’re right about why they do it. I can at least give them credit for “walking the walk” by financing nicer facilities and having less aggressive internet filtering policies as the previous places I’ve worked.
Comment by trumwill — September 25, 2008 @ 10:02 pm