9 ms·
Google employee lives in a truck in the company's parking lot
- pavornyoh 11y agoIn light of this article, won't he be kicked of the lot? But well played by him. My only worry is if he will be able to get/attract a "little action" in the truck parked in the lot you know..
- copperx 11y agoFirst thing that came to mind, too. However, he can always go to his partner's residence for action.
- pavornyoh 11y ago>However, he can always go to his partner's residence for action. You are right I suppose. That thought process eluded me:). It all works out then.
- GauntletWizard 11y agoWell, not if they've also decided on this money-saving option. Coming soon to downtown Mountain View: Japanese-style love hotels.
- pavornyoh 11y ago>Coming soon to downtown Mountain View: Japanese-style love hotels. I had to google that. Interesting concept.
- ballsohardy 11y agoyeah I'm sure a software engineer intern living in a truck definitely has a partner
- copperx 11y agoActually, he does. There's an interview where he talks about it.
- Pinckney 11y agoHe mentions on his blog that he already had a run-in with company security. The verified that he was an employee, apologized for waking him up, and left him be.
- pavornyoh 11y ago>The verified that he was an employee, apologized for waking him up, and left him be. Thank you for pointing that out to me.
- intopieces 11y agoMy suspicion is that this fellow crashes on a friend's couch pretty often. Unless Google allows him 24 hour access, he doesn't have a bathroom at night or on weekends. >"It's really hard to justify throwing that kind of money away. You're essentially burning it — you're not putting equity in anything and you're not building it up for a future — and that was really hard for me to reconcile." Equity and saving for the future are things you do after you've established a home. Comfort and time off of work are essential to a well-balanced and healthy life. What's sad, to me, is not that he lives in a truck, it's that he works so much that doesn't value any time alone in his own space. I know the rent is exorbitant in the bay, but his pay from Google has that factored in -- he's no Mission artist getting evicted, after all. I happily pay a significant portion of my income to have a home, even a rented one.
- copperx 11y ago> Comfort and time off of work are essential to a well-balanced and healthy life. It has been shown that reducing commute time significantly increases your happiness. Besides, I'm sure there's a higher purpose for what he's doing, otherwise it would be intolerable.
- allencoin 11y ago>Equity and saving for the future are things you do after you've established a home. He has established a home, it's just not a traditional one. It's a really-not-up-to-code tiny house on wheels. If he were living in a Winnebago or a trailer would you feel differently?
- new_hackers 11y agoI was thinking that: why didn't he buy a Winnebago?
- Pinckney 11y agoA truck is stealthy. It doesn't necessarily look like anyone is living there, which means you're much less likely to be hassled by the police. Compare carcamper's experiences below.
- beatpanda 11y agoLadies and gentlemen, meet the smartest person working at Google.
- copperx 11y agoI would do something very similar, in fact.
- cooper12 11y agoThere was a guy who slept inside AOL's campus too, except on the couches: http://www.cnet.com/news/meet-the-tireless-entrepreneur-who-squatted-at-aol/ http://www.cnet.com/news/meet-the-tireless-entrepreneur-who-...
- johan_larson 11y agoGoogle has sleep-pods specifically designed for naps. It would be easy -- and very comfortable -- to sleep in them through the night. I suspect security has orders not to disturb people who do this.
- cooper12 11y agoThese sound neat. Surprisingly high tech too. From the pictures I just assumed it would feel claustrophobic and have that "tunnel sound" effect. I'm assuming they're meant for naps though, at least their original purpose. Google is also special in a way because they offer pretty much everything so people don't have to leave if they don't need to; they do call it a campus.
- copperx 11y agoWhoa. So, one could theoretically live in the campus all year long?
- personjerry 11y agoI give it a week before this is spun into some sort of attack on the culture of the tech industry.
- whitehat2k9 11y agoThat long? I appreciate your optimism.
- TranquilMarmot 11y agoWhen I read the headline, I thought that's what this was going to be!
- beatpanda 11y agoI doubt it, what this guy is doing is standard practice in the oil fields in North Dakota and nobody seems to have anything to say about that.
- hugh4 11y agoJournalists don't go to the oilfields of North Dakota and don't socialise with people who work there, so they might as well not exist.
- carsongross 11y agoC'mon man, at least do it right and get one of these guys: http://www.tonke.eu/us/collection/woodline http://www.tonke.eu/us/collection/woodline
- GuiA 11y agoI've thought of doing something similar to that. I might try it at some point, probably just for a chunk of a few months. But I'm thinking more along the lines of buying a more maneuverable VW minivan, and retreating to the Santa Cruz hills or Big Sur over the weekends, because I currently miss nature terribly while living in SF. A few thoughts (I don't work at Google, but a similar large tech company in the south bay): 1) Yes, $2000 a month is expensive for corporate housing. But if your goal really is to save money, you can find a room in San Francisco for under $1000 in a co-op or such and just take the shuttle to Google every day. It won't be the most beautiful house in the world, but it'll beat a truck. 2) If you like bringing home cute girls/boys, that's going to make things significantly harder. 3) I have a fair amount of expensive equipment (photography + music gear) that I would not be comfortable leaving in a vehicle for extended periods of time. It'd just takes once to lose a pretty significant chunk of cash (probably something like $5k in photography gear and close to $10k in music gear, for me). 4) Even if his name and face were withheld, anyone working at Google will remember that truck very distinctly now. Not the smartest move for him, he's probably going to be found out in the next week or two. I have friends who did similar things - whether to save money, or to entertain a more minimalistic lifestyle. I'm still very curious about it, mostly for the latter reason, and would love to read any detailed experiences if anyone here has done it. Here's one link for a few years back: http://austenallred.com/voluntarily-homeless-in-silicon-valley/ http://austenallred.com/voluntarily-homeless-in-silicon-vall...
- infinotize 11y ago#2 doesn't sound like a problem for this use case
- smtucker 11y agophrasing!
- awqrre 11y agocan't you get insurance for #3
- nosuchthing 11y ago
- phantom_oracle 11y agoThis is both savvy and ironic. Being a Google employee, this guy is probably earning +100K per annum, which puts him into the top 1% income-earning bracket IN THE WORLD. Yet this gentleman has chosen to live out of a truck... albeit a worse option when he could have purchased an RV instead. Looking back, I am guessing he will not have many fond memories of his 20s.
- grrowl 11y agoI'm not sure if anyone else feels this, but as a developer there will come a time where my skills are less relevant to the industry, or the industry's bubble bursts or cannot support me. Might as well make hay while the sun shines and squirrel it away for the later time.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- morganvachon 11y ago> Yet this gentleman has chosen to live out of a truck... albeit a worse option when he could have purchased an RV instead. This is what stood out to me the most, and made me wonder why someone would do this in such a half-baked way. Granted, he's a young kid just out of college so maybe he wasn't thinking practically, but on the other hand it reeks of extreme hipsterism. "Look at me, I'm living in a box truck! I'm so original and minimalist!" For the $10k he spent on that hot, bare truck he could instead be in a comfortable RV with appliances, a shower, and solar panels for powering his gear, missing practically no luxuries of apartment living. No, I think the last paragraph of the full article sums it up; he claims he's doing this so he has a good idea of how uncomfortable living conditions can be when he starts his world travel itinerary. He doesn't know the half of it.
- dingaling 11y ago$10k for an RV? Try ten times that for the specification you've suggested.
- 11y ago
- fallinghawks 11y agoLockheed has allowed employees to live in its parking lot for at least a decade if not two.
- nosuchthing 11y agoAmazing how with all the complaints about overpriced real estate in SF/NYC/LA/VAN etc that more people don't opt to own a vehicle that also serves as a sleeping space. The world is so car-centric yet there's still somewhat of a weird stigma against people who choose to live out of cars/vans/westfalias/RVs etc..? Also surprised no one's bothered to produce affordable tiny mobile homes for 3rd world countries or college kids: http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/ http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/ (Elio's enclosed motorcycles are retailing for $6800..?!)
- comrh 11y agoFor awhile it was illegal: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2014/11/18/palo-alto-strikes-down-car-camping-ban http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2014/11/18/palo-alto-stri...
- ClassyHacker 11y agoNot everyone's got a workplace that has free breakfast, free lunch, free dinner, free gym, free shower, enormous parking lots, and laid back policy.
- analog31 11y agoOne way to get access to gym and shower is to sign up for a course at a university and pay a small extra fee.
- username223 11y agoI knew a guy who did this years ago: lived in his van, ate the free food, showered at the gym, and had basically 0 cost of living. When he got a serious girlfriend, he bought a house in cash.
- IvanDenisovich 11y agoIf only there was any sort of work in tech outside of Silicon Valley, us engineers wouldn't have to choose between saving money and pooping indoors. Imagine that.
- gavinh 11y agoTry NYC, Boston, or London.
- betolink 11y agoThis is cool and all but sometimes you need some distance between you and your workplace. Being there all day wouldn't be optimal for me.
- roflchoppa 11y agoI wonder if he stays overnight on the campus, or if he parks the truck out somewhere. Not a bad idea, but ill take commuting via motorcycle and staying at my pops place. Although traffic on 880 is absolute shit.
- rajeshmoov 11y agomay be they are doing hard work for the new idea from google
- sabujp 11y agoI would so do this if I didn't have a family. Also, I don't think he's the first one at google to do this.
- eastbayjake 11y agoDon't most companies' liability insurance policies prohibit employees from sleeping/living on company property outside of work hours because of their liability for injuries that happen while the employee is squatting in a truck in their parking lot? I would be surprised if Google's legal team didn't shut this down real quick.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- hugh4 11y agoIt would be unreasonable if they were deemed to have liability, but that doesn't mean they don't. On the other hand, what's the worst case scenario? Some miniscule probability that one day he'll fall out if his bunk, break his neck, and google will be on the hook for a few hundred grand. In the meantime, they're probably getting hours per day of extra work out of him, and he's less likely to leave for a new job at a startup without a giant parking lot, showers and free food. So overall it's a net win... at least until thousands of others start to do the same thing and google has a shanty town on its hands.
- eastbayjake 11y ago> On the other hand, what's the worst case scenario? (1) I'm sure the city of Mountain View and its zoning committee will have some issues with illegal housing units (2) I'm sure the fire marshall will have some issues with someone permanently inhabiting a flammable structure (literally on top of a barrel of flammable liquid) with no fire-abatement equipment (3) I'm sure the California DMV will refuse to license a vehicle where the owner's home address is the vehicle itself with no real street address, or a street address where the applicant is not a legal resident and cannot receive mail. And if the vehicle is registered out of state while being in California for more than 60 days, he's violating vehicle licensure laws as well. (4) OSHA is going to have issues with an employee sleeping on company property -- for his safety. OSHA fines are a bad time. (5) If the vehicle burst into flames and the occupant locked inside suffered a slow and agonizingly painful death, you can bet that Google will be found to have some liability for wrongful death, including lost wages and suffering, because they knew about an illegal squatter and did nothing to remove him from the property. Double their financial liability if another occupant was having a sleepover with him. So: the worst case scenario is being in trouble with many local, state, and federal entities, as well as 7-8 figure wrongful death lawsuits. > at least until thousands of others start to do the same thing and google has a shanty town on its hands I hadn't even considered the moral hazard here if Google does nothing about this!
- carcamper 11y agoIt's cool to see other people doing this. Until a couple weeks ago that's what I was doing. This is even my throwaway account for topics like this. I lived in my car and didn't work for a big company so accomodations were a little less plesant. However even after 6 months I didn't really mind it. I went to the gym and lift every morning then cleaned up and went to work, then when I was unemployed I went to the library. Not having an 'official' place to sleep was the worst part. I slept in Walmart parking lots. I rotated between 3 but had one main one. I got harassed by cops pretty frequently which was the worst part. Never had a single person (not cop) bother me, and I wasn't exactly in the best areas (as many walmarts aren't). That wasn't the first time I was 'homeless' so I guess I'm used to that lifestyle now, and I'd do it again in a heart beat. (I live in a cold state now, so it's a little more difficult)
- jonlucc 11y agoIt's legal, as long as the lot owner doesn't mind, right? So why are the cops bothering you?
- carcamper 11y agoIt's a phishing attack for them. They want to know if I'm drunk/high/or up to trouble(yes even though I'm sleeping) and they ask question after question to interrogate me and get me to slip up (implying they think I'm just feeding them bs about not being a criminal). They'd follow up with trick questions like 'well do you have any weapons to protect yourself?' they'd circle back and ask me multiple times why I was there trying to get me to change my story. After a couple times of this you know their tricks and it becomes a game. I wasn't sure if it was illegal to be transient so I would always just stick with being too tired to keep driving. Not once were questions out of sincerity or to offer help, just to find ways to pin me with a charge. It was despicable.
- morganvachon 11y agoMany municipalities (cities, towns, and even counties) have local ordinance laws that address vagrancy or loitering, to prevent homeless and transient folks from using parking lots for a place to chill. So it's likely not legal. My own little town has a "move along" ordinance in place that says you can't hang out in a parking lot after the business that owns it has closed for the night.
- nodesocket 11y agoMore power to him, it is his life after all, but I've seen this attitude of extreme frugalness/cheapness and it seems to be a trait that engineers are almost proud of, and brag about. Disclosure: I am myself an engineer, but also founder. I've heard engineers complain about $49 a month for X or Y SaaS solution that would save a bunch of their time and effort. "That is expensive, I'll just build that myself..." It is like they try to optimize everything in their life. In my opinion this attitude is toxic, especially in startups.
- vasilipupkin 11y agohow expensive is it to rent a normal studio apartment near Google? I seem to be the minority here, but it seems crazy to me to live out of a van, rather than a normal apartment. edit: somewhere around 2200 a month? it doesn't seem worth the savings to not have an appt
- billconan 11y agocompanies could build a bunk bed on top of each cubicle, that would solve this issue perfectly.
- typicalgoogler 11y agoSounds like a typical googler to me- another mal-adjusted adult baby.
- typicalgoogler 11y agoWhat a surprise- being down voted by the autistic majority of the HN crowd ;) Flame on if it makes you feel better. Sorry dang, I luv u dawg but couldn't resist throwing some to the trolls.
- PebblesHD 11y agoAccording to his blog, his savings will have broken even as of today and since early this morning, his savings have reached nearly $200 in the black. Thats pretty impressive all things considered, he's payed off the truck and other expenses and is now making money of this setup.
- johan_larson 11y agoI wonder how popular arrangements like this can get before Google puts a stop to it. It would be easy.