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I'd work in a filthy basement in the middle of Kansas for a company/project that’s worth it.

drewg123 12y ago
I work for Google in Mountain View, and I'd prefer to work in a filthy basement in Kansas. The commute would be better, and the cost of living lower...
- lfowles 12y ago
  Can confirm: It's certainly not a filthy basement, but it is in Kansas. Commute is great and CoL makes me wonder why anyone would want to live in SF/NYC :)
- nostrademons 12y ago
  Move to Mountain View? For the 5 years I was at Google, I never lived more than 2 miles away, my commute was 15 minutes by bicycle, and for half that, rent was only about $1400/month (it started rising rapidly in the last few years). But wait, it's not SF? Well, neither is Kansas, and as far as urban life & young people go, Mountain View is a lot better than Kansas.
  - pearjuice 12y ago
    >only about $1400/month Interesting how you refer to that as "only". That's like 40% of the average American salary. But if you work at Google and you indicate $1400 with "only" I cannot help but assume Google employees are far above the average national income.
    - nostrademons 12y ago
      Rents for a 1BR in SF are now around $3000/month [1]. Mountain View has gone up significantly in the last few years, a sibling comment indicates it's around $2300/month, but comparatively speaking, it's still "only". Yes, this is insane. But people can pay them. Tech company employees are indeed far above the average national income. [1] http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/06/mapping_the_median_rent_of_a_onebedroom_in_san_francisco.php http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/06/mapping_the_median_...
    - jacalata 12y ago
      You don't have to assume that, the data is pretty freely available. Google tells me that the average national wage is $26k, google entry-level average = $128k.
  - TulliusCicero 12y ago
    > rent was only about $1400/month Yeah, but now it's > The average cost for a 1-bedroom apartment in Mountain View is $2,356, according to myapartmentmap.com http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2014/10/29/rent-control-off-the-table-in-mountain-view-for-now/ http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2014/10/29/rent-control-off-the... Granted, if you're a software engineer at Google that's not too horrible, but it sucks that so much of your big salary goes to renting an average little apartment.
protomyth 12y ago
Uhm, well, you might think so, but it does get really old. I worked at a place that was doing important work, and when I started I had a nice office on the 5th floor. It had a beautiful view. A couple of months later I, and the rest of the group, was moved to an underground office. Now, I don't mean basement. I mean the "company" had emptied out a huge underground oil bunker[1], built a false floor and interior walls, installed fans behind the walls to deal with fumes[2], then build a small cube farm. Radios and cell phones did not work in the new area, and the faint sound of wind behind the false walls was a bit distracting. That is a mighty big negative to balance the worth of a project. 1) it had been used by a electric plant that had been torn down 2) seems oil will "bleed" from concrete walls for some time and the air flow would get rid of the dangerous fumes, or so I was told
- fsk 12y ago
  When I worked for a large financial institution as a contractor, they moved me to floor negative 2. A few weeks later, they announced that my contract was ending. Then, a new project came up, it was un-cancelled, and I was moved back to being with the rest of the group. A year later, they moved me to floor negative 3. A few weeks later, they announced my contract was ending. So, being moved to the basement is a clear sign you are not getting respect. The next time I'm moved to the basement, I immediately start actively looking.
  - protomyth 12y ago
    They were still there years after I left, so I think it was one of those "Facility Manager being cute" things.

I work for Google in Mountain View, and I'd prefer to work in a filthy basement in Kansas. The commute would be better, and the cost of living lower...

lfowles 12y ago
Can confirm: It's certainly not a filthy basement, but it is in Kansas. Commute is great and CoL makes me wonder why anyone would want to live in SF/NYC :)
nostrademons 12y ago
Move to Mountain View? For the 5 years I was at Google, I never lived more than 2 miles away, my commute was 15 minutes by bicycle, and for half that, rent was only about $1400/month (it started rising rapidly in the last few years). But wait, it's not SF? Well, neither is Kansas, and as far as urban life & young people go, Mountain View is a lot better than Kansas.
- pearjuice 12y ago
  >only about $1400/month Interesting how you refer to that as "only". That's like 40% of the average American salary. But if you work at Google and you indicate $1400 with "only" I cannot help but assume Google employees are far above the average national income.
  - nostrademons 12y ago
    Rents for a 1BR in SF are now around $3000/month [1]. Mountain View has gone up significantly in the last few years, a sibling comment indicates it's around $2300/month, but comparatively speaking, it's still "only". Yes, this is insane. But people can pay them. Tech company employees are indeed far above the average national income. [1] http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/06/mapping_the_median_rent_of_a_onebedroom_in_san_francisco.php http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/06/mapping_the_median_...
  - jacalata 12y ago
    You don't have to assume that, the data is pretty freely available. Google tells me that the average national wage is $26k, google entry-level average = $128k.
- TulliusCicero 12y ago
  > rent was only about $1400/month Yeah, but now it's > The average cost for a 1-bedroom apartment in Mountain View is $2,356, according to myapartmentmap.com http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2014/10/29/rent-control-off-the-table-in-mountain-view-for-now/ http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2014/10/29/rent-control-off-the... Granted, if you're a software engineer at Google that's not too horrible, but it sucks that so much of your big salary goes to renting an average little apartment.

protomyth 12y ago

Uhm, well, you might think so, but it does get really old. I worked at a place that was doing important work, and when I started I had a nice office on the 5th floor. It had a beautiful view. A couple of months later I, and the rest of the group, was moved to an underground office. Now, I don't mean basement. I mean the "company" had emptied out a huge underground oil bunker[1], built a false floor and interior walls, installed fans behind the walls to deal with fumes[2], then build a small cube farm. Radios and cell phones did not work in the new area, and the faint sound of wind behind the false walls was a bit distracting. That is a mighty big negative to balance the worth of a project. 1) it had been used by a electric plant that had been torn down 2) seems oil will "bleed" from concrete walls for some time and the air flow would get rid of the dangerous fumes, or so I was told

fsk 12y ago
When I worked for a large financial institution as a contractor, they moved me to floor negative 2. A few weeks later, they announced that my contract was ending. Then, a new project came up, it was un-cancelled, and I was moved back to being with the rest of the group. A year later, they moved me to floor negative 3. A few weeks later, they announced my contract was ending. So, being moved to the basement is a clear sign you are not getting respect. The next time I'm moved to the basement, I immediately start actively looking.
- protomyth 12y ago
  They were still there years after I left, so I think it was one of those "Facility Manager being cute" things.