Big shopping trip today. The bike is back from its Spring tune-up. Bought new athletic shoes, and a heart rate monitor. I'm going to the gym tonight, so I wanted to make sure the monitor worked. I've got it all set up and enabled. I'm at my expected resting heart rate of 70 bpm. As I continue with this post, we'll see how close I get to my target heart rate just by being pissed off.
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Google has been in the news lately with their Google Bus system they've deployed for their employess. The Google bus isn't new. It appeared on their blog in 2004, reporting a total 155 riders per day. A testimony to Google's increasing size, their modest transit system now has 1200 riders per day.
For Google, I'm not convinced that the bus is about being Green. It's about aggressively getting improved worker productivity. The key is this,
And Google can get a couple of extra hours of work out of employees who would otherwise be behind the wheel of a car.
I'm currently a victim of Google's aggresive hiring tactics. I was a finalist for one of their scholarships a few years back. Ever since, my e-mail address has been on the bathroom stall of their recruiters. A recruiter contacts me every month, at which I send a polite, "Thank you for the opportunity, please leave me alone."
But it's not the e-mails which set my heart on fire. It's the swag.
Every six months, I get a 16 x 16 x 6 box from Google. It contains some silly thing with the Google + Female symbol, plus a note that says, "Let's Keep in Touch!"
I now have a t-shirt, a bathrobe, and a blanket. Of course Google's notion of "Extra-Large" or "One Size Fits All" makes me feel like a giant. Even in a Google XL baby doll, I look more like Baby Huey.
My mantra as an environmentalist is the classic "reduce, reuse, recycle" with "reduce" being #1. I didn't need (or want) a bathrobe or blanket or t-shirt. I already have a big pile of t-shirts from my industry days, all of which I use to wash my car.
I wonder if I can file a restraining order against Google's mailing department.
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Hm. Good workout! 37 minutes. Max heart rate 103. 73 kCalories burned.
7 comments:
I bet if you email the recruiter and ask to not get stuff, it'll happen.
I would also wager that the bus system is more about being green than about productivity. Partially because most people don't work on the buses (wiki is flakey and even if it wasn't no one wants to work on a bus), but more because Larry is into being green. I'm pretty certain the bus system results in an economic loss (cost of buses vs productivity gain).
I think the bus is about both being green, but if people aren't stuck in their cars they are at work earlier, hence MORE working.
If you send the recruiter, you will probably get more crap. Think about it, then they know it's an active account.
Keep up that heart rate baby!!! You can do it!!
I honestly like the Google Bus idea. And between Tony and Shannon, I'm inspired to do something that might prevent me from getting any more of those boxes.
Thanks for the comments!
Sounds harder to get rid of than those charity mailings. At least when you email/ call them they won't tell you your address has been removed and please pray for us! (I somehow got onto some crazy right-wing Christian mailing lists. I'm not even Christian!)
FCSGS, I think you should start a reality TV show in your [cough!] spare time. You could be like that nanny show (whatever it's called: forgive me, I don't watch TV) except as an environmentalist. Go in there to wanna-be environmentalists and give them a lifestyle makeover, served up with unimitable FCSGS attitude. I think it could be a good show. I volunteer to be your first spotlight.
I really like your blog. Good luck with your exercise regimen. I'm trying to kick mine back into gear as well.
Did you ride your bike to the gym?
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