Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I’ve been at Google ten years as of this Saturday. Hooray!
Now, I make it a policy not to mention my employer, with two exceptions: coincidentally, as a consumer, such as my recent article about running Google’s TensorFlow deep learning package on my MacBook Air; and concurrently, as an employee, when my employer’s just announced something I’ve worked on.
I’ve abided by this policy for years, even before my current employer, because you really do have no protection from your employer for anything you write: you can get fired for it. Even if you run your writing past your employer for legal approval, your company could be acquired tomorrow, and the new owners’ legal team could review what you’ve done and decide to fire you for it.
So I don’t talk about my current employer on my blog. I disclose both my writing to my employer when I’m hired, and my plan not to write about them, and then I go blog about my own damn business.
But Google’s been awesome to me for the last ten years, so it deserves an exception. It’s been awesome. Even the stuff that comparatively sucked was better than the average at most jobs I’ve held – and most of it didn’t suck. I get to work with awesome people, on awesome problems, with awesome resources, and have eaten a lot of awesome food while doing it.
So, thanks, Google, for all the awesome.
-the Centaur
Pictured: not my birthday cake, not from Google; just a great slice from Cafe Intermezzo.
