Working as a software engineer at a San Francisco/Silicon Valley tech company today, in my mind's eye, is the equivalent of being a rock star, or at least of being a professional lounge chair tester (only with a bit more cerebral activity involved). It is absolutely amazing what's going on in the technology world right now, and those who are a part of this community are lucky because they have the chance to practice their mad skills, to make a good deal of money, and to participate in the process of making people's lives better and easier.
Sure enough, the inventors of, say, apps such as Candy Crush Saga (or even Instagram for that matter) would most probably not go down in history as great contributors to the progress of Civilization and the wellbeing of mankind, but there's no denying that in our increasingly digitized society, in almost every sphere in life there's a technological product of utmost importance that has been first envisioned, developed, and launched by some guy or gal who speaks programming code.
We are way beyond the terms "geek" or "nerd culture", and we have entered the Information Age where technology is not just something out of a sci-fi movie or only accessible to governments or corporations. Technology is everywhere, for everyone, and the future is now. Good times.
Celebrating Halloween with this particular crowd is a thing to behold. I finally managed to go up to the city and visit John's office. John works with the HipChat team, as part of Atlassian, and aside of being very good at what it does, the company has a great taste in designing work spaces. I had such fun last night, and I took some photos to share with you.
The highlights of the evening:
* The steaming Midori punch which I decided to call the "Hello I am Drunk" cocktail.
* Getting lost on my way to the restroom after a couple of the aforementioned cocktails.
* Meeting hobbits, Pokemons, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, Bruce Lee, Tony Stark, The Phantom of the Opera, Superman, Prince William, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, giant pandas, nuns, various Star Wars characters, sexy witches, regular witches, and other monsters.
* Meeting half a dozen puppies, also in costumes.
* Eating apple-peanut butter-marshmallow treats shaped like toothed mouths.
* Taking photos of hyperactive kids who were high on sugar.
* Upon being asked who I was with at the party, I took tremendous pleasure in observing the look on people's faces when I answered: "Oh, I just randomly wandered in here."
* Taking equal pleasure in answering that I was John Pfeiffer's wife.
* Realizing that I am doing the right thing by choosing not to live in the city.
* Having my Mom with us.
So Happy Halloween, my friends, and thanks for visiting. Enjoy!
P.S. If any of you recognize yourselves in the photos, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the original images for keepsakes :)
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