Things That Make Me Love My Job

Today, the head of our Human Resources department stopped by to show me the 'swag' that she was planning to give out at our booth in an upcoming Career Fair. She said that she wanted the "geek reaction" and I was one of the candidates to give it.

What she showed me was a hand-held electric fan which, once the blades got going at full speed, would display pre-programmed text through the use of some clever software and LED lights. Not only would the text appear, but it could also rotate around the circle of the fan, fade in and fade out, and other tricks. There were three sets of text, each limited to 9 characters or less, and she wanted to know what I thought we might use for the text. (And with a solemn tone, she informed me that she and her co-workers in HR had determined that "a blank counts as one of the 9 characters if you use one"...)

As soon as I started ooh'ing and ahh'ing at the fan's light show, my fellow geeks began to be drawn to my cube like moths to a newly-lit flame! First a couple, then a few more, and before long there was a throng of my brethren congregated outside my tiny area, all witnessing this display of unparalleled coolness and asking questions like, "So will current employees be getting one of these?" ("No.") and "Can I program the words myself?" ("No... and you're not getting one anyway!").

It's moments like that which remind me of just how techy an environment I work in. I'm surrounded by geeks! And I love it!