California Biking

More soon...Google Boot Camp last weekend in Silicon Valley then camping in Big Sur and spending a week without technology. It was a complete 180. I barely have Internet now, but I have so much to share. 
Two preview photos.

 Google has thousands of these multicolored bikes spread throughout its campuses so employees can easily get from one building to another. They have free food available most of the time in the complex, so the bikes probably also serve the purpose of getting people moving about and getting their energy flowing. Interestingly, our guide told us that Google is also moving away from virtual workplaces (like Yahoo earlier this year) because they've found that people are more productive and creative when they're surrounded by other people. 

I've visited a lot of libraries over the past week in California. (Quick count is six, but it's late and the total might be higher.) I look at things like what kinds of people are using the library and what they're doing, signage, collection, and the overall feeling I get about the community from the space. A highlight of my trip was watching about 30 people lined up in front of LA's Chinatown branch in the minutes before it opened at 12:30pm. Clearly there was a need for, and interest in, library resources. This was taken in Half Moon Bay this afternoon. It's a bike rack. I want one!