Hexicles, Texas BBQ and Thunderstorms
The design of the office I work in is so different from any other office I have seen…it’s so hip, trendy and modern! The interior decorating is almost straight out of an IKEA catalog; there are colorful couches, walls, carpets and artwork throughout the building. In addition to the office being space efficient and pristine-looking, there is a sophisticated “loft look” to it with red brick walls and industrial ceiling. There is so much natural light throughout the office since we have many huge windows that overlook either the pond or the endless rice fields outside. The facilities within the building I work in also includes numerous kitchens, lounges conference rooms, a fully equipped gym (which I will definitely be using) and a relaxation room (a private room where you can take a nap!). I still can’t get over how beautiful and state of the art everything is—it truly makes the office an enjoyable environment to work in, and the amenities makes me feel slightly pampered and spoiled.
I even have my very own hexicle! Yup—a hexicle—because instead of a cube shape, it’s a hexagonal shape! It’s definitely a lot bigger than a normal cubicle is, and more FUN. There is also this lounge area/conference room that belongs to the New Technology group that I am in love with. It’s called the Sky Box…mainly because it’s the room that has the best view of the pond with floor to ceiling windows…but I also think it’s because it’s “the sky is the limit” room. It’s the room we have meetings in to come up with new designs and to get inspired. The room has high bar stool tables, sofas and is always stocked with snacks. There are art supplies and drawing pads on the tables ready to be used to doodle ideas on. The Sky Box is also equipped with a lot of easels, whiteboards and poster paper for when the group presents and brainstorms strategies and designs. It is most definitely the room that helps get the creative juices flowing; there are design reference books, miscellaneous mechanical parts and models there to also help us to draw ideas upon. I can never be in this room long enough–I just feel so giddy whenever I’m in it! Sky Box = Engineer’s playground.
Unfortunately, for security purposes, it is against Schlumberger policy to take any pictures inside—so I am unable to post any pictures of my office, hexicle or the amazing Sky Box. I REALLY wish I could to show all of you :( This past Wednesday, I sat in on my first New Projects/Developments meeting. The meeting was between all of the New Technology groups of Schlumberger around the world; the offices from Texas, Tokyo, China, United Kingdom and France were in attendance and individually presented the new projects they are planning to work on for the next quarter. We were all connected over the phone to hear the presenter/ask questions, and viewed the presentations through WebEx. It was so interesting to see what the other sites are working on; it was also helpful to see the strategies they were using and figuring out how to apply the same principles to our projects here in Texas. At that meeting, it became a reality to me that Schlumberger is truly a humongous worldwide company. As the groups were presenting and conferencing over the phone, you could hear many different accents from all over the globe –all voices collaborating and sharing common ideas through these presentations. The meeting lasted from 6:30am to 12:30pm = 6 hours!–though I was only there for 4 hours. By the end of it, we were all tired and hungry. So our supervisor and manager took us all out to lunch. We carpooled out to Alvin–a small town 17 miles away from SRC to eat AUTHENTIC TEXAS BBQ!! I was super excited—since it was my first Texas BBQ ever (which was absolutely DELICIOUS) —and because it was a great opportunity to bond with my group, manager and network with the Engineering Supervisor. I also want to mention the weird change in weather that Houston has been experiencing these past two days. On Wednesday, Houston experienced a whopping 104 degree heat wave–that was actually a record for the city; it prompted the national weather service to put Houston under an emergency heat wave warning! On Thursday…it was still pretty humid, but gray outside. As we drove back from work, we saw lightning and thunder. All of sudden—it started POURING RAIN for about half an hour! how random!! It reminded me of weather in the Philippines, because it was really warm outside as it was raining. Now I think Texas weather is like a box of chocolates: you never know which extreme you’re going to get! :)
