TR under the covers- I cracked TR!
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The side of the building
The side of the building
This is the first you know that you are in the office park of office parks. Fortunately for us, the GPS knew exactly where we were going. I saw the sign and knew we were almost there- after 13 hours of nearly non-stop driving and way too little sleeping!
The front door
The front door
This is it, the entrance to TR. This door is locked but Sonja and Beth were waiting for me.
Mark Kaelin
Mark Kaelin
One of the sweetest guys you will ever meet, I stopped in to chat with Mark about his habit of taking things apart. On the corner of his desk is the poor little MacBook Air that he disassembled. It was happily running Leopard when I saw it, so I guess no harm done.
Mark and I
Mark and I
Couldn’t resist getting a picture with Mark.
Tandy CoCo
Tandy CoCo
This is the Tandy CoCo that Mark took apart just a few weeks ago. Yesterday it was a star. Today it is sitting alone against a wall.
Commodore 64
Commodore 64
I believe that the Commodore 64 has fallen victim to a screwdriver wielding Mark as well.
TR-80
TR-80
These were referred to as the “Trash80” back in the day. I have no idea if this one works. I know that there is one in my closet that DOES still work. We even have all the bits that go with it.
John Sheesley
John Sheesley
In an office that is a shrine to Snoopy and a couple of great museum pieces, you’ll find John Sheesley. He is at least three of the most easy going people I’ve met. While we were there, we got to take a look at some computing dinosaurs. Very cool. If you haven’t checked out his new blog yet, I suggest you do so. It’s called Classics Rock
Tandy 1000 (I think)
Tandy 1000 (I think)
You can tell how old this machine is by the photo. Believe it or not, it’s running Windows- 2.0 I think.Ah the memories!
Early laptop
Early laptop
This old laptop was found on John’s credenza. While obviously an older specimen, it is actually quite small.
Mary Weilage
Mary Weilage
We don’t see Mary on TR but she is lurking. Mary was a finalist for the Best of the Best Chairman’s Club award from CNET. She is also a lovely lady.
Selena Frye
Selena Frye
Didn’t get much time with Selena. On this day, I caught her with work to do and deadlines to meet.
Eve Lee
Eve Lee
We know Eve on the forums as Leee. Eve is only recently back after the birth of her daughter.
Jenna Miller
Jenna Miller
This is as good as it gets trying to get a picture of Jenna. Great puppy photos, though!
Office mascot
Office mascot
I thought that Timmy the monkey was unique to Think Geek but perhaps not. This guy was parked outside of Jenna’s cube.
Cube toys
Cube toys
There is no shortage of toys at TR. And no shortage of books either. I learned to look around me very carefully so I didn’t miss anything.
Beth Blakely
Beth Blakely
Now see? Beth isn’t fearsome! Actually, I have to take this space to publicly apologize to Beth for leaving without saying good-bye. Not even remotely intentional, just the way things went. I realized that I hadn’t checked in with her when we got back to the hotel. But think of it this way- we didn’t cry or get all mushy on each other either! And the next time I’m there, you know there will be prezzies!
Toys in Beth's cube
Toys in Beth's cube
Everyone needs toys, right? These are a few of the things you will find in the Beth zone. I love the Twinkie lunch box!
The end of the row
The end of the row
This was taken from the head of the row looking back. This is where you will find Jay, Smorty, and Beth. Enter at your own risk!
Jay Garmon
Jay Garmon
One of the many pleasures I had this week was to get to know the Trivia Geek a bit better. Jay is a wonderful person with a very quick wit. I can see where he did well in advertising but am glad that he has a niche at TR.
Jay's overhead bin
Jay's overhead bin
What else were you expecting? All I ever keep in an overhead bin is tech books. Not so, the Trivia Geek!
Shawn Morton (Smorty)
Shawn Morton (Smorty)
I knew from reading Shawn’s blog that he is VERY into Guitar Hero. I got to see evidence with my own eyes. The guitar had a loose screw and he had just fixed it. Of course that meant that he had to test the fix. He is amazingly good at that!
Toys of TR
Toys of TR
If you are going to write about something, of course you are required to test drive it.You are looking at the “Game Test Lab”.
More toys
More toys
Guitar Hero, Rock Band, everything you need to become a rock and roll game god!
The TR Test Lab
The TR Test Lab
You knew that there had to be a test lab on site, didn’t you? And being geeks, you wanted to see pictures. Being a geek, I took pictures.
Racks in the Test Lab
Racks in the Test Lab
Where there is a test lab, there are racks and wire. I would say something about wire management here, but it’s a test lab and entitled to have wire in odd places.
The office of the Big Guy
The office of the Big Guy
Jason was out of the office the whole week I was there. And when the cat’s away…
Sneaking into Jason's office
Sneaking into Jason's office
… the mice will play! I initially thought about filling his office with balloons, but I decided not to. Would have been funny though!
In the seat of power
In the seat of power
Yep, I actually sat at Jason’s desk. Very interesting to be in the “power chair”. I felt like editing something!
Getting comfy
Getting comfy
I had to do it. It was a moral imperative. Wouldn’t you have done the same thing in my shoes? I think that everyone secretly wants to put their feet up on the bosses desk. I actually got to do it!
Leaving Jason a note
Leaving Jason a note
Since Jason was out of town, I decided to leave him a note from TiggerTwo.
Jason's press passes
Jason's press passes
Jason has been at this for awhile. This is his collection of press passes.
Jason's office door
Jason's office door
This is the cartoon that Jason has on his office door. Funny!
Sonja in the podcast studio
Sonja in the podcast studio
Poor Sonja was working around me all week. I can require much of a person. Here she is editing a podcast. I managed to completely interrupt her.
Sonja Thompson
Sonja Thompson
When I decide to intrude on someone, I don’t go half way. Fortunately for me, Sonja was extremely generous with her time.
Chatting with Sonja
Chatting with Sonja
I had a podcast scheduled with MicroFocus to discuss COBOL the next day. Sonja took a moment to get me familiar with the equipment.
The TR banner
The TR banner
This is pinned to the wall in the podcast studio.
The basement
The basement
This is the basement of TR. It is home to discarded office chairs, a ping-pong table, a fooze-ball table and…
Boxes of swag
Boxes of swag
… the mother-lode of TR swag! I’m wondering how much I will be able to smuggle out.
Picking through boxes
Picking through boxes
It was almost too tempting to make up an excuse to bring my computer bag down and “accidentally” drop a few choice items in.
This will fit me!
This will fit me!
You have to know that I am not leaving that room empty handed!
TR Swag
TR Swag
Actually, I didn’t leave empty handed. I think that Eve was behind the book, I know that Sonja was behind the rest. The dart board is great and I love the little flag. The tool kit is perfect, the tee-shirt is something that I have wanted for some time, my cats think that the little light up ball should belong to them but the ultimate in cool is the wine cork and opener. Now, if I could just get them to change to a pink flag for the 3 Day! It was a great trip and I will likely do it again. Thanks to everyone at TR for making me feel so at home!
