Google employee lives in a truck in the company's parking lot

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/A-23-year-old-Google-employee-lives-in-a-truck-in-6579549.php

by cpeterso • 11 years ago

53 91 11 years ago

pavornyoh4• 11 years ago

In light of this article, won't he be kicked of the lot? But well played by him. My only worry is if he will be able to get/attract a "little action" in the truck parked in the lot you know..

copperx5• 11 years ago

First thing that came to mind, too. However, he can always go to his partner's residence for action.

pavornyoh4• 11 years ago

However, he can always go to his partner's residence for action.

You are right I suppose. That thought process eluded me:). It all works out then.

ballsohardy• 11 years ago

yeah I'm sure a software engineer intern living in a truck definitely has a partner

Pinckney2• 11 years ago

He mentions on his blog that he already had a run-in with company security. The verified that he was an employee, apologized for waking him up, and left him be.

pavornyoh4• 11 years ago

The verified that he was an employee, apologized for waking him up, and left him be.

Thank you for pointing that out to me.

intopieces4• 11 years ago

My suspicion is that this fellow crashes on a friend's couch pretty often. Unless Google allows him 24 hour access, he doesn't have a bathroom at night or on weekends.

"It's really hard to justify throwing that kind of money away. You're essentially burning it — you're not putting equity in anything and you're not building it up for a future — and that was really hard for me to reconcile."

Equity and saving for the future are things you do after you've established a home. Comfort and time off of work are essential to a well-balanced and healthy life.

What's sad, to me, is not that he lives in a truck, it's that he works so much that doesn't value any time alone in his own space. I know the rent is exorbitant in the bay, but his pay from Google has that factored in -- he's no Mission artist getting evicted, after all. I happily pay a significant portion of my income to have a home, even a rented one.

ori_b• 11 years ago

Unless Google allows him 24 hour access, he doesn't have a bathroom at night or on weekends.

Google allows 24 hour access, unless that's changed recently.

intopieces4• 11 years ago

Hope he got a good parking spot, then; either he's walking a mile at night to use the facilities or seriously irking whoever maintains the lawn.

xiaoma• 11 years ago

He probably really enjoys being in the office and produces a lot now. It could be a great deal for Google, just as it is for him.

ipsin• 11 years ago

Yeah, large companies seem to allow badged access after hours.

A chemical toilet is also a wonderful thing.

pconner• 11 years ago

In his blog, he mentions that some of the time he spends "at work" is spent eating meals, exercising, or socializing. It's not a complete lack of work/life balance.

intopieces4• 11 years ago

It's not a complete lack of work/life balance.

To me, doing all of your life at work is work, with no life. I need to disconnect, and I can't do that in the place where I work. Is this a corporate culture thing now? Work for Google, socialize only with Googlers, eat/sleep/breathe work?

copperx5• 11 years ago

Comfort and time off of work are essential to a well-balanced and healthy life.

It has been shown that reducing commute time significantly increases your happiness. Besides, I'm sure there's a higher purpose for what he's doing, otherwise it would be intolerable.

allencoin2• 11 years ago

Equity and saving for the future are things you do after you've established a home.

He has established a home, it's just not a traditional one. It's a really-not-up-to-code tiny house on wheels.

If he were living in a Winnebago or a trailer would you feel differently?

new_hackers• 11 years ago

I was thinking that: why didn't he buy a Winnebago?

intopieces4• 11 years ago

If this were a story about migrant workers employed by Google, would you feel differently? I suspect so; our standards for living spaces are not arbitrary. That this man chooses to forgo them despite his salary is certainly his prerogative, but this "hack" drawing admiration points to a central failure of both housing in the bay and the culture at large that values future profits over basic living.

beatpanda6• 11 years ago

It is irrational to pay current Bay Area rents, especially if you plan on living here long-term. The only way to avoid eviction for sure is to buy, and that's going to cost you roughly half a million dollars at the low end. Better to minimize your expenses and ramp up to that than set half your paycheck on fire to pay the inflated rent.

sdenton42• 11 years ago

I'm living in the east bay, and was recently running calculations on home purchasing... Take a 30 year mortgage, calculate the total interest+property taxes paid over the 30 years, and divide by 30*12 to get the amount of money per month not going into equity. Turned out to be pretty close to my rent, in most cases.

It also turns out that the appreciation of housing in the US has been negligible up until the post-2000 housing boom. From the 1920's to 2000, the average increase in a house's value was 0.6% per year. So the part that isn't going to the bank is going into a possibly really poor savings fund. And one that can burn down... At this point, I'm thinking it probably still makes more sense to rent, and do the usual index fund thing.

6t6t6• 11 years ago

Buying a house in the Bay Area is an investment that you should only do if you absolutely believe that there's not a technological bubble and that tech companies in the area will continue to pay the highest salaries in the world for the next 30 years.

beatpanda6• 11 years ago

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the smartest person working at Google.

copperx5• 11 years ago

I would do something very similar, in fact.

cooper122• 11 years ago

There was a guy who slept inside AOL's campus too, except on the couches: http://www.cnet.com/news/meet-the-tireless-entrepreneur-who-...

personjerry• 11 years ago

I give it a week before this is spun into some sort of attack on the culture of the tech industry.

whitehat2k9• 11 years ago

That long? I appreciate your optimism.

TranquilMarmot• 11 years ago

When I read the headline, I thought that's what this was going to be!

beatpanda6• 11 years ago

I doubt it, what this guy is doing is standard practice in the oil fields in North Dakota and nobody seems to have anything to say about that.

hugh43• 11 years ago

Journalists don't go to the oilfields of North Dakota and don't socialise with people who work there, so they might as well not exist.

carsongross• 11 years ago

C'mon man, at least do it right and get one of these guys:

http://www.tonke.eu/us/collection/woodline

GuiA• 11 years ago

I've thought of doing something similar to that. I might try it at some point, probably just for a chunk of a few months. But I'm thinking more along the lines of buying a more maneuverable VW minivan, and retreating to the Santa Cruz hills or Big Sur over the weekends, because I currently miss nature terribly while living in SF.

A few thoughts (I don't work at Google, but a similar large tech company in the south bay):

1) Yes, $2000 a month is expensive for corporate housing. But if your goal really is to save money, you can find a room in San Francisco for under $1000 in a co-op or such and just take the shuttle to Google every day. It won't be the most beautiful house in the world, but it'll beat a truck.

2) If you like bringing home cute girls/boys, that's going to make things significantly harder.

3) I have a fair amount of expensive equipment (photography + music gear) that I would not be comfortable leaving in a vehicle for extended periods of time. It'd just takes once to lose a pretty significant chunk of cash (probably something like $5k in photography gear and close to $10k in music gear, for me).

4) Even if his name and face were withheld, anyone working at Google will remember that truck very distinctly now. Not the smartest move for him, he's probably going to be found out in the next week or two.

I have friends who did similar things - whether to save money, or to entertain a more minimalistic lifestyle. I'm still very curious about it, mostly for the latter reason, and would love to read any detailed experiences if anyone here has done it.

Here's one link for a few years back: http://austenallred.com/voluntarily-homeless-in-silicon-vall...

infinotize• 11 years ago

#2 doesn't sound like a problem for this use case

smtucker• 11 years ago

phrasing!

awqrre• 11 years ago

can't you get insurance for #3

nosuchthing2• 11 years ago

• Heat is a huge issue, so shaded parking spots or air conditioning become very important. A roof rack with solar panels or a storage bin help in a minor way, but any direct sunlight will quickly raise the interior temperature of the vehicle.

• Upgrade the battery system with a deep cycle battery and a voltage switch relay or a manual switch to prevent your 'house' electronics from draining the starter battery. A pure sine wave inverter is more expensive than a normal ('modifed sinewave') inverter but it's well worth it if you have any expensive electronic devices.

• Secure climate controlled storage units would seem like an option for your music/photography gear.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers

flomo• 11 years ago

When I was in my early 20s, it seemed like we always had someone crashing on our sofa, including employees of major tech firms. At that age, having a 'fuck truck' is probably not any worse than rooming with five other guys in a three bedroom apartment.

phantom_oracle• 11 years ago

This is both savvy and ironic.

Being a Google employee, this guy is probably earning +100K per annum, which puts him into the top 1% income-earning bracket IN THE WORLD.

Yet this gentleman has chosen to live out of a truck... albeit a worse option when he could have purchased an RV instead.

Looking back, I am guessing he will not have many fond memories of his 20s.

grrowl• 11 years ago

I'm not sure if anyone else feels this, but as a developer there will come a time where my skills are less relevant to the industry, or the industry's bubble bursts or cannot support me. Might as well make hay while the sun shines and squirrel it away for the later time.

morganvachon5• 11 years ago

Yet this gentleman has chosen to live out of a truck... albeit a worse option when he could have purchased an RV instead.

This is what stood out to me the most, and made me wonder why someone would do this in such a half-baked way. Granted, he's a young kid just out of college so maybe he wasn't thinking practically, but on the other hand it reeks of extreme hipsterism. "Look at me, I'm living in a box truck! I'm so original and minimalist!" For the $10k he spent on that hot, bare truck he could instead be in a comfortable RV with appliances, a shower, and solar panels for powering his gear, missing practically no luxuries of apartment living.

No, I think the last paragraph of the full article sums it up; he claims he's doing this so he has a good idea of how uncomfortable living conditions can be when he starts his world travel itinerary. He doesn't know the half of it.

dingaling• 11 years ago

$10k for an RV? Try ten times that for the specification you've suggested.

pkaye• 11 years ago

Why would you compare against the income of the world? You need to factor the local cost of living, taxes, etc. The medium household income in Santa Clara county is something like $95K.

PakG1• 11 years ago

He says he himself that he's barely at home, except to sleep. He's out on the town a lot. He also hopes to travel a lot, and views this experience as a way for him to become comfortable with unusual situations that he'd experience globally. Given all that, how would living in a truck cause him to have fewer fond memories?

tankerdude• 11 years ago

An RV is actually quite pricey in many ways. But, an A frame that you can tow with something like a Subaru Outback, would be pretty nice for something $10K or less.

Not as nice as an RV, but still much nicer than that truck.

fallinghawks• 11 years ago

Lockheed has allowed employees to live in its parking lot for at least a decade if not two.

nosuchthing2• 11 years ago

Amazing how with all the complaints about overpriced real estate in SF/NYC/LA/VAN etc that more people don't opt to own a vehicle that also serves as a sleeping space.

The world is so car-centric yet there's still somewhat of a weird stigma against people who choose to live out of cars/vans/westfalias/RVs etc..?

Also surprised no one's bothered to produce affordable tiny mobile homes for 3rd world countries or college kids: http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/ (Elio's enclosed motorcycles are retailing for $6800..?!)

comrh• 11 years ago

For awhile it was illegal: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2014/11/18/palo-alto-stri...

ClassyHacker• 11 years ago

Not everyone's got a workplace that has free breakfast, free lunch, free dinner, free gym, free shower, enormous parking lots, and laid back policy.

analog31• 11 years ago

One way to get access to gym and shower is to sign up for a course at a university and pay a small extra fee.

username223• 11 years ago

I knew a guy who did this years ago: lived in his van, ate the free food, showered at the gym, and had basically 0 cost of living. When he got a serious girlfriend, he bought a house in cash.

IvanDenisovich• 11 years ago

If only there was any sort of work in tech outside of Silicon Valley, us engineers wouldn't have to choose between saving money and pooping indoors.

Imagine that.

gavinh• 11 years ago

Try NYC, Boston, or London.

betolink• 11 years ago

This is cool and all but sometimes you need some distance between you and your workplace. Being there all day wouldn't be optimal for me.

roflchoppa• 11 years ago

I wonder if he stays overnight on the campus, or if he parks the truck out somewhere. Not a bad idea, but ill take commuting via motorcycle and staying at my pops place. Although traffic on 880 is absolute shit.

sabujp• 11 years ago

I would so do this if I didn't have a family. Also, I don't think he's the first one at google to do this.

eastbayjake2• 11 years ago

Don't most companies' liability insurance policies prohibit employees from sleeping/living on company property outside of work hours because of their liability for injuries that happen while the employee is squatting in a truck in their parking lot? I would be surprised if Google's legal team didn't shut this down real quick.

hugh43• 11 years ago

It would be unreasonable if they were deemed to have liability, but that doesn't mean they don't.

On the other hand, what's the worst case scenario? Some miniscule probability that one day he'll fall out if his bunk, break his neck, and google will be on the hook for a few hundred grand. In the meantime, they're probably getting hours per day of extra work out of him, and he's less likely to leave for a new job at a startup without a giant parking lot, showers and free food. So overall it's a net win... at least until thousands of others start to do the same thing and google has a shanty town on its hands.

eastbayjake2• 11 years ago

On the other hand, what's the worst case scenario?

(1) I'm sure the city of Mountain View and its zoning committee will have some issues with illegal housing units

(2) I'm sure the fire marshall will have some issues with someone permanently inhabiting a flammable structure (literally on top of a barrel of flammable liquid) with no fire-abatement equipment

(3) I'm sure the California DMV will refuse to license a vehicle where the owner's home address is the vehicle itself with no real street address, or a street address where the applicant is not a legal resident and cannot receive mail. And if the vehicle is registered out of state while being in California for more than 60 days, he's violating vehicle licensure laws as well.

(4) OSHA is going to have issues with an employee sleeping on company property -- for his safety. OSHA fines are a bad time.

(5) If the vehicle burst into flames and the occupant locked inside suffered a slow and agonizingly painful death, you can bet that Google will be found to have some liability for wrongful death, including lost wages and suffering, because they knew about an illegal squatter and did nothing to remove him from the property. Double their financial liability if another occupant was having a sleepover with him.

So: the worst case scenario is being in trouble with many local, state, and federal entities, as well as 7-8 figure wrongful death lawsuits.

at least until thousands of others start to do the same thing and google has a shanty town on its hands

I hadn't even considered the moral hazard here if Google does nothing about this!

carcamper2• 11 years ago

It's cool to see other people doing this. Until a couple weeks ago that's what I was doing. This is even my throwaway account for topics like this.

I lived in my car and didn't work for a big company so accomodations were a little less plesant. However even after 6 months I didn't really mind it. I went to the gym and lift every morning then cleaned up and went to work, then when I was unemployed I went to the library.

Not having an 'official' place to sleep was the worst part. I slept in Walmart parking lots. I rotated between 3 but had one main one. I got harassed by cops pretty frequently which was the worst part. Never had a single person (not cop) bother me, and I wasn't exactly in the best areas (as many walmarts aren't).

That wasn't the first time I was 'homeless' so I guess I'm used to that lifestyle now, and I'd do it again in a heart beat. (I live in a cold state now, so it's a little more difficult)

jonlucc• 11 years ago

It's legal, as long as the lot owner doesn't mind, right? So why are the cops bothering you?

carcamper2• 11 years ago

It's a phishing attack for them. They want to know if I'm drunk/high/or up to trouble(yes even though I'm sleeping) and they ask question after question to interrogate me and get me to slip up (implying they think I'm just feeding them bs about not being a criminal). They'd follow up with trick questions like 'well do you have any weapons to protect yourself?' they'd circle back and ask me multiple times why I was there trying to get me to change my story.

After a couple times of this you know their tricks and it becomes a game. I wasn't sure if it was illegal to be transient so I would always just stick with being too tired to keep driving.

Not once were questions out of sincerity or to offer help, just to find ways to pin me with a charge. It was despicable.

morganvachon5• 11 years ago

Many municipalities (cities, towns, and even counties) have local ordinance laws that address vagrancy or loitering, to prevent homeless and transient folks from using parking lots for a place to chill. So it's likely not legal. My own little town has a "move along" ordinance in place that says you can't hang out in a parking lot after the business that owns it has closed for the night.

nodesocket• 11 years ago

More power to him, it is his life after all, but I've seen this attitude of extreme frugalness/cheapness and it seems to be a trait that engineers are almost proud of, and brag about. Disclosure: I am myself an engineer, but also founder.

I've heard engineers complain about $49 a month for X or Y SaaS solution that would save a bunch of their time and effort. "That is expensive, I'll just build that myself..."

It is like they try to optimize everything in their life. In my opinion this attitude is toxic, especially in startups.

vasilipupkin• 11 years ago

how expensive is it to rent a normal studio apartment near Google? I seem to be the minority here, but it seems crazy to me to live out of a van, rather than a normal apartment.

edit: somewhere around 2200 a month? it doesn't seem worth the savings to not have an appt

billconan• 11 years ago

companies could build a bunk bed on top of each cubicle, that would solve this issue perfectly.

PebblesHD• 11 years ago

According to his blog, his savings will have broken even as of today and since early this morning, his savings have reached nearly $200 in the black. Thats pretty impressive all things considered, he's payed off the truck and other expenses and is now making money of this setup.

johan_larson3• 11 years ago

I wonder how popular arrangements like this can get before Google puts a stop to it. It would be easy.

Google employee lives in a truck in the company's parking lot

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