Because in present Day, everything has to be All About Me…
Several years before I left Utah I was contacted by an aerospace historian/ museum feller about a potential project. It seemed that a big tech company was purchasing an old Hughes Aircraft hangar with the intention of turning it into office space; I was asked if I might be interested in building a large (IIRC, wingspan in excess of twenty feet) replica of the Hughes H4 Hercules “Spruce Goose” to be hung in the large open space. My response was something along the lines of “hell yes,” but it didn’t go much further than that original discussion; like a lot of things it just faded away. Still, I’d dug out what plans I had of the Hercules and started dreaming up how I was going to do it… I’d model it in 3D CAD, lay out the internal structure and have ribs and longerons and frames and all cut out of quality plywood, clad probably in *really* good, really thin plywood, sanded baby-ass smooth and painted appropriately. I had discussions with a local wood shop about getting the many, many parts CNC milled. Woulda been a thing of beauty… and something I could have built several of and presumably made bank on. But it was not to be, and in the years since I’ve not given the project a second thought. Until yesterday…
So there was this TikTok video by some vapid person yapping about her day of meaningless food consumption and unproductivity at the Google LA office, built into a former Hughes hangar. Lo and behold, on display is a “sculpture” of the Hercules hanging from the ceiling, visible about 8 seconds in:
New adult daycare video just dropped, and this may possibly be the most horrifying one yet. These are the people who ban you from tech pic.twitter.com/kceLEkiRrN
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 22, 2023
My old brain fired up and I contacted my acquaintance who had originally presented me with the idea years ago… and, yup, that’s the place, and that sculpture is what they went with rather than my planned subscale replica. More info and a decent photo of it is here:
HistoricHangarBecomesHistory-MakingWorkplace
There are a number of things that jump right out at me. First, the volume of space available in the hangar is vast… and it *seems* like the volume of space actually used for offices and such is *small.* It appears to be horribly inefficiently utilized. And second, here’s the description of the Hercules sculpture:
Comprised of 2,800 individually hung chrome spheres, this perceptual sculpture by Michael Murphy appears to be an amorphous silver cloud until seen from the sole viewpoint where it reveals itself as the “ghost” of the Spruce Goose.
It’s a “perceptual sculpture,” only visible correctly from a single vantage point. Basically, it’s not “real” as such, it’s kinda like a hologram made of ball bearings. That’s… interesting, I guess. but I can’t help draw some analogies: What I had suggested was a real, tangible Hercules, visible as such from all aspects and viewpoints. What they went with was smoke and mirrors. What I had believed the place was going to be was a workplace where people got stuff done. What it ended up being was, apparently a holding facility for people who did nothing of value all day.
Would have been a nice project though. Oh well.
3 responses to “My tenuous, tangential link to the “adult daycare centers””
“Let me know what you want to see next.”
I wanna see you get out and actually do some tangible hands-on work for a living.
No need to ask how that one votes.
I must say the left takes a tad better care of its own….actors and Soros turn on the spigots to bail out low lifes-but where are the conservative moneymen? On their yachts, It is a sin no one has put bank behind your skill Scott,
First time I’ve ever clicked through to one of these show-and-tells about the life of a Modern Tech Employee. ‘Scuse me while I pick my jaw up off my desk. My last few years with [LARGE AIRLINE], we suffered through the Open Office fad. My working space could literally have come from a telemarketer’s boiler room. My lunch came in a brown paper sack. Getting caught napping or bringing in a dog would have had consequences for my continued employment.
On the other hand, I’m retired now and messing around on the Internet, not salty-watering my personal effects in a cardboard box while standing in front of the corporate headquarters.