Kadiera's Playground Cute but Evil - it averages out

It probably comes across as a bit odd, but I love the *place* that I work - the actual spot, completely separate from what I do or who I work for.

This morning, there were dark clouds in the west, the sun was rising in the east, and the leaves here are just starting to turn to fall colors. It was a fabulous sight, and made me wish I had my camera, though I suspect it'd be hard to capture the whole thing on film in a way that transmits the same sense of awe.

I've been to a lot of places that hire engineers, either on field trips or to check on my suppliers or for interviews. I've seen the engineering centers of the other 2 of the "Big 3" auto companies. One has a single, large, multi-story building where attendance is checked based on the card readers at the door. Another has a large building in a large parking lot, surrounded by high chain link fences and razor wire.

Few workplaces are like the place I am now - it's like being on a college campus, sprawling buildings separated by park-like grass and trees (and parking lots, of course). Most of it isn't structured nature, the way landscaped professional buildings usually look. It's mostly just buildings nestled between large trees. There are benches and picnic tables out on the lawn; built in places for lunch meetings on nice days, though not many of us take advantage of them. Even the fences are classic brick-and-cast-iron, and make it more like a country estate than an office building.

I think, too, that it affects the culture here. I know things have been difficult, but people still pull together and I don't know that we'd do that if we were somewhere else.

I think, though, that this place is a part of the culture here.