It's Monday Morning: Beware of the agressive, adolescent, male seals!

Most people walk into the office on Monday morning, preparing themselves for the week ahead. This past Monday, I did as well. Okay Katie, what meetings are big this week? What meetings will be big this week … as soon as you organize them! Are any projects of yours launching this week?
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I waited patiently in the Google bus line in downtown San Francisco; it's a bit reminiscent of the third grade recess line; the casual passerby observes a line of antsy, excitable people fidgeting along the side walk. However, instead of the members of the line being 7 years old and covered in candy remains, the employees are decorated in Google badges and the newest smart phones (and yes, probably most are covered in candy remains as well). The Google bus approaches and people hurriedly take their seats and whip open laptops to connect to the on-board wifi. At this point in the morning, I have settled myself near the back of the bus, sharing the double seat with a member of the Google legal team. Upon opening my calendar, I see that I actually have one meeting taking up the whole day!? By squinting at the text further, I read the headline: "KAYAKING."
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After arriving at the office, I followed my same morning routine: scanned a news feed to learn about the various tech talks and other events at Google that day (A mediterranean tapa cooking class, free waltzing lessons, The Future of Social Networking talk, etc). I went and got an egg-white made-to-order omelet, grabbed snacks from the kitchen around the corner from my office…and then instead of starting off the day thinking about millions of users searching the web, I jumped into a car with my team at headed south.

We kayaked in a place called Elkhorn Slough a little south of Santa Cruz. I didn't get any video, since the waterproofing wasn't very good in the kayaks, but we were within three feet of seals and otters. There was one particular area filled with adolescent, male seals lounging on the docks (they smelled terrible too - surprise!). We were warned to steer clear of them, as they have been known to chase down some kayaks. The otters were particularly curious and would come right up next to the kayaks, floating on their bellies with their heads cocked to the side. It's especially nice to experience this adventure with my team, as it is (admittedly) entertaining to see some of the top code-writers in the world getting splashed by the surf or paddling furiously away from hormonal seals!