The first week was awesome. After setting up my machine on Monday, they threw us right into the fire and had us start testing. Since we had all of the source code, I was able to debug some of the issues myself, with the result being that I now have a fairly good handle on the architecture of the product. The rest of the week was more of the same, with some small coding nuggets thrown in here and there.

My “office” mates are cool. There are three of us together in this huge lab room. There’s me, Joseph, and Ashwinkumar (Ashwin). Joseph is from Malaysia, and Ashwin is from India. It’s fascinating to compare stories and to hear how day-to-day life is different in very subtle ways. Ashwin is a little harder to understand than Joseph, but thus far we have been able to communicate effectively. They are both fun to talk to. Joseph in particular seems to share my goofy sense of humor.

These guys have it kind of rough. They’re both foreign nationals, so getting regular things done – setting up bank accounts, renting an apartment, buying a car, etc. – is way more of a pain for them than it is for you and me. Plus, by coming to the States, they both had to basically start from scratch. In their home countries, they had nice computers and their own automobiles, not to mention friends and family. In order to save on costs, they had to leave those things behind. So now they’re in a foreign country with little else than their clothes and whatever other personal effects they brought with them. They don’t even have the freedom to go exploring, seeing what the rest of this country has to offer. Fortunately, that will change soon as they are both looking to purchase a car in the near future.

Anyway, it’s good to be back. Intel seems like a good company to work for. The next couple of months will be very exciting.

P.s. - Intel announced that they are building yet another building on the Folsom campus, bringing the total to 8. Coincidence? I think not.