In the building where Guy Tozzoli hatched plans in the early 1960’s for an urban renewal project called the World Trade Center, young Google engineers now build software for the ultimate answer machine.

Welcome to Google: the reception area of Google’s NYC offices.

Work spaces in the New York offices of Google.

One of Google NYC’s office spaces.

Razor scooters, a preferred mode of inter-office transport.

Snac-tion: The New York offices of Google have micro kitchens and snack stations throughout.

Lots of Almonds, Yogert Covered Raisins, Sunridge Farms Jelly Beans, Peanut M&M’s, Cheerios and Sunridge Farms Trail Mix.

Google NYC’s gaming area features a pool table, air hockey and Guitar Hero.

Google’s tribute to Albert Einstein “Google=mc2” with Einsign:

First off, sorry for not updating for a couple of days. We’ve been super busy checking out the sites like the Japanese Garden and the Seattle, Washington Space Needle, resting from all the walking, taking lots of pictures and trying to stay off the computer but I figured that it was time for an update with some of the latest pictures from Oregon.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, some amazing waterfalls from the beautiful State of Oregon that we visited on August 15, 2006. I won’t go into a long description as the photos speak for themselves but I will put the name of each waterfall:

Latourell Falls:

Wahkeena Falls:

Multnomah Falls:

Horsetail Falls:

As you can see, these waterfalls were just amazing and the lo-resolution versions I posted don’t due them justice. I took multiple shots of each waterfall as well, I just don’t want to post them all until I get a nice gallery plugin or stand alone gallery script for my site.

Keep in mind that I did take very high resolution pictures, so I’ll be able to get some nice prints done to frame for around the house, turn into screen savers, computer wallpaper or even into nice greeting cards for family or friends.

I hope you enjoy the photos. Comments always welcome.

I’ve been looking through my digital pictures that I’ve been taking while on vacation in Oregon and wanted to share some of the random geek type pictures I took while driving around and getting lost on small two lane roads.

Here is a photo of an interesting door lock at a local Portland, Oregon bank. That’s right, if you need to get into the bank or use the ATM machine after hours, you’ll need to use your ATM card to unlock the door:

Driving down some random street in Aloha, Oregon, I notice a familiar technology logo for a processor company. Yep, Intel’s Aloha Campus:

While in Oregon, I noticed that gas stations don’t want you pumping your own gas which seemed weird to me because I’ve always pumped my own gas. When I asked the gas station attendant about this, he said it was because of safety issues. Interesting indeed. I did snap the photo of the sign below on the gas pump at the Arco gas station while filling up, so maybe this is the safety issue he was talking about?

Most of my friends know that I love classic video games and I even own a few full sized classics myself, so after getting gas at the Arco, we went to a total ghetto arcade called Wunderland. What was really cool was every game took nickels, so basically 5 cents per game. A few did require 3-7 nickels but it was still really cheap to play games.

Next up is a picture of a space age looking pay phone. I’ve never seen one shaped like an egg or green in color for that matter but now everyone can see one because of the photo I took below:

Last but not least is a photo of me next to a yellow road sign which reads “ROCKS”.

This morning I decided that a trip over the bridge and up the Interstate 5 Freeway was in order for a road trip to Seattle, Washington. Enterprise rent-a-car was nice enough to give me unlimited mileage in Oregon and Washington, so why not a road trip right?

As I’ve been doing pretty much this entire trip, I took a bunch of pictures today while in Seattle. Since it took almost 3 hours one way to get into Seattle and I need to be back in Portland tonight, there was only enough time for one stop which was the Space Needle.

The first picture is the view looking up at the Space Needle. This beauty stands at 605 feet high and has an elevation of 730.25 feet above sea level.

Built in 1962, the Space Needle served as the symbol of that year’s World’s Fair. It has since become the symbol of Seattle and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The privately owned Space Needle is managed by the Space Needle Corporation.

Once inside at the observation deck, you have some amazing views. To get a really nice view, there is a sign giving specific directions on what to do:

Once you line your head up against the sign per the instructions (yes I did it), here is the amazing city view:

On the food front, we decided on the Saturday Brunch special which takes place from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. What’s really cool about having any meal at the Space Needle is the Sky City Restaurant rotates 360 degrees, so while you eat, the world actually does revolve around you:

Both the food an view from the table was just amazing. If you ever come to Seattle, Washington, I recommend coming to the Space Needle. It’s worth every penny.

I did pick up a couple of really cool shot glasses for my collection. Yes I know, I have so many collections of “stuff”. It happens.

Tomorrow I’m checking into white water rafting. That should be an adventure for sure.

Today I went to the Japanese Garden in Portland. It was so amazing. If you ever come to Portland, Oregon, I recommend you visit the Japanese Garden.

The Japanese Garden is tucked into a cusp in Portland’s West Hills, situated at about five hundred feet above sea level. It is a haven of tranquil beauty that has been proclaimed one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan.

I took a lot of pictures but I’ll only post a few for now:

These are just a small taste of the pictures I took while visiting the Japanese Gardens.

To find out more about this wonderful place, visit the official Japanese Garden website.

Well today was my first full day in Portland, Oregon and so far this place is great. People always say it rains non-stop but so far it’s been clear blue skies with a nice breeze blowing, so my thought is the locals from Portland just tell native Californians like myself it rains a lot so we won’t move here. Yeah, whatever. I love it.

I’ve been taking a ton of pictures and I still have 7 more days till I go back home, so I’ll be posting a lot. I’m posting smaller versions of the pictures to help on load times but at some point, I will post full size images to my photo gallery once I get it going on the site.

Ok and now on with the photos… first up is a picture of the Inn that I’ll be living at for the next 7-10 days. It’s an amazing place.

The room at the Inn is so nice. It has a view (pictures to come), a huge jacuzzi tub which I’ll be using soon as I’m done with this post and a very comfortable bed. I slept like a rock last night. It also has in-room wireless internet.

Next up is a photo from a local gift shop called Wham. Where else can you find Moses and Jesus action figures? People in Oregon seem to have a sense of humor like me:

Also at this great novelty store, they had a Goonies lunch box, so I had to get that as well with my personal Dashboard Jesus:

While walking around the streets of Portland I came across this crazy sign with a person taking a nose dive on a bicycle:

And last but not least, I’d like to thank the nice people of Portland, Oregon for providing free wireless internet so I could post these wonderful pictures:

Of course I have a lot more pictures to post but for now, it’s off to the jacuzzi tub to relax.