It was my first “real” job after grad school, so I was still very young. The company was holding an open house for interviews after hours, and they asked me to participate.
I was one of the interviewers.
I walked to our lobby to greet my next candidate, a gentleman who was probably mid-40s, dressed reasonably but not particularly impressively. It was easy to tell instantly that he thought he was Very Important, and that the formality of an interview was a nuisance.
Based on my answer to the question "How is it possible to draw or make a 1x1 right triangle if the square root of 2 is irrational?" which was posted January 2, 2021 on Quora.
I think what you’re asking is how we can create a physical object (or a drawing of one) if one or more of its dimensions is irrational. In other words, if a number ends in a decimal that never terminates or repeats (such as the square root of two), how can it actually exist?
When I joined Google about a decade and a half ago, it felt more like a playground for grownups (or almost-grownups) than a workplace. Everything was bright and shiny and amazing, and everyone was super helpful and friendly. It's no secret that much has changed since then, but one aspect of the Noogler¹ experience remains constant.
As they start learning about the tools, technologies, and projects they’ll be working with, most Nooglers are excited and wowed by both the quality and quantity of tools, toys, and food that are available to them. Then, around two to six weeks later, when they least expect it, the panic and self-doubt hit. Hard. What am I doing here? I don’t know anything, and there’s too much to learn! Everyone else is way smarter than I am! They must’ve made a mistake when they hired me! I’m never going to survive!
During my last several years there, I loved to have virtual 🙶coffee chats🙷 with Nooglers and interns from all over the world. I learned about roles I didn't even know existed. Their fresh perspectives reminded me to appreciate things I might have been taking for granted. And I made sure to let them know what to expect during onboarding.
If I met someone early enough into their tenure, while they were still whelmed but not yet overwhelmed, they might laugh and think I'm joking. But sometimes I'd catch them right after it'd taken hold and started to metastasize. That was the case when my teammate asked me to 🙶guest mentor🙷 an intern while she was away.
My last post explained why I like my self-heating mug so much, but it ended with a well-deserved kvetch: The entire mug becomes useless when a pin on the charging coaster gets stuck. If you Google charging coaster pin, you'll see complaints from all over the Internet about various brands that all have the same problem:¹
One of the pins gets stuck, and no amount of prodding, poking, beseeching, or percussive maintenance will cajole it back into place.
