I have a few more pictures to share. First of all, here’s Bugdroid.

Sorry he’s so shady. Bugdroid is not his official name, but it’s what everyone calls him, which is confusing and makes no sense. Feeling confused and at sea is a common state for non-Googlers visiting the Googleplex, or maybe just for us older folks. In any case, he pops up everywhere. Can you tell he was inspired by an airport toilet sign?

Google names all the Android OS releases after sweets, as you probably know. What you may not know is every release also has a representative foam statue. The statue of the current OS presides over what I will call the quad, though it probably has a much more confusing name that may not make sense. The older ones have been retired to the Google Android Lawn Statue area, which you can find on Google maps. Visitors are always welcome, no badge needed.

Here’s Eclair, with Cupcake, Gingerbread, Jellybean, Kitkat, and Honeycomb in the background. Just looking at the picture, I’m reliving my visit, that creepy mall candy store feeling of sugar encrusting my skin, with a slightly queasy stomach. I guess I have good dessert visualization.

Back in the quad, we posed with Oreo, the current OS. People do this a lot. We took another family’s picture, then they took ours. We didn’t speak the same language, but there was no mistaking what was wanted.

Also in the quad is Stan, a full-sized replica of an actual T. rex skeleton. Sometimes he is beset by flamingos, but not on the day we visited.

Finally, my favorite, the Google meeting bike.

There are six seats, so on a nice day–I mean, on any day in Mountain View–six folks can have a meeting while pedaling. The person in the elevated seat at the right steers; you can just make out the steering wheel at the top, center-right. Everyone pedals, and it seems some people in the meeting will be moving backwards, though we did not see this in action. This device makes a lot of sense to me. I have been to many meetings that careen about, steered by a dominant leader, with the participants working hard to keep up, and in various stages of perceiving the intended direction. At least there’s no Power Point screen.

I wonder if it’s possible to take notes while pedaling?