My friend Julie showed me and Akumi around the campus today. She works for the Finance department in Building 4. When I say “campus”, Microsoft really has a collegiate feel to it. We even saw a group sitting in a circle in a plot of grass having what appeared to be a discussion group. We had lunch at the cafeteria there and the food reminded me of my college dining hall, not terrible, but nothing to write blog about.

Seems like everyone we know in Seattle is trying to pimp it to us. Grace, whom we’re staying with, is constantly pointing out how wonderful it is while Julie is selling both Seattle and Microsoft. She certainly knows how to sell Microsoft to a person like me (not that I need any selling). After lunch, she immediately took us by the soccer field where two lunchtime games were going on a perfect turf field. Need I see more?

After walking around a bit, we headed over to the Microsoft Store and Museum. The store didn’t impress me too much, but the museum was neat, and not just because of the X-Box consoles. The old pictures of Bill and crew inspire a laugh and it was interesting to see the box for “Microsoft Adventure”, one of their first games.

After our impromptu tour was over, we sat in the lobby of building 4 when I noticed a group of people on the other side of the glass walk by. I noticed a guy in an orange XML Web Services shirt and told my wife that the huge book in my backpack that adds all the bulk to my luggage was written by him. I would’ve liked to have introduced myself to Chris, but we were already on the outside of the glass.