A job perk

My new office is located in an office building complex.  There are six buildings total, with 5 floors each.  5 of the buildings surround a really beautiful courtyard complete with a fountain.  It's kind of like an oasis in the middle of energy.  Very peaceful and quiet even though there is a major road just one building over and the airport can be see just beyond that.  The building complex itself is just one of many in the area.  Down the street is a TV station, a probation office and then eBay/PayPal. There are companies with the "semiconductors" or "microsystems" in their name as well. Welcome to Silicon Valley.

Today, I discovered a perk to working in this particular area.  On the first floor, one building over is a cafe.  It's a cute place with soup, salads, sandwiches and some amazing baked goods.  I had lunch their with one of the people who had come in to train me the other day.  Or rather, we went in, ordered our food and then took it back to the office because it was so crowded in the cafe.

Yesterday I went in for a pick-me-up.  Peanut Butter Cup Brownie.  It was a chocolate brownie with a dollop of peanut butter in the middle.  So good.  Today as I was getting ready for work I realized I hadn't planned for my lunch.  I decided to just grab something on my way over.  That didn't happen (can anyone say traffic?) so when lunch rolled around I decided just to go down to the cafe.  First, though, I decided to look at their menu online.

That's when I noticed it...the "order here" button.  What?  I could order BEFORE going to the cafe.  Sweet.  And then I noticed the other part, "pay here".  Ohhhh it just gets better.  By the time I was done, I had created an account (buy 12 lunches and get one free), plunked in my debit card number and ordered my lunch to be ready in 30 minutes.  20 minutes later my cell phone buzzed and the text message (yes, I said text message) said "Lunch is ready!".  I went down through that courtyard oasis, to the cafe and picked up the bag that was waiting with my name on it.  Heaven!

I plan on taking my lunch much more than buying lunch but what a sweet service that is!  And what a great excuse to take a break, to breathe in fresh air and enjoy the beauty of my surroundings.