Current mood:	thoughtful
Current music:	blissful silence

Where is Oracle?
I spent about 8 years working at Oracle Headquarters in Redwood Shores, California.
Actually, I almost took a job working for Oracle as a consultant in Columbus, Ohio; it was a tough decision. The consulting job offered more money, and Ohio is closer to my family in the midwest.

In the end, though, it was a no-brainer; I wanted to be in Development, and especially in the specific area of Configuration Management, and that job was in California.
Having made that decision, the first few years it seemed easy; Redwood Shores is the center of the Oracle universe -- the place to be!

Now, I work extremely closely with a team of (brilliant, by the way) engineers in Thames Valley Park, in England.
Also, half my team are in Bangalore (aka India Development Center, aka "IDC"). Last but not least, I made some friends in the Adelaide, Australia office (including one with an OraBlog).

Anyway... meeting times with TVP and IDC were always a hassle when I worked in California. There really is no convenient time between these 3 nearly equidistant geographical points!

Now I have spent the past 2 months working in Oracle's New England Development Center (NEDC) in Nashua, New Hampshire.
I can honestly say, from the standpoint of working with people in England and India, New England is a far, far more advantageous place to be. The 3 timezones offset from California mean I have several hours each day where the British and Indians are reasonably available. As everyone is connected via Oracle RTC (Oracle's chat program), it's quite easy to interact with everyone.

I would say to anyone that's working with folks in Bangalore or Britain -- you ought to have a look at New England. Aside from being a really nice place in its own right, the timezones are quite favorable.

For the next week I'll be back in Redwood Shores, visiting my boss, my team at Headquarters, making presentations, etc.
No doubt, I will also be eating as much Indian cuisine as I can get my hands on -- there are precious few Indian restaurants here in Nashua.