I worked at Viewsonic for a couple of years. I took a writing assignment on contract, and then they hired me on for a few more contracts. After that I left. One of the problems was the commute. Viewsonic is all the way out in Walnut, and I was living in Northridge at the time. The commute was terrible, even by L.A. standards. But I wasnt about to move. I couldnt afford to move, and I seriously doubted that I could find any decent landlord that would take me, given me credit history.
I spent a lot of time out of the office. The technical writing people were in a pretty isolated corner of the building, and nobody really kept track of our comings and goings. Our manager at the time was also in charge of the help desk, and spent most of his time dealing with that department.