Working From Home

I am working from home this afternoon. Or, as I like to call it No Pants Monday. There are several benefits to working from home. 1 - I'm the only idiot here. 2 - No pants. 3 - The coffee is cheaper. 4 - I'm not actually working.
I will have to log back in shortly and finish my reports. And since my car is at the garage getting fixed I will have to take public transportation to the office tomorrow. The bus and metro system in Montreal has improved over the years. But not for me. It will take me an extra twenty minutes to travel by metro than my usual jaunt by car. A thought just occurred to me, I should carpool tomorrow. Always considering the environment when it suits me best, I will see if any of my colleagues in the area want to give me a ride to work. I searched for "no pants Monday" on the intergoogle and found this picture which I took from the cheezburger network.

Big Bang and Skinny Leg Theory

Where Everyone Knows Your Name

When any of my friends ever said, let’s meet for coffee, nobody ever had to ask where. There has only been one place to go. Cafe Olimpico. For the last fifteen years or so, we’ve been going to the same coffee shop. This was the place to meet friends, read the paper, and hang out.

Over the years and depending on my schedule, I would go daily, weekly or monthly. Every time I went, I would see a familiar face or a friend.

The baristas know me. They know how I take my coffee.

At a certain point, I was going so often, I would not wait in line. I would not even order. I would walk in say hello and go sit down. Within a few minutes I would hear, ‘Shawn, your coffee is ready.’

If anyone ever did ask where we should go for coffee, it was met with chuckles, because there was only one place to go.

That is until this last weekend.

Please Excuse Jennifer Aniston's Overacting.

Slowly, one by one, my friends and extended friends are moving away from the old neighbourhood. They are spreading out in different directions on and off the island.

Last weekend, rather than just showing up at the coffee shop to meet a few of my closest friends, we had to make plans. A few text messages and a phone call or two were exchanged.

‘Coffee Saturday?’
‘OK. 9:30? Where?’
‘9:30. Premiere Moisson?’
‘OK.’

With all the Starbucks, Tim Horton’s and Second Cups in this city, and the rare cup of instant coffee, I am not a coffee snob. But I do know how I like my coffee. You can become adjusted to different surroundings, but you also have to adjust to a different taste of coffee. How do you tell the barista how to make your café latte when all they do is press a button?

It goes beyond a comfortable chair and a good cafe latte. We keep hearing talk of social networks, what about social capital? How much is it worth? I started thinking about this as more than changing coffee shops. It's an upheaval to a new neighbourhood, new surrounding, restaurants, new neighbours and potentially new friends.

I will save the sociological theories and analysis for another time. I realized the best way to discover the new neighbourhood was to walk around the area. Next I tried a search on Google maps.You may be surprised what you can find on Google.
If you have never tried it before, punch in your Postal or Zip code into Google Maps. Click on Search Nearby, and type in your desired search item, be it coffee shop or grocery store.

While I have discovered new restaurants and shops, I haven't found the new hangout yet. I do not know if I ever will. Not everything can be replaced. I will keep looking for that new home away from home.

Dog Days of Summer

Where do ideas come from? The dog days of summer have been dragging me down. A mixture of heat, humidity and a little too much going on at work may have fried my brain. I need to take a few months off. Anyone want to pay my bills?

A day off and some rain and cooler temperatures has actually offered some relief. My brain really has been overtaxed as of late. Maybe it's time to get a guest blogger or two.

For a while ideas were flying into my head and onto the screen. I couldn't understand other bloggers concern over writer's block. In my case I believe it's caused by lack of time and less energy.

I can't increase my coffee intake. I am at the legal daily limit.

I suppose I could sleep more and work less.

I have some started articles. Some require the finishing touch others require some research. I also have to paint my bathroom, fix my car stereo and brakes.

I heard a joke yesterday. Did you hear about Robin Hood's house? It has a little John.

Wired on Coffee

Ever have too much coffee to enjoy your coffee? My big plan was to drive out to the old neighbourhood, meet up with friends, have a café latte and spend the morning reading the papers. An hour and a half and two café lattes later I was too wired from the coffee to sit and read the paper. When my friends left I had to get going.

It's an eventful day in Montreal. Being Independence Day for our American neighbours there are several 4th of July festivities going on. In the old neighbourhood it's also San Marziale day. Every year, usually in August, a street party and parade are held in the Mile End. The late owner of the coffee shop, set up the festival to honour the patron saint of his home town parish in Italy. the marching band was out in full force. I skipped the street vendors and concerts. The signs indicating that the streets would be closed had "Sam Marziele" written on them. Everybody here speaks two or more languages. Nobody speaks any of them correctly.

I also got to see an evacuation at HEC, a Montreal university specializing in business programs. It seems a suspicious package was found on the campus and a couple hundred people had to be evacuated. There were about ten police cars and plenty of officers. Being a Sunday in July there were not a lot of people on campus today, but there are exams taking place.

Which reminds me, there was a terrorist attack in Trois Rivieres on July 2nd. Trois Rivieres - or Three Rivers - is 140 kms north-east of Montreal. A Canadian Forces Recruitment centre was bombed earlier this week. There were no injuries and so far no arrests. A Quebec based group - I won't mention their name - claimed responsibility. They have an anti-military stance and have criticized Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and the police activity at the G20 summit in Toronto.

Three games left to decide who wins the World Cup? Or as some have suggested it's already been decided with the elimination of the favourites. I'm looking forward to the Cup wrapping up so I can focus my attention on some good old Canadian Football.