Ted Leung on the air : I actually can work in a coffee shop

Ted Leung on the air
Ted Leung on the air: Open Source, Java, Python, and ...

Thu, 27 Jan 2005

In between meetings today (Wednesday), I hunkered down at Zeitgeist Coffee, which turned out to be centrally located for the various people I needed to see today (I picked it for the Wifi).

I don't really like coffee shops. There are a variety of reasons. First, I don't like coffee. I guess I don't have a sufficiently refined palate. You could pour me coffee from Folgers and coffee from Starbucks, and I'd be hard pressed to tell them apart. So the expensive gourmet factor doesn't appeal to me. When we first moved to Seattle, friends tried to addict me to coffee -- unsuccessfully. I have fairly severe lactose intolerance, which for a long time meant that I had to drink coffee black, also an uninviting prospect -- the availability of soy or rice milk has reduced this consideration quite a bit. So I use coffee for one reason: to stay awake when I need to. Today I added a second reason, to earn the right to use free wireless in a coffee shop.

The other problem with working in a coffee shop is that I am noise intolerant. I have pretty good hearing, which turns out to be a bad thing if you are sensitive to noise. Since many of my tasks require intense concentration, noise intolerance can be a problem. Today I saw with my iPod turned up fairly loudly in order to drown surrounding conversations and Zeitgeists own (and loud) music. Sounds antisocial -- but when I'm working, I'm generally antisocial.

So I was pleased to discover that I actually can do work in a coffee shop -- I participated in the Chandler IRC, I tracked down several bugs in some code that I am working on, and processed a bunch of e-mail. Just like I would have done at home. Didn't know I had it in me.

Also, today was the first day that I was actually able to use the Wifi network on the ferry. The WSF isn't quite ready to declare the system ready for use, but the Mobilisa folks let me register for an account, and have answered my tech support queries, so I figure I'm beta testing. So far I've used the network in the Seattle terminal, the Seattle terminal parking area (very important) and on the Tacoma and Wenatchee. Unfortunately the network didn't work in the Bainbridge Island parking area (very bad). And for some reason unknown to me and to SpeakEasy, my DSL provider, I can't access the servers at my house from the ferry network. The Mobilisa folks haven't figured that out either, yet, otherwise I would have posted from the ferry.

[08:19] | [misc] | # | TB | F | G | 12 Comments |

For me it really depends on the work whether I can work at a coffee place or not. I am usually not that antisocial as you say ...but instead prefer a nice atmosphere with people and music that I like. I might not be as productive as in a quiet office ...but it's more fun. And IMO that's very important in the long run. Fun is what recharges your battery.

But of course for some things you really better lock yourself into room until you come up with a solution.
Posted by Torsten Curdt at Thu Jan 27 03:01:48 2005

Ted,

If you think you'll be working in coffee shops fairly regularly, I highly recommend picking up a set of Shure E2C or E3C in-ear headphones. They do wonders for blocking out the outside world (they're the same in-ear monitors that musicians use onstage). You can even get custom ear molds made for the E3C that make them feel like they're not even there. I use mine on planes and trains all the time and couldn't imagine listening to my iPod without them.

Cheers.
Posted by Brian at Thu Jan 27 06:08:01 2005

I finished my dissertation in a coffee shop. I was laid off following 9/11 and I figured, "no more excuses" for not finishing the dissertation. So I had this crazy rotation that I would do: Monday at this one coffee shop, Tuesday at this other one, and so on... I didn't want to wear out my welcome at one place!

There was a great little article in Wired I think about a week ago on a company that meets every day in a coffee shop, in lieu of meeting in a "real office". There's 8 employees or so, and they just meet there every day.
Posted by megan conklin at Thu Jan 27 06:16:23 2005

I thought from the title that you wouldn't too much mind working as a barista. My current laptop is too frail (display/cover hinge is failing) to attempt this. I wonder if the expensive headphone trick might work better than ear plugs on long flights, simply as ear covers. Anybody have a report about that?

I am beginning to long for this Summer when I give myself a tablet PC as a dissertation-completion present and will feel able to compute fully unfettered.
Posted by orcmid at Thu Jan 27 11:22:23 2005

See

http://www.sauria.com/blog/2004/02/29#835 and
http://www.sauria.com/blog/2004/04/04#888

for my experiences with the E3C's. Yesterday's experiences made me brave enough to try again -- this time Etymotic ER-6i's. Of course, I'll be blogging the experience.
Posted by Ted Leung at Thu Jan 27 11:33:05 2005

While I can see working in a coffee shop on an occasional basis, I don't think that I could do it every day for a long time. I was able to work, but I missed my 21" display, ergonomic chair, and desk space to spread out.

But it's nice to have broken my own mental barrier on this, at least a little bit.
Posted by Ted Leung at Thu Jan 27 11:36:19 2005

For certain types of problems I prefer working in a coffee shop, get out away from the phone, and the co-workers, but with more stimulation then working from home. And sometimes it's nice to delegate the soundtrack responsibilities to a 3rd party.

Not to mention the possibility (esp. in Seattle) of finding someone you can bounce ideas off of. (I've helped a number of strangers with random technical/programming issues, still hoping someday to find someone I can ask my architecture questions of)

Zeitgeist is one of my favorites (except they close early), but if you're looking for other coffee shop options you could checkout the wiki:
Seattle wireless coffee (also Vancouver)
Posted by kellan at Thu Jan 27 12:19:57 2005

Ted, if you need to have a better experience with coffee, here's how I changed (I used to hate it, and well...): I pretty much hated coffee, until I went to Italy. Now I'm forever spoiled, BUT, I only drink espresso, and not these fru fru drinks people claim to be drinking coffee/espresso. I'm sorry, but a "Venti" latte is basically a big cup of warm milk with a hint of espresso. Yuck.

Instead, get the good stuff - get a good shot or two (doppio) of espresso, and put some sugar in it, that helps tremendously! Some folks can drink a straight ristretto, but to me, I love the strong flavor and density of espresso, but sweetened up a bit. I also drink capuccinos and such, but if I'm somewhere like a Starbucks, I'd order the smallest size they had, and a double shot (Starbucks: "double short capuccino").

Some might think this all snobby and so on, but to me it's just the good way :) Coffee/espresso in Italy is just unreal - even their airline coffee is better than almost anything over hear. Espresso there (and good stuff here), has an almost chocolate flavor to it. It's pretty awesome.
Posted by Chris at Thu Jan 27 16:02:13 2005

Chris,

Thanks for the offer, but at this point, I feel that "ignorance is bliss"
Posted by Ted Leung at Thu Jan 27 22:47:28 2005

That's useful experience. I will wait to hear how the ER-6 works out. I have used earplugs of the kind the foam inserts must be related to, and they work for me. Vicki is unable to use earplugs on airplanes because of the pressure and the sounds that she hears related to the earplugs themselves!

I am wary of inserting things in my ears and it will be interesting to see how this works out for you.  Do any of them also have microphones?

I also second the observation about coffee in almost any Italian streetcorner bar. I drink my espresso lungo (or americano as they say), but it is still espresso, though diluted with additional hot water. It is an acquired taste, like beer, and at my age I think I should be finding an alternative to my doppio and also my morning pot of French Roast. I have run into people who've taken on serious fitness programs and one important step is apparently withdrawal from all caffeine. I'm not quite ready for that.
Posted by orcmid at Fri Jan 28 12:31:39 2005

I've long wanted an office away from home, and for a while considered starting an office space co-op with other self-employed/unemployed/home-employed friends. Rent some space, share the cost of rent and a high speed net connection, put up some whiteboards. You get people to bounce ideas off of and go to lunch with.

There are some companies offering this on a commercial basis in the Bay Area--or at least I saw something brewing about a year ago.
Posted by Maarten at Fri Feb 25 12:53:17 2005

Posted by Pingback from Ted Leung on the air : On Going Bedouin at Thu Apr 13 22:48:21 2006

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