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I work from home for a number of clients, and whilst it does have a lot of drawbacks, there are a couple of things I’ve become quite fond of in recent months. Perhaps surprisingly, for somebody who isn’t really much of a morning person, my morning breakfast routine has become perhaps the best overall part of the day.

Thinking back I’ve never really been that much of a breakfast person. That said, I think it’s mainly London that I didn’t ‘do’ breakfast: At university I might have grabbed a bowl of crunchy-nut cornflakes or something, in Duesseldorf a ‘Brötchen mit Käse und Schinken, bitte‘ (that’s a cheese and ham roll) and gloriously strong coffee. In London however, the stress of the morning rush hour meant that most of the time I’d skip breakfast, preferring to get a coffee and a sandwich/pastry/bun closer to the office. This even became the norm when working in central Glasgow.

I have now come to realise that caffeine depletion is, perversely, a Good Thing to maintain when dealing with the hum-drum or tedious. The fuzzy haze that hangs about is a great aid in getting through the journey to work, or dealing with something really rather dreary (in my central Glasgow case, dealing with Lotus Notes and tedious overnight e-mails; Oh, and the job itself). I really do pity the poor souls who don’t have this otherwise negative affliction when standing in a crammed tube, train or bus. iPod’s can only get you so far…

Anyway, back to the breakfast routine. The fuzzy-haze thing is good for getting the porridge done. Yes, I’m a porridge person these days. Although summer starting to show some tentative signs of appearing has reinvigorated my weetabix-and-fruit notion. Microwave porridge sachets from quaker or whomever is a stroke of genius I tell you. Sure, it’s overloaded with sugar, but that’s a good thing too. A big glass of orange juice (A large bottle of tropicana has become a regular purchase/treat; Supermarket own orange juice is just awful in comparison). I’ll munch and slurp these things as I get through the initial checks and e-mails.

But it’s the coffee that’s glorious. With my ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ mug that for some inexplicable reason I’ve developed a strong preference for (I’ll even wash it when it’s at hand, rather than grab a comparable one that might be clean). Frances noted the ‘Not suitable for Dishwashers and microwaves‘ instruction on it’s base just the other day. Oooops. Oh well, three years of dishwasher and microwave re-heats haven’t done it any harm so far. I’d also wondered why the mug got hot instead of the liquid when in the microwave. Now I know… But I’m wary that it may all go horribly wrong very very suddenly. Probably over my new computer if I’m not careful… And that’d be a bad start to the day.

The taste of coffee is of course perfection in a cup. But the smell of the coffee brewing downstairs is a delight that heralds the treat ahead. Traipsing downstairs after having eaten my breakfast to get my first cup is anticipation itself. I feel like a cartoon character being dragged by their nose by the alluring smell of a freshly baked pie…. (Why is it always on the window ledge? That’s a silly place to put it!)

Then the initial flow of caffeine back into the bloodstream, and then the brain and enthusiasm get going.

Yes, coffee. It’s great. Both it’s absence – strictly for dealing with the mundane of course; But by far the better is of course the delight of imbibing it, absorbing it, making it one with you. Marvellous.

The only problem is the rest of the day. It’s sadly only downhill now…

At least until the next cup.

You don’t think I waste any of the coffee in my coffee pot do you?

I’m sorry to report that a dear friend that had become an integral part of my life has very recently departed. This has left me feeling somewhat at a loss for a few days, although I seem to have found a way of coping with this most unexpected of exits. This is probably the reason I’ve not posted much in the last few days. It’s tough dealing with loss, as I’m sure every reader can relate.

You see every morning for the last couple of years this close friend has felt like, no not ‘felt like’, was an integral part of my morning routine. It really felt like we knew each other in a very intimate way. We certainly had a mutual dependency that, I like to think, made my friend feel they were instrumental in my productivity – I certainly felt I couldn’t go about my day without our brief encounters each morning.

The first signs of a serious problem only occurred one day before they departed. I put it down then to my being distracted with work pressures, but I fear they knew the severity of the situation better than I. In retrospect, it felt an altogether mournful day, despite it’s successes in other fields. So the sad reality dawned the next morning (Wednesday just passed), when they weren’t there to great me with the usual aplomb I’ve really come to expect.

In the few days since the departure, I’ve struggled to cope. I found solutions to my pangs, but it really wasn’t the same. No excited look about it when I saw it, and so much more effort that really didn’t work for me in the same way.

So today I went to look for new member of my family. All struck me in different – exiting – ways, each with their own unique appeal. However, whilst you can’t really rush a decision like this, my internet searching hadn’t revealed many candidates, so I ultimately decided that I should go for the first that jumped out as me, without breaking the bank. I made my choice, and I think it’s fair to say I await our first full encounter with some trepidation: They are big boots you are filling, but ultimately I think the relationship should be one of mutual benefit and pleasure, although I feel I need to stay current with developments, just in case.

I’ve just stumbled on a new and important philosophical problem:

In a fight, which would win? Gadgets or coffee?

I give you:

The Year of Coffee, including a nice little remix interlude. You may also be interested in this flickr set.

For the gadget side, control panels? Or anything from his steviness perhaps?

So. To the point. Which would win? In a fight. Coffee or Gadgets?

The ultimate irony of it all is, having thought about this for all of ooooh, 5 seconds, we can’t really ever know. For in a fight between coffee and shiny gadgets, the coffee gets spilt, and the gadget gets ruined, and that would never do. To enter is to lose. Thus, the ultimate irony, I suppose, for the coffee loving gadget geek is we simply cannot know.

It’s all very quantum. That or I’ve been watching too much of Harry Hill’s TV Burp.

For the last year or so I’d been using the loft as an office. However, it was getting problematic for a number of reasons: It was cold and silly to heat; It was a long way up those loft stairs in your socks; It was a long way away from the coffee machine. Most importantly of all, however, was that it had a lot of big spiders, and it was short for a 6′2″ person: I couldn’t stand up properly.

With me also recently starting piano lessons, I needed somewhere I could put the keyboard I’ve borrowed from Frances’ brother, and the loft just wasn’t going to cut it. So last year, we decided that I’d make use of the small third bedroom we have as an office. It was, I suppose, inevitable, given it’s a much better space, and has much better layouts for all my gear and desks. So this weekend we had a good rummage through the piles of boxes that had, until then, been living in the room making it largely unusable. We’ve thrown out a great deal, have filtered down a few last things. Enough so that I could dismantle my office up in the loft, and shift it downstairs into the room, where I am now.

It’s funny how much I just enjoy the sheer novelty of a new office setup/location. Perhaps it’s something my mother instilled in me with her (it felt) frequent re-arrangements of the sitting room. New year, new layout and a new favourite spot. Coming home from school to find it had rearranged was always strangely exciting for me. Some latent desire for things to be tidy, and different is there.

Of course, when we first broached the subject of using the room, I had thought we’d clear it right down to the plaster, and decorate it. But things were getting quite urgent, and I was living in the kitchen most of the time, so temporary measures were required, so here I am.

Best of all is the fact that it’s much quieter (I face the quiet street we’re on, whereas the loft’s windows faced the busier main road we’re just back from so got a bit more traffic noise), I’m assured it’s the ‘cosiest’ room in the house (always good).

Plus, of course, the coffee machine is just a flight of stairs and a kitchen lengths away. I can smell the coffee is ready now. Don’t mind me, whilst I go get my morning brew

There’s an article over at Ars Technica about the supposed “Coffee Wars” and “fightback” of coffee shop owners to the invasion of lurkers making use of their free WiFi access, which is designed to lure in more customers.

If only that were the case here. Here in the UK it’s nigh on impossible to find anywhere that offers free – or even “just” reasonably priced – WiFi, especially in coffee shops. See my previous comments on the problem. And there’s me still thinking I’d be the ideal target with my home workin’, MacBook Pro usin’, coffee lovin’ take on things.

Ah well, seems the good things from the US just don’t seem destined to make it over here. It’s interesting to read though that it’s become such a “success” that they’re now adopting tactics to reduce the lurkers. Maybe this will help convince some of the smaller chains to up the ante and make it more appealing to the likes of me.

I’ve previously been very critical at the exorbitant wireless internet (WiFi) tarrifs in hotspots, such as those frequently encountered in coffee shops.

It’s partly driven by a selfish view I hold that I’m actually the target audience for these tariffs. I run my own small business, I’ve no children, I have a WiFi equipped laptop, and I enjoy working in (quiet) coffee shops to get a break from my home office. I don’t mind spending a bit of money to get the access (although I’d of course prefer if it was free: They’d get more of my custom for sure!).

Unfortunately, until now the various companies behind these schemes were, I presume, targeting expense accounts of travelling salespeople. High rates put me off. £5 for an entire day’s access at a Cafe Nero was as high as I would be prepared to go.

The news today then is that The Cloud has announced an unlimited tariff for a small(ish) monthly fee: It launches this summer (more here). Presumably they’ve finally realised that high costs for time-limited access simply isn’t practical, even if you are claiming it back and aren’t thinking of your companies bottom line (or, perhaps, simply have no choice).

The media have also cottoned on to the fact that it’s trivial to speak to people for free over VoIP networks such as Skype. This could be the ‘killer app’ for a more pervasive wireless network infrastructure, as companies realise they’ll get more customers who are keen to be in a location that enables them to make free, or low-cost, calls. As mobile phones integrate the technology, the phones will route the call via the cheapest tariff, putting their regular customers under threat. I’ll confess I’ve very tempted!

So, whilst Glasgow’s coffee shops haven’t really embraced the idea of free wifi access, perhaps with people increasingly demanding it, and making purchasing decisions based on that, they’ll finally be encouraged to offer what does seem – at last – to be a reasonable price to pay for wireless internet access away from home.

With the kitchen now ‘complete’, we’re now looking forward to getting on with our lives after the unnecessary hassles we experienced due to the wrong damn kitchen being installed.

Whilst the doors may be the wrong ones (matt white not the high gloss white we specified), everything else is actually looking pretty damn peachy. Folk up from Kendal to fit the granite worktop have done a great job, and it’s topped off the look nicely.

But the things I’m most pleased with, as you might expect given my (I think) robust geek credentials, are the appliances. Really shiny ones at that, which is double plus good in any geeks view.

My prized possession then is my induction hob. We’d pondered gas, but as no gas was available in the kitchen, plus the atrocious environmental impact of burning dead dinosaurs to boil eggs, it was quickly ruled out. Problem with electricity is it’s perceived as slow, and not controllable like gas. So, enter induction. This heats, through an induction process, the saucepans directly. There’s no glow. It’s just hot pans, and every bit as controllable as gas. Instant heat. Instantly off. Damned efficient too (fewer energy conversions, and efficient ones at that).

Sure, I’ve had to buy ’special’ pans (what’s with the label on so many pans that reads “works on every hob type… except induction“. So, not every hob type then. Duh! Damned packaging), but they’re decent ones (grippy handles that are oven safe to 180C, and nice thick stainless steel bases to give even heat distribution), but I can boil a pan of water in no time. Rice? No problem. After adding the rice, it’s back to simmering nicely in a matter of seconds (The old hob took 3-4 minutes to get back). And it’s so quick to adjust temperature, and appropriately for the pan size (so no hot handles). Plus no burned residue, and cool rings other than a bit of heat from conduction from the pan,

Some wizzy features too, such as the ’stop and go’ feature to keep things warm when the phone go’s off for example. The easy to use timer. The touch controls (oh, the touch controls), and the sleek form factor (no metal rim here) ensuring it’s snug on the granite.

Mmmmm.

Update: You may be interested in my more recent, and detailed post, on induction hobs

Our extractor is wizzy, with all sorts of controls. And no head-banging, as it’s parallel to the wall, not at 90 degrees as most are. Wooo! Great for lanky folk like me. The oven is fast, well insulated, and has an easy to use timer function. The fridge is big. Perhaps as you’d expect for a larder fridge, but it was what we needed.

And the oven/microwave is funky. Gives us a convection oven, grill, microwave and all sorts, all in one device, so we have the benefits of a double oven, with the benefits of an inbuilt microwave. Woo! The dishwasher is wizzy, quick, clean, and has a nice red light to show it’s working, a time-left indicator, and nice big shiny buttons to press. Plus it’s guaranteed not to leak with a very wizzy gizmo on the inlet valve for quick cutoff if a leak is detected. Damage repaired as part of the guarantee too. Marvellous ahead of our new wood floor…

So, as you can tell, I’m rather chuffed with the gadgets. We ordered them on-line and saved a small fortune. Unfortunately, due to a mistake in measurements that wasn’t caught by either us or the kitchen designer, we’ve got a spare 90cm AEG designer hood (HD8695M) going spare. £550 ono! (Retails at over £700). Brand new! Still boxed. Drop me a note if you’re interested!

All of it is AEG, bar the dishwasher which is Siemens. Looks wonderful. Are all very highly rated for energy efficiency. And – of course – they are all very very shiny, so is every geeks kitchen dream. Only thing missing was an integrated coffee machine. But Frances wouldn’t have it. Still, you can’t have everything. And anyway, coffee machines don’t stay shiny too long with all the use. And a geeks got to have rules, even (dare I say it?) when it comes to coffee.

Hmmm. Maybe not. Maybe I just need to treat myself to a shiny new coffee maker….

I’ve previously complained about internet tarrif’s in coffee shops (and here and here), but I think Caffe Nero may have cracked it.

We’re over in Edinburgh for the day, as Frances makes one last attempt to secure further funding for the project she is on. This time at The Royal Society of Edinburgh, who offer scholarships for commercialisation of academic projects, such as the one she has been involved with this last year. Whilst she does her presentation (she’s in the middle of it now, as I type: I’m thinking of you honey! But she doesn’t read my website much, so she’ll never know ) I’m camped out in Nero and have forked out £5 for all-day access. The shop is on Rose Street, Edinburgh, and the tariff strikes me as at least reasonable value for all-day access. It means I’ve been able to check out a few e-mails, write a few website entries, and log in to a couple of machines as part of work: Not bad all said.

There’s still a long way to go. A voucher with every cup-of-coffee for 30 minutes access might be a good next step, to prevent us from hanging about and saving us getting all worked up about politeness, but free would be best: You’d get my custom more often!

I’ve spent a bit more time than I usually do in coffee shops here in Glasgow over the last few weeks. Mainly because I like coffee, but also because I like the environment for getting work done when I’m away in town.

Something has begun to puzzle me though. What time does a purchase of a latte and a blueberry muffin, entitle you to hang about on the comfy sofas? As long as you like? An hour? Two hours, less if it’s busy? This is important, so I think we should be told. On a sign or something. As coffee shops are sadly lacking in any clear advice, I thought it’d be something to tackle on this weblog.

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I really hate it when I go to a coffee shop and get a poor cup of coffee. It’s much like a bad pint of beer (invariably because not enough people are drinking it to get decent turnover of barrels). But coffee doesn’t go off as such, it just takes a bit of effort.

So we got back from “Bonjourno” in Shawlands, here in Glasgow. Whilst it wasn’t the worst latte I’ve ever had by a long shot, it wasn’t great. But it’s gotten me wound up. I immediately set to work on the single-cup cafetiere I have here to sort things out. I then rolled up my sleeves (well, virtually speaking) for a bit of a rant, in way of helping other coffee drinkers identify a likely bad-coffee-experience, here are the warning signs to look:

Sorry. But getting between me and a coffee is really a bad thing to be doing. And despite Glasgow having a booming coffee culture, there’s still a way to go. At least until I’ve had my coffee. After that, I’m usually a bit more tolerant.