Working from home sounds like such bliss ... until you've been doing it for 6 years, in which case you may start to adopt a hermit-like loathing of having to leave the cave (aka home office) or you might have gone more than slightly mad from the lack of interaction with other adults. Coping mechanisms vary, and mine has been to delve deep into the social interactive pool of twitter, facebook, etc ... which creates great conversations and lots of business opportunities.
However, what it doesn't offer is a lot of experiences, chance meetings and observations ... the kind of stuff that feeds a blog for example.
There will be a lot of discussion of remote working (such as this piece from The Next Web), particularly with the disruption caused by the Olympics in London, this year, but I'm seriously considering the opposite.
I'd love to rediscover some level of "office time" but where to do this? After all, it is rather wasteful considering I already have an office.
I love the idea of TechHub which I visited recently to take part in a Social Media Week presentation organised by the lovely folks Great British Chefs (cool use of storify for the wrap-up), but I'm not a developer and I suspect that this is not my natural crowd (though I bet they like their wine too).
As I read another newsletter from a friendly wine retailer today announcing the new wines being added to their enomatic machine, it came to me.
I am looking for a wine shop that has some spare desk space, good internet connection and friendly banter that I can rent as a "hot desk" from time to time.
This could be a new business model ... retail shops with hot desks for relevant freelance communicators that need occasional offices, like a "members club with retail benefits".
Anyone out there got any invitations? UPDATE 22/2/2012: Thank you to all those great folks who are responding privately and publicly on this idea. Something might even come of it soon. It has come to my attention, however, that "hot desk" may be an unusual term, so if you don't know what I mean, see the definition here
Check out the style that makes my local coffee shop a cool place to hang out. Of course it has great coffee (REALLY good), and the people who run it are lovely and personable too, but in a sense this is expected. A coffee place needs to deliver with its product, and the personal touch makes you care. But how do you differentiate your coffee shop from all the others with similar coffee, cakes and lovely, carrying owners? Style! The benefit here is not just caffeine, it is a sense of belonging and of comfort. I can't find the same level of differentiation, particularly focusing on comfort, in the way wine is retailed. To much emphasis is placed only on the choice of wine, but a good list is not all I'm after. Where are the cool wine bars?
Apologies in advance. If you are not in the business or habit of tasting wines regularly, I strongly suggest that you ignore this post.
I need advice from my peers who taste wines regularly, not just for pleasure but also for business.
How do you deal with keeping a healthy mouth?
It may seem like an odd, and possibly rather off-putting, question to raise here, but where else to do this? (I think I might have to post the conclusions to Quora - finally found a use for it!)
I ask as I want to treat some possible gum disease, but I find I can't use any mouthwash. Have you ever noticed that mouthwash kills your ability to taste? I'm not sure if it is the alcohol ingredient or something else, but I had some surgery once and was forced to use Corsodyl for a while. After a week or so I found I could hardly taste anything and my tongue was numbed. It wore off after I stopped using it, but it worried me.
Recently I tried some of the more "delicate" styles such as Listerine Zero, and although I had no numbness I did find it was affecting my tongue and I did not want to continue.
Is there a wine-trade friendly solution to protecting your mouth and gums?
I have come across enough of my peers who seem to have suffered from the apparent lack of a solution to think this also deserves a public airing.
I would really welcome your hints and tips such as these by Simon Woods - Smile while you still have your teeth
For example, avoiding brushing too soon after wine-tasting as it strips the enamel from your teeth (did you know that?)
Thank you in advance, please resume your normal wine appreciation activities
Tonight the boiler has broken down AGAIN. That makes it about the fourth time in this recent spell of winter.
In consolation of another night of cold, I decided to open this, something I picked up years ago in Alsace.
I do love wines from Alsace but they are a particular taste and my wife is not as big of a fan. I therefore make a pony of trying them when I have the (cold) house to myself.
This Gewurtztraminer is deliciously honeyed, it even looks like honey it is so dark, with a real taste of heather & hazlenut and a wild flower perfume too.
It is so rare to be able to appreciate wines with a decent time spent in bottle because they are sold so young. However, they really do develop interesting characters that make waiting for them worthwhile.
Unfortunately I can't say the same about waiting for the plumber.
[UPDATE 10/2/2012: This wine was superb, but honestly not for everyone. As a wine lover I seek out a variety of experiences, but I also understand that it is a bit far from people's comfort zone. My wife came home and tried it (there was still a little left) and did enjoy a small taste, but to her, the concentration of fruit and some sugar made it a "sweet" or dessert wine, which it isn't really, but I totally understand what she means. If you have an inkling for a bit of adventure, see if you can get a good quality Gewurtztraminer with a bit of age from a good independent merchant, and try it with friends so you don't need to finish it alone if not to your taste. Try it with some rich pork dish or something mildly spicy - I really hope it will excite you too]
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