The Time I Had an Overnight Guest

I had an overnight guest last week at the Kerouac House.

His name was Adam, and he was traveling.

Not on vacation, not on a trip.

Just. . . traveling.

He didn’t have anywhere to be, he just wanted to keep moving.

So I took him in because he was living the Jack Kerouac life. And I knew if I didn’t, I’d kick myself for years to come.

Day 15: In Which I Find a New Office

The nice thing about my job is that I can do it anywhere, including my home. The problem with that is we home school our kids, so doing my job at home is not always. . . productive.

So, years ago, we agreed I would always have an office somewhere. For the last six years, I had a quiet little desk in a quiet little building for a quiet little price. Sometimes, it was so quiet, I had to go to a coffee shop for a little noise and activity.

When we moved to Orlando, I knew I would need to rebuild my entire network, and I would need to find a new place to work. The odds of finding the same setup as before would be virtually impossible (anyone know where I can rent a desk inside a web hosting company for $150 a month?).

So I decide to look for a co-working space.

Turns out, you can’t swing a dead cat in Orlando without hitting a co-working space.

Not that we’re spoiled for co-working spaces, but apparently, swinging a dead cat is frowned upon here.

Day 7: In Which I Search for a New Office

Monday I decide to start building my new routine. I feel more comfortable — actually, I think everyone does — when I have a predictable schedule: get up, go to the office, play 6 hours of Scarab of Ra, have lunch, go home.

(I don’t actually play Scarab of Ra for 6 hours.)

My company being what it is, I can’t actually afford a private office, with a door and fax machine and everything. Of course, my company being what it is, I don’t actually need one. As long as I have my laptop and wifi, I can work anywhere.

However, I don’t want to spend 8 or 9 hours a day in a coffee shop either. My business partner, Paul, and I tried that for a few months one year, spending our rent money on coffee house squatting. I constantly smelled like freshly ground coffee.

On the other hand, I met a lot of nice people who have since become good friends. I haven’t completely ruled this strategy out.