Ross Bay cold plunge

Ross Bay cold-water immersion sesh with plunge bud @valerie.irvine. Heading in to shoulder depth, and watching out for sharp drop-off underfoot at this tide level. #yyj #coldwater #yyjbeaches #clearthemind #dopamine #goodforyou #westcoast

from Instagram: https://instagr.am/p/CqnkXHApiAY/

Finally back at Fort Tectoria!

So pleased to be back working in the Fort Tectoria space down here in the 700 block of Fort Street in downtown Victoria!

I worked here quite a bit in the before-times, while I was at UVic. The space features all 4 things you need as a remote worker, and even a nice fireplace to sit by on these cold winter days!

The former Ground Control Cafe has now been replaced on the 1st floor by the wonderful Fort on Fort Cafe, run by Ceri Barlow – what a fine cafe spot for breakfast, coffee breaks, or lunch!

reflecting on the core-mobile

Was hanging out in Picnic Coffee today on Fort Street, and got into a bit of a riff with another customer about old cars. She’s got a 1941 Ford Coupe, that is relatively new to the streets of Victoria. Keep your eyes peeled!

I went looking for a picture of my 1980 Ford Granada 2-door, and didn’t find it in this blog, so wanted to pull it into a post.

I found this photo on a Ford Granada Enthusiasts web-site, because, well there are enthusiasts of this ride out there, and I committed my car to the photo archive back in the day.

I recall driving this car on local roads back in the 90s. Yah, it was old-style even in the 90s….

WAFO-29 downtown in Old Towne

So I got a tip from a friend about the great breakfast scene down at Fuego Old Towne Eatery in Market Square.

If there’s 2 things I love it is a great breakfast spot, and working remotely! So, I checked in for a sesh recently and was pleasantly surprised by the cool vibe and the yummy food.

As this was my first time, I was drawn to a menu-item for those that “Can’t Decide?” – which was a helping of pancakes, along with an eggs benny. Super good!

I’ll note that they don’t offer WIFI in the venue, but you may be able to pick up neighbouring segments easily, especially if your laptop has been around a bit. On this sesh, I chose to use a USB tether to get online, and do a bit of work while I dined, and had a few coffees.

I don’t think I over-stayed my welcome, as I’m fairly sensitive to how venue operators need to turn over tables to make as much revenue as possible.

I didn’t see any power handy, but the coffee was great, and the bathrooms were spic & span. Fuego comes close to ticking all the boxes for me! I’ll def be back for another sesh here!

WAFO-28 Got coffee, got cake

I was pleasantly surprised in the stop here at Cat’s Coffee and Cake on Douglas Street in the heart of downtown Victoria.

I like these high-top seats to work from. Looking out at the street is nice, and gives me a bunch of elbow room in these times of distancing.

Nice to have power so close by on the wall too! I stopped here a while ago, and may have used a tether to connect to the interwebs? Not sure if they had Wifi going….

They’ve got coffee and snacks, including these selections of small cakes in take-away cups! They’re not really cupcakes, but more like individual-sized cake desserts in a cup. See the matcha one, pictured here!

I didn’t try the bathrooms, but I assume they are there for customer use. I’ve been back since for a take-out experience, and will likely land here again for a Work Away From Office sesh!

WAFO-27 Shatterbox Coffee in Vic Public Market

There are many tables to use in the Victoria Public Market, if you’re a remote worker. The entire market seems to have good WIFI coverage, so you’ll have no issues connecting there.

The pictured spot is actually ripe for people-watching, so keep that in mind if you’re sitting here, looking out at Douglas Street. At the time this photo was taken, the stools were also a little short for the height of the bar, requiring a bit more of an arm-workout to type on keys! Oh yes, this seat does have power tucked under the bar.

Always a great cuppa to have here at Shatterbox, shown here a lovely shot of their custom espresso!

Hey, while you’re down there, you might even get a demo of their new emissions-free coffee roaster from Bellwether, picture here! This unit is cloud-connected, so you could say it is an Internet of Things (IoT) coffee roaster!

There are also bathroom facilities on site, but you’ll need to borrow the access-code from a market vendor to gain access.

WAFO-26 tapping keys at the Taphouse

Decided to try a new patio space today, and enjoyed this stop at the Yates Street Taphouse.

Plenty of elbow-room on this October afternoon – I had my Macbook Air set up here to do a bit of homework. IIRC, I was on the #TELUS public wifi network that is available in this part of the downtown core. I wasn’t able to reach the wifi segment from inside the bar.

There isn’t any power out here, so come prepared with a full-charge, or a battery backup if you running low on juice for your machine.

Great snacks during happy hour, so I’ll likely be back when the time of year is right to enjoy this downtown spot!

WAFO-25 working from the 18th floor

I’d like to issue an honourable mention to this space at Vista 18, on top of the Chateau Victoria Hotel down on Burdett Street.

I don’t work from here often, as this is typically an after-hours place to hang out – say, a Happy Hour spot. But you know, for those times when you’d like to spend the end of your day catching up on email and such, this makes for a great spot.

This spot at the bar is nice, as it affords a high-top position on nice comfy seating. There are power-outlets under the bar, so keep that in mind should you need to borrow some juice for your machine while you are here!

Of course there are a variety of food & beverage offerings available, and bathrooms nearby. Did I mention the Wifi is also available here?

Well, looks like Vista ticks ALL the boxes! Well done!

WAFO-24 Another Moka House stop

I ended up here on a recent morning when I didn’t have enough time to reach another WAFO destination.

The Moka House coffee shop at Shoal Point is right next to Fisherman’s Wharf on the Victoria Harbour waterfront. This location is about a 2 minute bike ride from my home, so very close by.

I don’t often work here, and I’m not sure why. It’s very quiet, has coffee, power, WIFI, and bathrooms for customer use. On this morning, I was attending an online webinar, and the WIFI was OK for most of the session, but I did end up on a tether to smooth out some bandwidth bumps that morning.

I’ll likely return again!