WAFO-19 Cook Street village working vibes

I haven’t spent many working hours at this location since the before-times. Back in those days, I’d spend night-hours here, along with a bunch of students and entrepreneurs that turned the place into an evening study hall. After all, they had all the coffee you could drink, a soundtrack, and they were open until 11 PM nightly.

However, those days are far behind us.

On this Wednesday morning, I wasn’t sure where I was going to land, but needed a change of scenery so headed into Moka House. This corner-table only fits 1 person, and has a convenient power-plug on the wall. The WiFi was decent enough for most tasks, and I wasn’t doing any Zoom during this work-session.

I’d say I prefer this space for work during the darkest hours, so we’ll see what the future holds for returning here for evening work. For now, it was time well-spent on a sunny summer morning….

WAFO-18 Sherwood Lounge zone

Somehow I’ve not blogged this remote work spot until now, which is surprising as it has become one of my favourites!

Sherwood Lounge is located at 1515 Douglas Street, in the same building as my employer. The Sherwood is a spot for remote work nearly any time of day, as they offer morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, happy hour, and evening service!

Here I’m parked up at the front window, where I have access to power, and a fresh breeze coming in through the front window. I remember working in this seat during Summer 2020, when exposure to others while outside was deemed safest for avoiding the COVIDs. I figured that sitting in this seat, and opening the window was the best “outdoor” working location I could find.

This location ticks all my remote-worker boxes, including access to WiFi, bathrooms, and cafe-style beverages.

I should mention that their 2-2-2 breakfast is quite well done. I can’t recall the name on the menu, but you know what I mean – 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, 2 toast, potatoes….

WAFO-17 Working with the Kwencheronis!

Back in April, I finally decided to buy into a membership at the Club Kwench co-working & culture space in Rock Bay.

OMG.

What an awesome space to work in! See here, I got plenty of natural light at my hot-desk location in the open area by the kitchen. Check some of the attributes:

  • Power plugs available at each desktop
  • High-speed WIFI throughout the facility
  • Coffee comes with the price of membership (brewing Caffe Fantastico!)
  • Booths in the kitchen, for small meetings
  • Phone booths, for single-person use
  • Quiet rooms
  • Music on the SONOS network in the kitchen
  • Grocery & coffee bar downstairs
  • other humans you can talk to!

Hot desk space at Kwench

Yah, good energy throughout the space, and so glad I bought in. I picked up the 10-visit punch-card, available for $300 CAD on their web-site.

By the way, they have their own Slack workspace, and the broadcast announcements that go out to all club members are often addressed to the Kwencheronis, if you were wondering!

WAFO-16 out on Jutland, near the Gorge

An unexpected WAFO treat today, on landing at the Sol Food Cafe out on Jutland Road.

Plenty of space, and lots of options on the menu. I liked how large the place was, and not that busy when I pulled in around 8 AM on a Wednesday morning.

They have 2 WIFI segments, but I failed to connect successfully to either. I’ll try next time I am in. This time I tethered for a Zoom meeting. Lots of coffee, snacks, breakfast, lunch, and munch items on the menu.

There is even a Happy Hour on Thursday and Friday afternoons! And for you prosecco fans, they have that on chill!

WAFO-15 other Jawl spaces at 1515

This post salutes Jawl Properties, who built and maintain the office complex at 1515 Douglas Street where the Workday suite is.

The building has remained open to tenants since the start of the pandemic, so with badge access I have used other spaces I could enter in the complex.

On this summer afternoon, I was upstairs enjoying a lemonade from the Sherwood Cafe downstairs. I was also repping for the team at Empire Donuts!

WAFO-14 Get your nose to the Grindstone

I recently started trying out the Grindstone Cafe for coffee, lunch, and snacks in Rock Bay. Nearby is the Club Kwench co-work facility, which also deserves a blog post!

The Grindstone Cafe is a family-run coffee-shop / bistro in Rock Bay, at the foot of Herald Street. I’ve been there for breakfast, lunch, and coffee so far. One day, I decided to check out the upstairs lounge, which is quite funky. WIFI is available, as is power, depending on where you sit. Lots of natural light too. Bathrooms are for customers only.

A very friendly family runs this place, and made me feel quite welcome!

WAFO-13 Working in the Shanzee zone!

In my top-3 spots to work downtown is in Shanzee’s Biscuit Cafe, in Market Square.

I’m usually in there on Friday mornings, as my schedule typically doesn’t have too much Zoom activity in it. I can do a Zoom there, as the Wifi is adequate. However, the country music / classic rock soundtrack can sometimes create a little too much ambient noise. Only recently have I learned that the speaker at the back of the venue can be independently adjusted for volume!

I just love the all-day breakfast menu down here. And the coffee, from DrumRoaster. There is power near 1 of the high-top tables at the rear of the facility. The back-patio is great, although can be a little bright on the laptop screen. One can adjust patio table umbrellas as needed to target a shadow onto the screen.

WAFO 12 – Good working at Good Earth Coffee House

I landed at the Good Earth Coffee House in James Bay unexpectedly the other day. I often relocate from home to downtown in the middle of the day, and this time, I didn’t quite have the 14 minutes needed to get downtown. So, stopped at the Capital Park development at the corner of Menzies and Superior, to take up a seat in this coffee house.

I’ve worked there before, much earlier on in the COVID period, and I must say it does tick all the boxes. Extra points for the power-plugs that are underneath the bench seating in the cafe.

Another nice thing here is all the natural light. All sorts of snacks and meals are available, as well as a full selection of coffee and tea style drinks.

They are currently recommending a 2-hour cap on your stay, so others can enjoy the indoor experience. Makes sense, although I over-stayed my time on this session, as the place was near empty.

Pro-tip – they have WIFI, but it doesn’t work well on the patio seating just outside the front door.

WAFO 11 – Steamer’s Pub lives on at Leopold’s Tavern

Just had a thought – I could make this blog even more useful by posting the WIFI network name (SSID) and password along with each post! In most cases though, it’s only my computer that has remembered the network username / password.

Of interest at Leopold’s Tavern is their WIFI network name “STEAMERS”, which reminds some of us of the pub that used to be at this location!

Turns out that Leopold’s is a great place to work, if you’re OK with working in a sports-bar like settings. It’s very dark inside, which is great for screen viewing. Probably way too loud here to host a Zoom call. Strong WIFI signals available. You can get a coffee, and any number of other alc or non-alc beverages. The Mac & Cheese is very yummy. Pile on the add-ons and make it your own. If you happen to be working on Wedneday afternoon, then you’ll be in a great position for Wednesday Wings, before the crowds arrive!

WAFO-10 beating the heat in Oaklands, remotely

working outside in Oaklands

Here we are on one of the hottest days of the year in YYJ, and I took up an invite from a Workmate to stop by his front-yard for a working sesh. Not one to miss a chance to try out a new remote WAFO space, I biked over!

This front yard must be among the finest remote office spaces around! I took up a comfy patio seat underneath a lush fig tree, and was able to put my feet up on yonder tree branch to make a very effective lap-desk for the laptop! The WIFIs were plenty strong enough for a Zoom call, which is what you need when you’re in a virtual-team setting with everyone going WAFO, one way or the other!

As a guest, I was able to enjoy a cool beverage, and use the in-house facilities as needed! I eventually had to break out a battery pack to power through the end of the sesh, but all in all, a very unique WAFO time under the Summer 2021 #YYJ heat-dome!