First Post from a Coffeehouse.

For the first time in my life, I have brought a laptop computer out of the house, and used it at a coffeehouse. That is a pretty surprising statement, I am guessing.

Right now, it is 9:38 pm. I am sitting at the Flying M Coffee Garage in Nampa, Idaho.

I don’t live in this town.. not even that close to it, but I like to ride out here several times a year when I am in the area. It’s a nice drive.

The Flying M Coffee Garage might be the best coffee house I have ever been to. I’ve frequented coffee houses in various parts of California, including Berkeley and Santa Cruz, and this one might just be the best. The only other contender is a very large coffee house in Santa Cruz, that used to be a very large family home.. not quite a mansion, but very large. The place I am in tonight is at least a cool as that one.

The Flying M Coffee Garage is located in a former Firestone tire shop. There are large bay doors that are opened during the warmer months. There is a mezzanine area, a small stage, a gift shop area, and many places to sit. They roast their own coffee here, and make their own desserts. The espresso drinks are adequate, the drip coffee.. not so much. But the desserts.. Wow. And these are cheaper than at other places.

Right now, I am in the process of finishing off a decaf soy latte, and consuming something called a wicked bar.. which contains walnuts, coconut, butterscotch chips, and has a graham cracker crust. I always order two desserts here, even though I generally don’t have a sweet tooth. Since I am not often at the Coffee Garage, I like to indulge in two desserts.

Besides the wicked bar, I am slowly eating something called a no bake. I don’t know how it is made. It’s peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate. That’s it.. and yeah.. it’s awesome. The no bake is my favorite dessert here, besides the macaroons, but those are often sold out before I arrive at around 9 pm. Oh well.

– –

On many previous trips to various coffee houses, I’ve felt sad when I’ve looked at the other customers, and seen so many of them sitting alone, eyes focused on their laptops. I’ve even observed people in groups sitting together, without speaking.. laptops open.

I have felt that people have lost the ability to connect to each other in person. But the people I’ve observed tonight who sit in groups with their laptops still talk to each other.. a little, at least.

And here I am.. finally.. with a laptop of my own, which I’ve had for about 3 weeks. Here I am, like the people I have observed, sitting alone at a table and typing. And I don’t feel bad about this. I’m not talking to anyone. I’m busy. I’ve got work to do.  I feel it is more important to focus on my writing and other skills than to be regularly social. I talk with people here and there, but feel more comfortable writing, learning how to use the computer, working on electronic music projects..

Sometimes I feel down because I’m not that social, but there are things to be happy about. Perhaps chief among them, besides owning this excellent computer and various accessories, is that I am not sitting in my room, which I do a lot.  My main computer since 2008 has been a large desktop computer.. not exactly portable. I’ve stayed in my room to use it.  Sitting in the same office chair, hour after hour. Yes, I am sitting down here too, and not active, except for my fingers and my mind, but I am in a different environment. Around people, even if I am not interacting with them.

Also.. I am here, at Flying M. This is good. I’ve been thinking about driving out here for months. But, from sometime in November, all the way through to much of February, I was sick, most of the time. And after that, two weeks ago, I had minor surgery, and after that, didn’t feel like leaving home.

But now, I have left home. I have driven through open countryside, up and down a few hills, and part way through Nampa, taking back roads. I have arrived.. here. I think you’d like to be here too. If you are ever in Southwest Idaho, as I am from time to time, you should stop by.

Well.. that’s it for this post.. mostly I just wanted to record this historic occasion. My first post written on my new computer.. in a coffee house.

It’s about an hour before closing. I’m perhaps going to get a refill.. every coffee order comes with a free refill of not exactly great drip coffee.. but hey, it’s free.

I am going to go back to some posts I wrote a few years ago. I will be overhauling my blog for the next several months. Time to get back to work. And enjoy the rest of my excellent desserts.