We typically have great weather in Colorado where I live, but we do get

snow. And occassionally it causes issues. Like this week when I

returned home Monday from dropping off my daughter at school. Actually

I also hit the gym, so I left the house around 8:30 am, returning a

little before 10.

Now it had started raining on Sunday afternoon, when I took my 7 year

old to his first father-son Broncos (football) game. It rained all day

and started snowing overnight. As a result, there was a wet, slushy,

heavy snow, about 8 inches or so, all around. A number of tree branches

snapped everywhere, which I'm sure contributed to my problem. The first

clue was when I got home and the garage wouldn't go up. I suspected an

issue, but I parked, went inside and heard the persistent "beep, beep,

beep" coming from my office.

No power. I got my monitor on, checked the Internet and realized it was

down, so the basement UPS was dead. I shut down Outlook and QA and my

computer died. My guess is that power dropped soon after I'd left

because the UPS's are pretty large. Not sure what to do, but I figured

I should hit the co-location at Viawest and work there. So I jumped in

the shower and headed up there.

On the way my wife called. She's run a couple errands to help friends

in the am and didn't want to sit at home, nor did she want to sit at my

colo. So I suggested Starbucks as a place to work. They have T-mobile Wi-Fi

access, which would enable me to do a few things. We met, got our $4

lattes, and I started working. However it didn't last long. My wife's

ankle is still hurt and wasn't thrilled with the straighbacked wooden

chairs at Starbucks.

So a quick search showed that Borders near our house also has T-Mobile

Wi-Fi, so we drove over there and sat in more comfortable chairs while

I worked on the same account I'd been using at the Starbucks.

I have to say that at $10 a day, it's not the greatest bargain, and the

$6 an hour rate isn't great unless you just need a few minutes. But the

$30 or $40 monthly rate (depending on committment) is pretty

reasonable. At that rate if I headed over 4 or 5 days a month to work

there, even briefly, it would be worth it. Maybe not he best rate, but

it's not bad and getting out of the house, working in a nice

environment, and having books and coffee nearby are pretty cool. I had

a consultant friend that used it for a year or so and it was a great

idea. There was even a bagel place next door where he could connect

from as well.

The T-Mobile service is pretty well setup and works great. And it's a

reasonable price. If you're on the go, it's definitely something to

consider.