On the Importance of Being Mobile

Last week, I cleared out some time in my schedule to bring my car in for a recall repair at the dealership. (No, it’s not a Toyota, and it has nothing to do with brakes.) I had visited the manufacturer’s web site — that’s how I found out about the recall — and made my appointment.

When I got to the service center, though, the appointment hadn’t gone through. I had to reschedule for a the next week. One wasted hour later, I was back in my home office working on my About.com web site. One hour of my life spent with nothing to show for it — not even a new lap time on Forza 3.

Recall Take Two

For the rescheduled fix, I brought my netbook, planner, work glasses, a pen, and a to-do list that included writing a new blog post for this web site. When I checked in at the service center desk, the guy asked if I wanted to wait.

“Do you have Wi-Fi?” I asked

“We do if you want it,” he said. “All you have to do is ask.” He walked me through the garage to a very nice waiting room with comfy couches, free Wi-Fi, free Starbucks from a magical machine, and a stack of People magazines.

So far, I’ve completed my Monday morning plan of attack, attended to my email, caught up on RSS feeds, and now, written that blog post. And I had a crazy little latte from the machine.

If the freelance life is about freedom, that means untethering yourself from your desk. I’ve spent weeks in my office, all day, every day, for no very good reason. If I can choose my work, I can certainly choose my venue.

Today, I chose the Subaru waiting room. I was able to tick things off my to-do list as my fuel something or other got fixed.