Cafe Reviews for the Dissertation Writer, Volume 3

Last week Tiff and I had our dissertation date at Epic Cafe, just around the corner from where I live.  Here's the breakdown, with perhaps more commentary than usual, because once again, I'm waiting on spectra to acquire:

Pros

• Free wifi - though should this really be on the "pro" list?  I mean, what cafe doesn't have free wifi?  I probably wouldn't bother working at any place that didn't.  I guess I'll keep putting it.  Just in case we ever work somewhere about which I have nothing else nice to say?
• Real dishes - this isn't just me being a green/hippie freak.  I genuinely prefer real dishes to disposable.
• Epic has lots of food, including meal-worthy food (sandwiches and pasta salads and soups and such), not just sweets/snacks.
• Walking distance of work and home - this is literally like a 2 minute walk from home.  It would be hard to be closer to home.
• Local business
• Non-distracting music
• Couches!
• Super foamy hot chocolate deliciousness
• They'll reheat your drink when it gets cool before you finish it. :)

Cons

• It was quiet when I got there, but became really loud.  Like REALLY loud.  Considerably louder than Starbucks.
• A lot of their sweets are vegan.  Baked goods are meant to have butter and eggs.  I'm sorry, but vegan baked goods taste like crap.
• The couches and tables not at compatible working height.  If I sat on my feet I was at an ok height to work at the table, but if I sat on my butt I was too low to comfortable work with my laptop on the table.
• A lot of the tables are VERY close together.  Seriously.  No more than a foot.  I had to turn sideways and slide between them. This can be quite awkward when the couple next to you is having a conversation not meant to be had in public, or when the crazy old man next to you notices that you're doing Science.  Which brings me to a story.

So the crazy old man sitting next to me at some point looks over and realizes that I'm doing Science (I was putting a zillion little colored dots on a spectrum to label the peaks.), and asked if I was doing psychology.  Not sure how you get psychology out of that, but then he starts rambling about a psychology degree that he finished in 2007 (coincidentally, the same year I graduated from college, and this guy had to be at least 70).  Then he starts talking about some college algebra class he took in 1964.  I'm mostly smiling and nodding, because what else do you do?  You can't ignore a man talking to you from the table 12 inches away.

Eventually he leaves, telling me and Tiff that it'll all be worth it.  We reply that we certainly hope so.  (Really, really, really hope so.  There are a lot of days when I'm not remotely convinced.)

At this point the girl sitting at the table on the other side of Tiff asks if we're grad students.  She's not phased when I say yes.  After all, if she's an undergrad at U of A there's no way she hasn't had graduate students instructing far more than just her lab courses.  Then she asks what we're studying.  Tiff tells her we're both working on our dissertations for a PhD in chemistry.  Her reaction, given with a look of pity and horror:

"Fuuuuuuuuuuck."

:)