Sugarcane

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou put your headphones on, and try to avoid listening to the conversation in the kitchenette. You hope the coffee will still be there in a bit.\n\n[[The chatters have left and you finally feel the need for some coffee.|coffee]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\n"Uh... I know Wordpress and a little bit of CSS," you say.\n\n"Great! I already know these two can't help, but maybe you can. I've got tricky little issue..." and Duane goes on to tell you what he's trying to build for a client.\n\n"If you've got any ideas, that would be awesome." He looks at you hopefully.\n\n"Well, I only know a bit of CSS, but here. Send me the code and I'll poke at it," you offer. \n\n"Awesome. Thanks," he says as he finishes his email to you. "Hopefully this will work. I don't really want to go to the email list."\n\n"Email list?"\n\n"Yeah, are you not on it? It's for the entire community for chatter and events and help requests." Duane said. "It should have something in the titles of all the emails."\n\n"Oh, yeah, I do get that. Seems useful," you say.\n\n"Definitely useful. Keep an eye on it for cookie announcements." Duane grins and puts his headphones back on.\n\nYou turn back to work and dissect the code he sent to you for a bit as your long term work can wait.\n\n[[You feel a need for coffee and people are chatting in the kitchen.|kitchen]]\n\n[[You hear the chatter and put on your headphones.|headphones]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou shake your head, "Sorry, I've got to get this work done."\n\nDuane looks a bit disappointed. "Ok, thanks anyway. I'll send an email to the group list and see if anyone can help with this."\n\n"Eamil list?"\n\n"Yeah, are you not on it? It's for the entire community for chatter and events and help requests." Duane says. "It should have something in the titles of all the emails."\n\n"Oh, yeah, I do get that. Seems useful," you say.\n\n"It can be. Here's hoping." Duane puts his headphones back on.\n\nYou turn back to your work and focus for a while on it.\n\nAfter some time passes...\n\n[[You feel a need for coffee and people are chatting in the kitchenette.|kitchen]]\n\n[[You hear the chatter from the kitchenette and put on your headphones.|headphones]]\n

<>\n<<if $coworker is 0>> \nClimbing the steps to a renovated loft office space, you arrive at your brand spanking new coworking space for the first time since joining it. Pushing open the door, you see a desk with a somewhat tired looking man focusing on his computer. He looks up with a smile.\n \n[[You talk to the person at the front desk.|frontdesk]]\n \nTalking to people is too hard. [[You turn around and head back down the stairs and home.|leave]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker > 0 and $coworker < 7>>\nClimbing the steps to a renovated loft office space, you arrive at your brand spanking new coworking space for the second time since joining it. Pushing open the door, you see a somewhat tired looking green man focusing on a large display that is showing a tall robot destroying the downtown area of a metropolitan area. He looks up and smiles.\n \n[[You talk to the green man at the front desk.|frontdesk]]\n \nTalking to others is too hard. [[You turn around and head back down the stairs and home.|leave]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker > 6>>\nClimbing the steps to a renovated loft office space, you arrive at your brand spanking new coworking space for the second time since joining it. Pushing open the door, you see a blossoming stump with a sleepy looking centaur focusing on a his plant-based computer, lit by the biolumenescent glow. He looks up and grins in greeting, stamping his gigantic hooves in a friendly synchopation. \n \n[[You talk to the centaur standing at the stump.|frontdesk]]\n \nTalking to others is too hard. [[You turn around and head back down the stairs and home.|leave]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nChecking your email, you see a new email from the coworking community email list.\n\n"Subject: Lunch?\nFrom: Ben\n\nHey guys,\n\nWho wants to get pho for lunch? Let's do this. I'm starving!\n\n~ B"\n\n[[You decide to go have lunch with Ben.|outing]]\n\n[[You decide you're not quite ready for that and go find something to bring back to your seat.|desklunch]]\n

<><<if $coworker > 6>>\nYou head home and feel pretty good about having talked to so many people. You're feeling like this might be a good space for you for a bit, and you plan to follow up [[tomorrow|Start]] on all the little requests that have come your way.\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker > 0 and $coworker < 7>>\nYou head home and feel like you managed to make a few connections. You're feeling like there might be more people you could work with and consider talking to a few more people [[tomorrow|Start]].\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker is 0>>\nYou feel like you might not fit well with this group of people. You also consider maybe talking with more people might help with deciding if it's the place for you. [[Tomorrow is always another day to try again.|Start]]\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nYou look up. "I don't mean to pry, but I heard the word wordpress?"\n\n"Do you know it?" says the man who'd been talking about his client.\n\n"A bit. What are you trying to do?" you ask as you sip your coffee.\n\n"I can do a lot of things, but my client is trying to have me port over part of an old wordpress site to their new site and I'm not 100% sure how to do it and have been having issues. Any tips?" he asks.\n\n"Sure! Do you want to set aside some time to go over it? I'd like to see what you have so far. Maybe I'll see the fix for you."\n\n"Yeah, tomorrow ok?"\n\n"Definitely."\n\n"My name is Frank. I usually sit over there." He says pointing to the standing desks. \n\n"And I'm Tuan." says the other man, reaching out a hand to shake yours.\n\n"Hey, yeah, definitely. I'm new here, but happy to help out where I can." you say and introduce yourself to them both. Tuan has a firm handshake and you try to match it.\n\n[[You go back to your table to get more work done.|desk]]

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou have your headphones on and manage to get a lot done on your work for the day. You pack up, the happy hour group is getting a bit loud.\n\n[[You head out and wave at Rick who is just joining the happy hour.|home]]\n

Coworking, The First Day

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nYou gesture at the empty spot and raise your eyebrows at the people already sitting down. The woman directly across from the empty spot pulls out an earbud and nods. "Yep, it's free." \n\nYou smile. "Thanks. I'm new here, so wanted to make sure."\n\n"Welcome! I'm Sara, I'd chat more, but I'm on a deadline, so don't mind me! I just don't want you to think I'm being rude."\n\n"No problem." You reply and introduce yourself. The other two people smile at you and nod before focusing back on their screens.\n\nYou settle in, and get to work. \n\nOne of the men pulls off his headphones after a few minutes.\n\n"Hey, I'm Duane. Sorry to do this, but you don't by any chance know CSS and Wordpress do you?"\n\n[[You know a little bit and offer to help.|help]]\n\n[[You know a little bit but want to focus on your own work.|focus]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou open your laptop, set everything up and dig into your work. The rest of the space is filling up with other people, your own table gets a few new arrivals who are all intently focused on their own work. \n\nA couple of people start talking in the kitchenette area.\n\n[[You put on your headphones.|headphones]]\n\n[[You go get a cup of coffee and say hello.|kitchen]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou go back to the kitchenette area to discover that the coffee pot is empty. \n\n\n[[You look around to see if there are any clear instructions for making a fresh pot.|grinds]]\n\n[[You decide to just go get a cup of coffee from outside the officespace.|starbucks]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nYou see a plastic bin of ground coffee and open it. There's no instructions nearby, but you start clearing the basket of grounds. Rick, the front desk guy, comes up to you. \n\n"You all set with this?" he asks.\n\n"I just want to make sure I make the right strength of coffee. I like my coffee really strong," you say.\n\n"Nice. Well, here, we've got a cup that measures the perfect amount for this coffee maker." he hands it to you. "We should make instructions for these situations."\n\nYou use the cup to fill the basket of the coffee maker. \n\n"I think I'm set now!" you say.\n\n<>\n<<if visited("friendly")>>\n"Hey, fresh coffee?" says Sara, coming up to you. \n \n"Yep! Soon, I think."\n<<else>>\n"Hey, fresh coffee?" says a woman, coming up to you. "Sorry, caffeine-deprived. I'm Sara."\n \n"Yep! Soon, I think." You introduce yourself.\n<<endif>><<endnobr>>\n\nSara leans up against a counter with her empty cup and starts chatting with you and Rick. The front door opens and Rick excuses himself as he greets the new person coming in.\n\nSara is a designer and you chat about some of the projects you've worked on. You end up talking about gathering a group to go see a new movie in the area. Sara is excited about it. You feel like you've made a new connection.\n\nSmiling, you go back to your spot, put your headphones back on and focus back on work.\n\nWorking working [[working...|lunchtime]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou leave the office to get coffee. The local spot is crowded with people, but not too terrible. You get your caffeine fix and head back in to get more work done.\n\nEntering the office, you see Rick, the front desk guy, coming up to you from the kitchen where a few people have congregated. As you go to sit back at your spot, you can hear them talking about making plans to go see a new movie nearby.\n\nYou put your headphones back on and focus back on work.\n\nWorking working [[working...|lunchtime]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nFeeling pretty good about offering your help, you head back to where you were sitting to get some more work done. Time passes...\n\n\n\n[[You finish your coffee and need a fresh cup.|coffee]]\n

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<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nYou stand and stretch and walk into the kitchenette.\n\nTwo men are chatting about something. As you get closer, you hear one of them talking about a somewhat problematic client and how to deal with them. The other man nods sympathetically.\n\n"Yeah, that is a rough situation." he says.\n\n"The thing is, that it's cutting into the time I need to spend on my other projects, and they're asking me to do something we never agreed on initially."\n\nYou fill a cup with coffee and start fixing it.\n\n"Yeah, I don't know enough about porting a site in wordpress to help. Maybe someone else knows?" one of the men says as he bites into a cookie from the plate on the counter.\n\n[[You offer your assistance.|assistance]]\n\n[[You mind your own business and go back to your seat.|work]]\n\n\n

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nYou head out with Ben and a few other people and eat some delicious pho. Nothing has prepared you for how good this hole in the wall place is. You chat about projects, the city and movies coming out. Ben is a developer with a larger group of people working out of the office and you feel like you have a better sense of the coworking space when you get back to the office.\n\nAs you get back into the office, feeling pretty decent about your choice to join this group, you sit back in your spot.\n\n"Hey, there will be happy hour this evening if you want to join," says Ben. \n\n"Thanks for the invite! Let me see what I can get done." you reply.\n\nBy around 5, a group has gathered in the kitchenette area with beers and some drinks and are chatting. \n\n[[You go join the happy hour to meet some more coworkers.|happyhour]]\n\n[[You put your headphones on to get some more work done.|workmore]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou decide that you really need to focus on your own work for a bit longer, so after getting some coffee, you return to your table and put on your headphones and get down to it.\n\nTime passes...\n\n[[You finish your coffee and need a fresh cup.|coffee]]\n

<><<set $coworker += 0>>\n<<if $coworker is 0>>\nYou already miss your cat competing with your laptop, talking to people is too much work and you are feeling awfully introverted already. Maybe you'll try again [[next week|Start]].\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker > 0 and $coworker < 7>>\nYou already miss your house elf turning your laptop into a banana, talking to others is too much work and you are feeling awfully introverted already. Maybe you'll try again [[next week|Start]].\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker > 6>>\nYou already miss your baby minotaur attempting to destroy your laptop, talking to others is too much work and you are feeling awfully introverted already. Maybe you'll try again [[next week|Start]].\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>

<><<set $coworker += 1>>\n<<if $coworker is 1>>\n"Hello!" says the man at the desk. "First time here?"\n \n"Yeah, I just joined last week. Do I sign in or sit anywhere in particular?" you ask.\n \n"Well, I'm Rick, and let's see. To your questions, yes and no. Yes to signing in, right here." He points to a sign in book at the edge of the desk. You write your name and sign it. "And no, you can sit anywhere that's free, except in the conference rooms. Those have to be reserved ahead of time." He then waves a hand back towards the tables and standing desks lining the exposed brick walls. \n \nYou can see the kitchenette off to one side and have a flash of desire for coffee. The craving must fly across your face as he smiles at you.\n \n"Coffee's on. Cups are in the cabinets. And the current password for the wifi is up on the whiteboard. Just let me know if you need anything." The man points to a whiteboard set up behind him. You note the password and head back towards the tables and standing desks.\n \n[[You sit at an empty table.|empty]]\n \n[[You sit at a table with a gathering of friendly-looking people.|friendly]]\n<<endif>>\n<<if $coworker > 1 and $coworker < 7>>\n"Hello!" says the man at the desk. "First time here?"\n \n"Not actually, but I remember it being a little bit different last time I was here."\n \n"Well, I'm Jon, and let's see... since you've been here before, then that means that you have accessed at some extra levels of the coworking experience!" He presses some buttons on his computer, and the wall of the loft space opened displaying a dimly lit corridor with displays lit on either side. You hesitate at the door.\n \n"Go for it," says the centaur. "The best is yet to come!"\n \nYou enter the corridor and, in viewing the displays, see statistics of crime in the city and the blueprints for an armoured suit and flying plane that converts into a car. Everything is dark and there's the faint sound of dripping and some squeaks although nothing smells and it doesn't appear to be dirty.\n \nYou stick your head back out of the corridor.\n \n"Is this... what?" you say.\n \nThe centaur just grins and turns a switch and the displays show your future coworkers, all resplendent in bright colors and sometimes capes.\n \n"We're excited to have you as our newest member! Coworking leveled up."\n\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if $coworker > 8>>\n"Hello!" says the centaur at the stump. "First time here?"\n \n"Not actually, but I remember it being a little bit different last time I was here."\n \n"Well, I'm Willy, and let's see... if you've been here before then that means you have access to the extra levels of coworking!" He stabs a bit at the bioluminescent computer and a part of the loft brickwork reveals itself to be a pair of cleverly hidden doors and part in a grandiose way, opening outward.\n \nYou peer at the doors and look back at the centaur. He just waves you on, eyes twinkling as a small orange person scampers out of the opening. It is followed by several more similarly orange tiny people who all grasp at your hands and start tugging you towards the doorway. You resist until a waft of the smell of caramel and chocolate drifts past you. You look back to see that the centaur is partially animatronic and the man inside of the horse has placed a top hat jauntily on his head.\n \n"Wait, what?" you say.\n \n"Invention is 93% perspiration 6% inspiration 3% perspiration and 2% butter scotch ripple," says the man. "Oh, and you'll need this." \n \nHe presses a shiny golden piece of paper into your hand and as you brighten up, the small orange people pull you into a maker space the like you could not have imagined.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<endnobr>>

<><<set $coworker += 0>><<endnobr>>\nYou go out and pick up a sandwich to eat with your laptop. It's tasty enough and feeds you. You make a note to bring a bag lunch next time or maybe join others.\n\nBy around 5, a group has gathered in the kitchenette area with drinks, and they are chatting with each other. \n\n[[You go join the happy hour to meet coworkers.|happyhour]]\n\n[[You put your headphones on to get work done.|workmore]]\n

Clarice Meadows

<><<set $coworker += 1>><<endnobr>>\nYou meet up with a bunch of people for the happy hour. Lots of conversation about everything ranging from design, tech, new startups, to movies, music and books happen. You meet more of the coworking space and after a couple of beers have handed your card to a bunch of new people.\n\n[[As you leave, you wave at Rick who is just joining the happy hour.|home]]\n