Pret @ Highbury Corner
SOMETIMES CONVENIENCE TRUMPS VIBE
Woke up to even lower crypto prices today. Even though I've already hunkered down for crypto winter, and probably won't be doing anything till things really crash, I still can't help the occasional glance at the numbers "just to see". LOL. And, can I say, that's the worst day to begin a day. Meditation, stretching, warm water with lemon, are all better options.
I got out so early in the morning because it's going to be a super productive day for me today. I have at least 10 items on my urgent list and they must get done today. More than half of those items are computer based - that is, they're either online, or something I have to do on my computer.
The other items involved running around London from one end to the other, which is why I got out so early to the most important location - Islington. I used to frequent this area a lot back in the day. It's not so far from the City, so I used to meet people after work in the area. It's not quite like Shoreditch, but it does have some spill-over hipsterness from that area. Islington has its own cool though, including a collection of amazing cafes.
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On this day, however, I opted for Pret on Highbury Corner. Why? It's one of those laptop friendly, dependable cafes when you need to get some work done. I don't need their WiFi, since I already have a ridiculous amount of data on my phone service, but if I did, their's is one that always works. They also have a good number of sockets, including USB ports, to power my devices. That's the crucial one. Other cafes have them, but the trendy ones sometimes don't, and if they do, they're often located inconveniently.
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Pret serves a famously cheap "Black Amo", which is short for Black Americano - my drink of choice 99% of the time. Shock horror, that is what I ordered on the day for a bear market friendly £2.70. I know that probably sounds like a lot to some people, but this is rip-off Britain, and everything costs an arm and a leg.
The taste of the coffee is nothing to write home about. It's that generic chain shop coffee taste which I now understand how and why it's achieved. I did order with my Cropto.com card and got some cashback at the rate of, I don't even know - they changed it, yay.
I love the ambience at Pret. This one got quite crowded but, even though it has a lot of seating space, most people there to order takeaway. Maybe that was due to the early time of the day. Late breakfast possibly, or something for work lunch later.
While I was downing my hot Americano, something cool happened. The staff, of which there seemed to be an adequate number for a change, burst in to song. "🎼Happy birthday to you...🎶". Someone brought a cake with candles and presented it to a totally shocked colleague. The entire cafe joined in the song and erupted in applause. It was a pretty cool moment. I was quite happy to see, in this day and age, a happy camaraderie between people working in a cafe. It made my day.
Peace & Love,
Adé