You gotta be kidding me!

I'm out in RTP this afternoon hanging out for a couple of hours before going to the beach. RTP for those of you who are not Triangle residents stands for Reasearch Triangle Park. It's the brain-child of some guys whose names I can't remember who decide back in the 60s to try to bring scientific companies/organizations/institutes/whatnot to the Triange area to reap the benefits of cheap land and three nearby universities.

Theoretically, there is no commercial activity in RTP-proper, but luckily there is LOTS of commercial activity on the borders of the Park, otherwise everyone out there would starve and run out of gas on a regular basis.

Anyway, I was told of a good coffee place to hang out for a couple of hours: good coffee, comfy chairs and free internet. All good. But, sadly, when I got there they'd decided (along with half of the rest of the world) to give themselves an even longer weekend; they were closed today.

Now, I used to work in RTP, so I know my way around, but it's been awhile, so I don't know all the available bars/restaurants/coffee shops/wi-fi prospects. But I figured, "Hey, how hard can it be to find a coffee shop with wi-fi in a place populated by really intelligent geeks????"

Apparently pretty hard.

First of all, it seems really intelligent geeks need gas more than coffee out here (probably because they get free coffee at work), because I passed approximately 10 gas stations before I EVER saw a food option of any sort (unless you count gas stations as food options; I don't).

Secondly, when I did get to the food options, the first strip center I pulled into had a Wendy's and a Chinese restaurant. Not what I wanted, and probably no wi-fi. I did, however, see a coffee place across the street! But, sadly, when I pulled up to it, it was closed.

At this point, I was about ready to admit defeat, but falling back on my own geek skills, I found a parking space, and popped open my computer to see what wireless networks were around! Lo and behold, the restaurant and bar right behind me had a wireless network.

So here I am, enjoying a Sam Adams Summer Ale, blogging away, 30 minutes into the hour I have left to kill.

But you'd think this would've been easier....