aBrilliantBlog

So this morning started like any other morning except when my wife got in the car with my daughter it wouldn’t start. Being suburban living big city Americans the first thing we did was call AAA. They came out and diagnosed the problem as a bad battery (Joe was extremely courteous and helpful) so it got jumped. So instead of going to work like I usually would in my home office I had to take the car in to get a new battery, while I was there we decided it needs new tires, brakes, a brake flush, and an oil change. So what does a self employed mobile evangelist (I’m really an event planner) do??? You guessed it, I brought my trusty Apple MacBook and started working. Remember though, we jumped the car and I couldn’t just leave it for a half hour while I made sure everything was charged and ready to go, no I had to close the lid on my laptop, stuff it in my Crumpler bag (thanks Nokia) and go. Since this morning I have done all kinds of regular work related things, like making calls sending email and lots more. Gone are the days where spending time at the mechanic is time wasted. I have been working for about 5 hours until the MacBook battery gave out and now I’m typing this on my IGo Stowaway BT keyboard and the most amaizing Nokia E71. Today was not as productive as it could have been if I had my regular truly highspeed internet, duel screen set up and mouse, but working on a 13 inch MacBook with less then optimal wifi isn’t as bad as it could have been. I’m actually enjoying typing on this tiny bluetooth keyboard creating this post but wouldn’t want to do it every day. I must say though, being ready at a moments notice is a way of life and in this case very useful. I suggest everyone, especially you take a few minutes and make sure their laptop bag is packed or you have a little “go bag” packed.

Here’s a list of what I always, have ready to go either in my laptop bag which is for everyday life or in my go bag which is for emergencies or for longer then a day or 2 out of the office.

• Chargers for phone, bluetooth headset, laptop and other powered accessories
• Spare batteries
  
• Electrical currency converters for traveling outside my home country
  
• My Boingo log in information
• Log in and pass words all incoded for important sites
  
• A Cat 5 cable for the laptop
• A spare set of contact lenses
• The sim cards I have for other countries
• My MaxRoam sim card
• Ear phones
• Business Cards
• Pen and a pad of paper
• A Proporta charger
• Note: Leave a copy of your credit cards, drivers license, health insurance card, and passport with a trustworthy friend

Now as I wait for the Firestone guys to finish working on my wifes car I’m glad I won’t be working like this again tomorrow, but I could make this a lifestyle with a little more preparation. Take a look here at the Working Anywhere blog for tips on being a global nomad.