hang out at the neighborhood Starbucks/Panera a lot Substitute "Barnes & Noble Cafe" for Starbucks, and yeah, that's what works for me. I've met tons of people

hang out at the neighborhood Starbucks/Panera a lot Substitute "Barnes & Noble Cafe" for Starbucks, and yeah, that's what works for me. I've met tons of people, and made a few new friends, just by hanging out at that cafe a lot. In fact, if anything it can almost be too "social" at times, because most of the time when I go in there my underlying purpose is actually to work. But I've gotten to know so many people who work there or visit regularly, that some days I'll be sitting at a table trying to work, and have a nearly non-stop stream of people stopping to just chat and socialize. It's a little bit of a catch-22 since I don't want to shun people and act anti-social - especially given how much I do value those social interactions in general. But some days I almost find myself wanting to go somewhere where I'm not so well known just so I can get work done without so many distractions. Nobody ever said life was easy. And boy, were they right! :-)