Working from home.

Due to some recent changes I now work from home most of the time, as such I've had to think about how this changes my established work flow and what constitutes a work space. Over the last eight years I have generally worked from an office building full of cubicles and their occupants. Now I have a space in the basement where I keep my router, workstation tower, and other assorted bits of kit, to which I access with my Macbook. This arrangement allows me to sit in my desk for a 'normal' setting, or go a field for some variety. So the thing I guess I'm interested in is seeing just what this change will have on the work I do and its character. Does working from home or on the road change one's product?

One thing that I have noticed is that working from home does make one appreciate some of the background  noise of a busy office - the coffee breaks, and water cooler chat does offer some benefits; be it discussing tricky issues, or hearing about some neat piece of code someone had developed. In that vein I try to get out and work in local coffee shops or have colleagues over to break the quiet cycle. I recently had one of my Apache Camel friends over for some code fun and a proper coding breakfest/dinner (I included some pics of the Canadian bacon and cornmeal bread for Oisin's benefit).