Nothing is permanent. This PBase installation in northern Utah used to be a vital part of a
technical and social network. In addition to providing technical service to customers in a
large rural area, this site was the location of the country’s first cyber cafe.

The cafe was a magnet for surfers of all types to drop in for some relaxation during road
trips. Not only could travelers get their PBase problems solved by technical staff, but
also surf the net at no cost, recharge their laptop batteries, or sit in comfy chairs
by the two fireplaces (another first) as they traded stories about their surfing
exploits from nodes in Seattle, Boulder, or Moab. Occasionally the conversation
would shift to Malibu, Rincon, Laguna, or Dohini.

In an unfortunate error of judgment, management hired a barista that couldn’t make decent
lattes no matter how hard he tried. Cafe attendance steadily dropped because of it. Even
the level of requests for technical support tapered off. The guy was fired and migrated
to Seattle, where he started a coffee company. But the change in baristas came too late:
people just would not drop in any more. The staff held on as long as they could because
there were rumors that Smugmug or Flickr would move into the area. It all came to an end
when an earthquake destroyed the office/shop. Technicians and baristas-in-training were
transferred to other facilities. PBase salvaged what it could and abandoned the site. Two
years later a brush fire consumed the wooden cafe building, leaving only the two chimneys,
whose fireplaces acted as comforting places for weary travelers on the back roads of life.
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