In a little over five years at the corner of North 69th Street and West North Avenue, Cranky Al's cafe has become justly famous for hand-cranked doughnuts and crullers in the morning and pizza in the evening.

Last week, Cranky's won the first Wauwatosa Patch People's Choice poll for its Friday fish fry.

More than that, Cranky Al's has become something like the defacto meeting place, public forum and off-site office for residents of East Tosa.

I'll be settling in there from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday to hold my own office hours, and I'll be ready to lend an ear to anyone who wants to bend my ear about goings on about the neighborhood or who would like to learn more about Patch.

I shouldn't be hard to find. I'll be the one with "Patch" in big green letters on the lid of my laptop.

Anyone who just wants to chat for a moment is welcome; anyone who wants to sit down and discuss news coverage, likewise.

I'm also more than open to showing you firsthand some of the free tools Patch has onboard to make your life a little easier – if not ridiculously easier – if you want to be totally tuned in to your community, or if you want the community to tune in to you, your business, your organization or cause.