IDoLOG

Subpar Miniature Golf- What went wrong.

2011-11-28T15:37:00.002-05:00

We began by tearing out two non-load-bearing walls, some old plumbing, and trashing a great deal of debris that had been left behind, as previous years the space had been rented to Halloween stores, and they had left massive amounts of crap. Once we had all of that out, and our dumpster hauled away, we brought in our electricians and plumbers to inspect our situation and make bids.

Our electricians were blown away by the out-of-code work that had been done on this site- we were aware that there were problems, but the scope of the work was a lot more than expected. We asked our landlord to cover all costs associated with bringing the electricity up to code. Any changes to the electric system that were our own changes- the installation of new wall switches, new outlets, and electric bathroom fixtures (lights, tankless water heaters, hand dryers) would be changes we would pay for. This request was refused at first, then the landlord offered to pay for half of what we were asking for.

Then the plumbing- our plumbing contractor had us examine the current plumbing system with a scope- and the results were again worse than we expected. The only two existing working toilets were attached to the old sewer line in only the most minimal way possible- not up to code, and not in a way that safely allowed for proper disposal of waste. The cost to repair this so that the existing toilets would work properly- not the new ones we'd be installing later, was significant. And we asked the landlord to be reimbursed for that. We were refused this outright.

Then the rear left wall- In some year past, our neighbor on the south by our rear exit decided to add two feet of depth to the parking lot without getting a permit, and in doing so decided to use the wall of our building to hold everything up. They put in no drainage or waterproofing on our wall, and in subsequent years the wall has started to buckle and leak. This was all done before the current owner of the lot purchased it, who was unaware of the problem when it was bought. Thankfully, after discussing the situation with the lot owner, they have agreed to right the problem without any fighting or disagreement. Dealing with them so far has been easy and excellent.

Then the floor- After the Halloween store moved in, and back out again, we began work. We had no building permit yet, so we were limited to wall and floor covering work at the time. All the while we are negotiating and expecting the landlord to agree to our costs, making offers closer to midway between where we and our landlord saw the costs being split. And we kept getting turned down. Then after ripping up the carpet we inspected the floors. And the back 25% of the floors were thrown in over pits with no infill or reinforcement, and the slab was installed in some places at less than an inch thick- when concrete slab is supposed to be at least four inches thick.

These new costs coupled with our costs of making the building ADA compatible were skyrocketing. I can't use any specific numbers here, but suffice it to say costs associated with just making the building acceptable for our use had long since passed half our total project costs, and our landlord has been fighting us on every penny. Meanwhile, Jake and Martin had been getting paid for their work, and money had been spent on the improvements and supplies for the further work expected. All this before we had done any building of a golf course at all. Then...

Subpar Miniature Golf- What we learned

2011-11-28T15:11:00.003-05:00

So with a space and existing as a legal entity, we began the research. I began to catalog all the costs I expected to have with the project, find suppliers, line up contractors, and see if the project was feasible. And the more we dug into the project the more costs and problems we found.

First there was the rear emergency door, which was not installed to ADA spec, and an entire front window assembly that was going to have to be replaced. Then there was the security deposit- a whopping $25,000, which, at the time was about half of our projected budget for the entire affair. We also put together income projections and things looked gloomy- even optimistic projections put us short every month. All told, everything began to look like the project was dead in the water- which was OK, my expenses in the project were minimal, and we hadn't signed a lease yet. But my dream of opening a miniature golf course was over.

But then I was contacted by my friend Bobby, who I hadn't talked to in a while, but is something of a business guru himself. He urged me to do some research that would give him the info he needed to see if this project was, in fact profitable. David and I researched customer numbers at similar establishments, competitor's pricing and services, and we sent our findings on to Bobby, along with our expected costs and income sheets from before. He sent us back some numbers that looked substantially more promising- we weren't going to be wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I might make enough money to support myself.

So with things looking positive, we signed a lease (after a whole long to-do regarding the Halloween store, which I'll recount at another time.) We had noticed some issues with the electrical system, but these were issues that the landlord would cover, or so we thought. We began work on the project in mid-august, with some light demolition work. Continued in part 3.

Subpar Miniature Golf- Where we started.

2011-11-28T14:16:00.003-05:00

I feel like I'm walking into a dusty old abandoned house.

Hello? Anybody here?
Anyone been on this blog in this calendar year?

Well, this is really the only place to post this sort of rant, so let's try to get this out in a few short hours and see if we can't get you all up to speed.

As you, a Facebook friend, are most likely aware, I am attempting to open a miniature golf course, here in the Bay Area of California. More specifically, Alameda, a city, island, municipality all of its own, just south of Oakland, and about five minutes from my apartment. Right now, we are on the precipice of the end, teetering, as my architect so plainly put it, between destruction and chaos, hoping, really to not tip either way, but the outlook is not great.

I'd like to commit to digital paper the whole story, so if you would rather not start from the VERY beginning, wait until my last post of the day, where I'll spell out the current situation in detail.

It all started with Jake, Martin, Paul and Chris, all neighbors of mine, discussing a way to get guests of our upcoming F3 event to make sure they visited all of the open studios in the building- what if there were a miniature golf hole in each place, and guests were encouraged to play a full round? An ambitious project to be sure, but definitely clever. We thought about the logistics of it, if it should be outside, whatever, and I began thinking about what we could do with all the holes at the end. There was certainly no room for them to stay in anyone's unit, storing them would be expensive, and destroying them would be wasteful. What about turning it into an actual course? Are there any miniature golf courses anywhere near here?

As it turns out, no. There isn't a single miniature golf course in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Alameda or anywhere in the western part of the bay, save for one in Marin County. The closest one to us was in Castro Valley, and that is about a 20 minute drive.

So I discussed my enthusiasm about this project and the potential market, with David, my neighbor and business start-up expert. He shared similar enthusiasm for the idea, and we started doing the research on business starting procedures. We filed as an LLC in the name of Subpar Entertainment LLC with the state of California, and started scouting properties.

There were many lots in Oakland that looked interesting, but an outdoor facility in Oakland would be prone to vandalism, and would require building a large and expensive fence and 24-hour security. We searched for indoor spaces large enough- warehouses, closed clubs, when I came upon a Craigslist listing for a space on Park Street in Alameda.

Alameda is a family-oriented city, not dense in the traditional city sense, but a nice place where there are a lot of kids, and a good police officer to citizen ratio. In other words, it is a bit of a safe haven from the cities that surround it on all sides. The good news for us is that we kept hearing was that while there were many families and young people in the area, there were few entertainment establishments, and a sore need for more.

We contacted the property manager of the space, arranged a visit of the space, and started negotiating rates. I'll admit I fell in love with it too quickly. I saw the potential in it, put not the pitfalls. I didn't have a structural engineer look at it, I didn't have a plumber or electrician inspect it, and I didn't check previous location work history. All sizable mistakes, in my own right.

But we knew, or thought we knew at the time, that this was the perfect location. When our other possible location said no, we focused our attention on 1511 Park Street, and figuring out the logistics of opening the business in that spot.

Bed Complete

2010-09-05T22:01:00.007-05:00

Dear Internet,

You're welcome. I spared you once again the boredom of staining and lacquering a huge chuck of wood. Instead, I waited until the boring part was done to show the headboard with the upholstered panels finally in place.

Tonight I will sleep on a completed bed, though I might take some time to read leaning against the headboard, which is what it was designed for.

The bed needs a pull-out nightstand, but after two months work, I'm ready to call this one just about done.

It became too dark before I was able to get any high quality pictures of the bed all together, the shot above was the best I could do. So look for some glamor shots tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have begun work on a couple of other projects. The first, and largest, is a greatly expanding dining table- with the ability to be suited to seating 2 to 12 diners through a complex folding scheme. Should be very exciting. Here is a render of the table in CAD, folded to full size. The idea is still in its forming stages, so don't yet judge it- I know it looks a bit unstable.

The second is sincerely a vanity project. I came upon an amazing pool cue handle at an antique store in Alameda when browsing with Zac and Jessica- this in no way counts as "antiquing." Anyway, this handle had the intricate carving of a Japanese dragon on it, and I thought it would make an excellent pipe. TOBACCO pipe. I've wanted to try some wood carving- and what wood semester would be complete without it, so I've decided to make my own version of it in pipe form.

Martin gave me a hunk of ironwood- a VERY heavy and dense wood often used for knife handles, and we cut it into a chunk about the right size. Ironwood, incidentally smells of feces when cut. Not just a general bad smell, it just sincerely smells of poo.

Anyway, this is the pipe head i whipped together in modeling clay.

Eventually to this I'll add a stem about a foot long in walnut for a very cool looking, if impractical pipe. Tobacco pipe. Only tobacco.

Finishing School

2010-08-29T14:47:00.001-05:00

Bed built, there is only one thing left to do- about 100 things. I wanted to take this project one step further than the futon and actually finish it. Staining and lacquering is not the most glamorous and fun part of building, but it is necessary for appearance and durability. Last week I sanded, stained, and applied three coats of lacquer to the bed frame.

Last night, I finally brought the frame inside after it had outgassed (read: stopped smelling like lighter fluid) and put it together. Nice.

Then, it was just the matter of putting the slats back into the frame. Amos helped.

I really like the look of the light wood slats on the dark wood of the frame.

This morning Jake helped me drag it upstairs, and tonight, I will sleep like an adult again.

Upholster Child

2010-08-20T19:43:00.003-05:00

Every day I get closer and closer to finishing this bed, and every day I get closer to sleeping above the floor. Yesterday I bought twenty one-by-twos to finish the frame of the bed, and stopped into an upholstery shop to get some materials.

I asked about materials, and woman in the shop ended up walking me through the entire project, start to finish. She was great, and I really wanted to buy something from her, but all her fabric was of the older furniture sort. I found a yard and a half of what I now know is green velvet in the discount bin for $10.

At home I just had to cut all the one-by twos and hammer them in place to finish the last structural work on the bed before retiring for a late afternoon of kayaking. Here is Jake testing the bed's strength.

That evening after returning I couldn't wait to get to upholstery, so I tried to see what I could do with some plywood scrap, some Super 77, and some upholstery foam I inherited from the same shop where I bought the planer, bandsaw, and the table saw. Apparently the stuff sticks damn good.

In the morning it was all about upholstery. Mike's Off-the-Cuff Dictionary defines Upholstery as turning hard furniture soft in a way that uses every staple in the shop. First, I needed to cut my foam blocks down to size. The blocks I had were four inches thick, and my headboard needed only two inches, so I needed to cut the blocks in half. I tried a whole slew (sloo? slough?) well, a lot of cutting devices; razor blades, joinery saws, hack saws, but you know what worked best? A Farberware bread knife from the kitchen. It took a bit of sawing, but it worked well.

Click here to download the cut foam desktop wallpaper!

Then the pieces were cut to size, glued together, and glued to the plywood backings. The seams were clean, and the edges were square. So far, upholstery was easy-peasy (peezy? pesey?) anyway, no real difficulty.

The next step called for wrapping the cushions in a layer of batting- I didn't know what that was either- followed by the upholstery fabric, both being stapled on all sides on the back, pulling it tight in a way to try to keep the edges straight.

The piece of fabric I had was a bit too small for me to cut two large pieces out of, so Monika helped me by cutting and sewing a couple smaller bits together.

A lot of stretching and about 200 staples later, I had both layers stretched over the cushion- no easy task since I had barely enough of each fabric. The main lesson I learned here- have extra fabric. If I had cut my pieces bigger I bet I could have made very straight edged cushions, but I'm still pretty happy with how they came out.

All-in-all I'd say getting started with some basic upholstery is easy- of course, these are just simple rectangles. I'm certain it gets more frustrating as you go up from there. The last bits left are finishing work- sealants, stains, and sanding. All to be done early next week.

Mortising Overdrive

2010-08-18T22:37:00.001-05:00

This time I have a good reason for not posting- I've been busy working. The last four days, I spent at least 7 hours working on this bed. Of course, I'm still not done. On Sunday, I re-built the bottom of the headboard with a design that would be a bit sturdier, and installed all the structural panels.

On Monday, I assembled all the parts and glued it together. Afterward, the piece felt sturdy, like a full piece of furniture for the first time!

Yesterday, I went and got some Douglas Fir 3x3s from Martin, as the one I had left from the futon was full of sap. A sappy piece of wood usually needs 6 months to a year to dry out and be usable. Unfortunately I only figured this out after I got sap all stuck in my tape measure.

This piece allowed me to finish up the framing yesterday afternoon and early this morning. Mortises drilled and glue drying, I needed to figure a way to hold up the mattress.

After perusing a few ideas, I settled on a simple one. Twenty-five one-by-twos spanning the two side rails. And to attach them, I could drill a series of mortises along the rails! Noticing a pattern?

I enjoy the mortising machine. I admit it. And I'm looking for more ways to use it. So today, I drilled 50 mortises, one after the other. I'm not ashamed. Ok, I may have a problem.

Then it was just a matter of hammering the one-by-twos into the mortises. And if I hadn't run out of them I'd be sleeping on it tonight!

Tomorrow I'll be getting the rest of them, and buying the stuff I will need for upholstering which should be an adventure in itself. I will let you all know how that goes.

Round Pegs, Square Holes, and Something that Looks Like a Bed

2010-08-12T12:56:00.001-05:00

Over the past week, in addition to some repairs to the chair, my efforts were focused on the bed, and making it a bit more, well, bed-like.

Martin and Jake brought over the Mortising machine on Monday, and on Wednesday morning I was ready to give it a try. The first times through there was jagged edges and a bit of smoke, but it worked. Square holes in seconds, large square holes in minutes.

With this new device in the shop I set about making a scale prototype- with full-size joints- to test if it's strong enough. A bed needs to disassemble and assemble relatively easily- it usually one of the largest pieces of furniture in the house and needs to be moved relatively often. This means that the joints can't be screwed or glued. However, they need to be strong enough to hold against, well.... repeated violent movement let's say.

The design I came up with involves a large mortise and tenon joint, held secure with a large dowel. Here is the first version in the prototype, where the peg is inserted vertically. Testing- by jumping on it mind you- proved that this was sturdy enough with these type of joints.

And in the actual frame, where the pin goes in horizontal- making for a much more structurally sound joint.

And here is the bed as it stands as of this morning. Finally looking like a bed- sort of. Finally looking like my drawings. On the home stretch? Maybe, but let's not get carried away.

My First Chair - In Three Days

2010-08-06T14:10:00.001-05:00

Dear Internet,

It's hard to believe that in all my years in ID that I've never built a chair. I've drawn tons of them, but never managed to fully realize one. The chair- the archetypal design object- somehow never made it into my to do list. Probably because I wasn't confident in my ability to make something that wouldn't fall over and injure my friends.

The project just came up as an ad hoc thing- we need a shop chair. I took a quick break from the bed project and decided to do something fun. The picture that came into my mind was a bent pipe structure with a wood seat- and then I set myself a challenge- design a chair built out of a single 10-foot length of electrical conduit. Cost: $1.80.

I did some sketching, but learned most of what I wanted from these prototypes, which were made from a single piece of wire, 10 inches long and some bass wood.

The difficulty I reached was that I needed a seat height of at least 24 inches, because while standard table height is 30", standard work counter height is 36" for easy access while standing. So the seat height for a chair for counters is 24" tall instead of the standard 16-18". With the minimum two legs for a chair this took nearly half of my entire 10-foot length, and not provide much structure. I settled on a design I liked, bought some conduit, and set to bending it.

Bending pipe is hard, and bending specific angles with a pipe bender is nigh impossible for a novice. Then, these bends become the weak points in the structure and collapse with maybe 20 pounds of force, not enough to hold even a small child. So, after ruining 20 feet of electrical conduit, I abandoned the challenge.

The next incarnation I would do with pipe fittings, where the joints are actually the strong points in an angle, and hope that would solve accuracy and structure problems. Home Despot doesn't sell steel pipe in any useful amount, so I visited an old friend, copper pipe. My altered ikea futon ran on copper pipe, and have always liked the way it looks with light wood. My design had to be altered because the store only has 90 and 45 degree pipe fittings. I put it together with some JB weld, and got this neat shape. Remind anyone of certain Reitveld chair?

This version was also to weak to hold me, and the joints twisted some in place. Back to the hardware store, for more pipe fittings and a special copper glue emblazoned with the warning SEVERE SKIN IRRITANT. That's how you know it's good. At Martin's advice I added two supports going from directly under the seat to the footrest, crossing the original supports. That did the trick, and also added to the aesthetic of the chair- it's now my favorite part.

I had a bunch of friends over for dinner and the chair was given a lot of attention and praise. The chair does feel like it's tilting you slightly forward if you put your feet on the floor, but if you're working at a counter, it's not at problem, even an advantage. But for sitting in the middle of a room with a plate in your lap trying to eat chicken wings, not so much.

The chair now resides in the shop and must endure the final test- the endurance one.

A Mortising Machine

2010-08-03T01:19:00.001-05:00

Dear Internet,

I finally got back to building today, and seeing as how it's been a while, I decided to put in a full eight hours. The first step was straightening the frames I already had. Then, after routing out a channel in the upper sections, I inserted a panel of maple plywood, similarly to how I put in the side panels from the futon.

The next step was to start putting the frames together. The eight cross pieces are all identical, and 30 inches long. And all need tenons on both ends. Fortunately, we now have a router table and making 16 identical tenons is a breeze!

For every tenon there is a mortise, however, and the rest of the day was spent drilling holes, and making them square with chisels. After all, there's no such thing as a drill that cuts square holes, right?

Wrong.

Martin stops over again to check my work- and again say something that's hard to hear. He sees my work, and says, "I guess a mortising machine is pretty high on your list about now."

A Mortising Machine?!? Surely he's joking- but no, such a machine does exist- and it uses a chisel-cornered bit to punch square holes! There are plenty of YouTube videos showing how they work if you don't believe me. I always thought the square hole was just a carpentry joke- but there it was, my day's work done in a few minutes by a clever machine.

I now understand- on a much smaller scale- how those craftsman felt when their careful handiwork was replaced by clean, new machines, when our society turned away from custom made products and toward manufactured ones. Their steady hands and practice rendered obsolete, by something that would never need to learn or be paid. It's a sad story, but it's told over and over again with technology- it's the way of things.

So there we have my basic conflict- the purity of the craft versus the ease, speed, and accuracy of a new machine. I wish I could wrap up this post with a clever answer to this conundrum, but I can't. I'll probably just buy one, and never think about mortises again.

The Last Two Weeks

2010-08-01T20:32:00.001-05:00

Dear Internet,

After some serious demand by some readers, I am finally getting back to you all. Seriously- with as many people who reminded me I haven't written a post in the last couple of weeks you'd think I get 100 hits a day! But it's true- I haven't spent the last fortnight playing with the new router table. So much more has been going on.

The bed has been progressing slowly. When I get a chance to work on it, it comes out well, as the router table makes tenons a breeze, but right now, all I have is the three frames for the back, and a bit of editing is needed there. I should get back to the whole thing tomorrow- and have no trouble finishing the back, aside from the cushions in the next week. Although, I may jump to it- the idea of upholstering something is making me giddy.

The first week was filled by a trip to Atlantic City- a good friend was turning 21 and I promised his sister to show him a great time. I think fruit-flavored cigars on the boardwalk at 2am will be a birthday memory worth keeping. Our second night there we celebrated my birthday with a night of great food and more gambling. I ended the trip making an extra $150, and blew it all at the Apple store, buying myself an iPad for my birthday. Review to come later.

Upon return, the focus of the shop work turned to a project Jake was working on, making a three-foot tall model of a house out of corrugated cardboard. The model was four inches thick on all sides- and required gluing over 120 layers of cardboard together and cutting it on the table saw. Afterward we covered the studio in cardboard fuzz and super77, and lost a folding table to an un-impenetrable layer of glue and WD40. Much to our dismay, we did not see it put on Good Morning America like we had hoped.

After relaxing for a couple days, attention turned to shelving. Our shop needed more room for project work and more room for materials and the only way to go was up. We got a hint on a place that was getting rid of a whole mess of shelves- you'll remember them from the liquidation liquidation from months ago.

One long morning to take them apart and move them, another whole day to reassemble them in our place, put our work on them and move the curtains, and finally the shop is as much done as it can be. No more work delays to do some shop-related thing. And even better- no more spending money!

The last couple days Jake got into stop-motion animation and made this opening logo for our website (www.erg0.com) which is sure to be fleshed out in the coming months. I did come CAD work on our coatrack project we're doing for Chris (another blog post coming on that as well) and that gets you up to yesterday.

Now you all can stop bothering... Just kidding- it's great having people who care enough about what's happening in your life to push you to let on more about it! Thanks for reading, and stop by for a post tomorrow- I promise.

How to Turn a Regular Table into a Router Table in 7 Easy Steps

2010-07-15T20:00:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, in need of a router table and possessing a router, with some help from instruction by Martin we took the table in our workshop, and turned it into a router table- a great tool for making details on wood- and is way more stable and exact than a normal router would be. Here's how you can make one yourself!

1. Acquire a router.

Unless you're an expert machinist you have to start with a working router. Seek one out with a detachable base if possible.

2. Acquire a table.

Ok, easy so far right? Ideally your table should be standing height (36") and the kind you don't mind putting holes in. "Look grandma, I gave your dining table more HORSEPOWER!" is not always a phrase that goes over well.

3. Drill three holes.

Figure out where the holes will need to be by removing the base, taking the face plate off the base, and marking through the screw holes onto the table. A good spot is about six inches to a foot from a corner. Drill up from the bottom, and then countersink the tops deep enough so that the mounting screws catch the threads.

4. Screw the router base to the table.

Um. Yeah. Do that.

5. Drill the center hole.

Mount a medium size straight bit into the router, slide the router into its base and turn it on. SLOWLY raise the router through the table. Repeat this with wider and wider bits until your largest bit fits through.

6. Add a fence.

A fence can have a single pivot point , and still work. Because a router has a rotary bit, there is not such thing as cutting an angle. We made ours by drilling a hole on the close side of the table, putting a dowel through a piece of wood, and setting it in place, holding the distance with a clamp. This setup is great, because its entirely removable. Swing your fence SLOWLY through a running router bit- it will cut an arc into it. This will allow you to do partial cuts by placing the fence over half of the bit.

7. Sand the tabletop.

Sand it all as close to flush as possible, and always remove any lumps or glue globs or whatever before you use it.

Great! Now you have an awesome router table for no more than the cost of a router and a table!

A Design for a Bed!

2010-07-15T12:37:00.005-05:00

Here's what we're going for:

The back is reclined about 25 degrees for sitting and reading in bed. The large panels will be cushioned and upholstered. In what color you ask? Orange of course!

The nightstand will slide out of the side. The design could facilitate two of these, but my room can only fit one, so my version will only have one.

The foot is minimalist and of simple construction.

The full bed design.

Zig Zag

2010-07-12T13:57:00.005-05:00

Here in our studio, activity is getting to an all-time high. We've got several projects going right now, which I'll talk about over the next couple of days.

The first is the Zig Zag Chair replica. Jake and I learned about this chair in our history of design class. Its designed by Rietveld, and, as you can see it is a relatively simple form. So simple, in fact, that the first response when we saw it was- "Hey, we could make that. Easy."

The chair runs for as much as $600, which seems astronomical.

Plans are available online for the chair, and when you see how its built, you realize how foolish you were.

Skip the next paragraph if you just want to take my word for it.

The joints at the seat and at the rear of the foot are 45 degree angles along a long edge, meaning you need to cut a 67.5 degree angle out of a long edge on each piece. Table saws typically only have an angle tilt of 45 degrees so you need to make a jig. Then Each joint is secured with drilling and filled with dowels. Drilled at a 22.5 degree angle, straight and regularly spaced. Oh and did I mention that there's a slight flare at the knees making the seat not square! Or that the joint between the seat and the back is a 98 DEGREE BOX JOINT! (Trust me, difficult.)

Look at it again. Minimalist? Yes. Simple? Not even close. The essence of modernism.

That being said, we're going to try to make them. Four of them. We've made a jig for the table saw.

We have a better band saw which we can use on the complicated box joint.

We still need to figure out how to do the drilling. But in the meantime, I made this:

More projects, including a completed bed design to come!

How do You Design a Bed?

2010-07-06T14:37:00.005-05:00

|----|

Done.

But seriously- project number 2 on the list is to design a build a bed so that I might lift my comfy mattress off of the floor- its nice when it doesn't look like you're living like a squatter.

I am a designer of function- not so much an aesthetician- which simply means that the form I give my work usually reflects how the item works much more than how I want it to appear (see futon). So if tasked in designing a bed, something like a four-poster or a canopy has no real interest to me because save for some bondage enthusiasts, they really serve no purpose. The same can be said of headboards and footboards. What is the point?

One could integrate storage, or a fold-out side table, or if you wanted, you could hang it from the ceiling. But for the simple act of sleep, I feel like its been done.

There are myriad ways to make a device to raise one's ass off the ground- hence the archetypal design object is the chair. Every designer does a chair. Do a search for your favorite designer's bed. There won't be much there. Loads of chairs though. This is what Corbusier had to offer the world of beds:

Here are some of my sketches. You'll notice most of them are sketches of nightstands. But after this bit of venting I think I know where I'm going to go with it after all.

Wood Furniture Design: A Finished Piece of Furniture

2010-06-30T12:07:00.004-05:00

Before today, I never had sat on something I had designed, refined, and built myself. The futon is sturdy and comfortable! There needs to be some small adjustments made in the channels, as the folding action doesn't quite work perfectly yet, and ideally I will stain and lacquer it as well. But for now, it works, it sits flat and sturdy, can support three people, and, when opened flat, you can lie all the way at the edge and it doesn't tip over. All in all, lets mark this one in the WIN column. Now for pictures!

Thanks to Jake, Paul and Martin for all their help and tools!

Encouraging Progress, and Discouraging Quality

2010-06-29T13:35:00.004-05:00

Dear Internet,

I wanted to let some progress happen on the project at hand before showing an update- I'm sure seeing a tiny new piece on a futon is not very thrilling, so I am happy to show you this:

The futon here is almost at completion, the two side pieces are built- just needing some sanding, the bars are cut, armrests installed, and the seating/sleeping portion was done months ago. Now, all that remains is the attachment of the horizontal braces (two of which can be seen sitting on the side pieces, a third on the way) with blind mortise and tenon joints.

I did, however, when assembling the panels, make a stupid mistake. I did not label the pieces as left or right, and somehow in the shuffle, I mixed up which panel went with which set of supports. Ideally, they would be identical, and it wouldn't be an issue, but my work is still shaky, and so, things like this happen:

This is the worst of the joints, so its not all that awful, but because of it I am now considering filing all the gaps with wood putty, sanding it flat, and painting it. While it would make it look better, it would also add a few days work to the thing, and I'd lose the natural wood feel.

I expressed my concern to Martin, purveyor of wise statements that he is, I got the advice I needed. He said, "Mike, don't worry about it. This futon, you're going to sleep on it, sit on it, stand on it, jump on it, and f*ck on it, and once you know everything, you'll build another."

So here's the plan: I will finish the construction TODAY. Look for finished pictures tomorrow.

Thanks Martin, and Happy Birthday.

San Francisco Design Week Open Studios - Thursday

2010-06-25T11:57:00.007-05:00

Last week here in the Bay Area was San Francisco Design Week- hosted by AIGASF. On Tuesday and Thursday evening, many of the design studios in SF opened their spaces up to the public, and Jake, Monika, and I made a trip out to see as many of them as possible.

Thursday: CCS Architecture, Lunar Design, Frog Design, R/GA Media Group, Smart Design, Astro Studios

CCS Architecture was a brief stop, but the only Architecture Firm on the list for both days. What was most interesting about CCS was the space. There was almost none of it. San Francisco has very high rents, and I cannot imagine building some of these intricate models they had made without massive amounts of workspace, but here they are.

Lunar Design was a cool, relaxed workspace. The space was a great deal larger than CCS, and even as the employees were not currently, it still felt like things were getting done.

A favorite artifact was this tourney bracket for SF Design firm dodgeball. Look at all the big names that participated!

Frog Design had a neat set up, with videos being projected onto the windows of the offices. They had a live band and the usual food and drink- but boy were there hundreds of people there! The place was so packed that it was hard to get a look at anything they were showing!

R/GA Media Group focused on advertising and branding. They were behind such brands as the Barnes and Noble Nook, and various campaigns for Nike. None of us being branding designers, we found it neat, but we made our stay short.

We instead went next door for a quick stop in a fund raising soiree for some public bike company. I'm not sure what we were supposed to learn there, but we were definitely not supposed to be there, as one of the event organizers made it quite clear to us. I got three shrimp out of the deal, and Monika almost got some free socks, and we were on our way.

Smart Design had our favorite space of the night- a large open air studio with rows of desks. Here, the pictures tell a better story than I can. We did not win a raffle for a video camera or an "Objectified" DVD.

We thought we might be too late, but we headed to Astro Studios anyway, to see if they had kept their studio open late. They had, and to our surprise, they had turned their space into something of a night club, instead of any presentation regarding their company- although we may have just arrived too late for that part. None of us had come to schmooze, so we grabbed some more free drinks, played some foozeball in the dark, and went home.

A Photo Tour of the Studio

2010-06-23T17:32:00.006-05:00

Dear Internet,

A few people have been asking what the loft looks like right now, so here's a photo tour of our space!

The exterior of the studio. We currently have a sign outside saying "Calcot Custom Fabrication." This is due to change once we think of a better name.

One angle of our shop. All the work tables you can see here I built. Looky at all the tools we got!

The shop again! Some of you with a keen eye will recognize a futon in yet another stage of development.

The drawing/prototyping desk. I built the desk and Jake made this awesome chair.

Our kitchen, still devoid of dining table and kitchen island (Coming Soon!)

Living room complete with borrowed futon from Paul, custom made coffee table by me, and the frame portion of my futon. On the table is our living room projector, giving us a TV 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall. Hi Jake!

The upstairs office is in the foreground. We built our desks, and I built the shelves to the extreme right of the picture. Jake's room with Jake-built curtain separator is in the background.

My bedroom. Still missing a bed frame, but that's the next project. So this is like OUR open studio. Thanks for reading!

San Francisco Design Week Open Studios - Tuesday

2010-06-22T13:28:00.006-05:00

Last week here in the Bay Area was San Francisco Design Week- hosted by AIGASF. Though I found out a bit too late to attend the more formal design events, but on Tuesday and Thursday evening, many of the design studios in SF opened their spaces up to the public, and Jake, Monika, and I made a trip out to see as many of them as possible. Amongst the inevitable wine, cheese, and pretentious banter was the air of creative thinking and the expectation that these spaces will bring about awesome ideas.

Tuesday: IDEO, Adaptive Path, FuseProject, HOT Studio, New Deal Design, Ammunition

IDEO's studio was right on the waterfront, at Pier 28. While the space looked interesting enough, it isn't the home base in Palo Alto- something I'm going to have to make some time to try and see. Too much of the studio was closed to public and cameras to really enjoy it I think.

Adaptive Path is a experience design and branding firm, not our focus here, but they have a wide open space, and gave an informative tour.

We agreed that our favorite studio from the night was the one opened by FuseProject. Yves Behar did not make and apprearance, and though some spaces were closed to the public, it was only through this screen of grass-like plastic rods, so it was visible, if not accessible.

In the basement, there was this incredible materials wall, with samples of just about anything you could think of to make something out of- for inspiration when designing.

There was a slide show on the work they had been doing, and a large number of projects out on display for visitors to gawk at. So Big Name Studio + Great Show of Work + Great Accommodation for Visitors = Winner!

Hot Studio had one of the coolest spaces we saw that week- a loft-style layout with offices up top and a two-story corridor running down the middle. Would be an awesome place to have to go to every day, I just wish they did product design there.

New Deal Design was a small space, but the entire studio was open to the public. Individual workspaces, meeting rooms, project areas, all could be fully explored. I hadn't heard of them before, but I recognized many of their products. They have done all the netgear modems and routers, and most high profile, all of those Dell computers that look awesome, but aren't really sold much on the website.

Its a real shame, but Dell waited too long to get these on the market, and people already associate Dell with bad build quality and proprietary parts. But anyway- cool looking computers.

Unfortunately we were already behind schedule by the time we hit New Deal, and Ammunition was another 8 blocks out of the way (excuses, excuses) so we did not get to see their probably awesome studio.

I hope this gave you a look into some of the really neat spaces where creative folks work- and when I'm working in one soon, I'll invite you over to check it out. I'll give you the rundown on Thursday's Open Studios soon!

A Dearth of Blog Posts

2010-06-21T12:10:00.006-05:00

I have been very busy, and alternately very lazy this week. So its been a week since I last posted. Time to get back on track.

The Futon is coming together. The side panels are nearly complete. I am a bit hesitant to cut the channels out, because if I do it wrong, it means a whole lot of work getting back again.

I started routing out a half inch channel in all the pieces, creating what we affectionately called "The Jig That Used All the Clamps." I thought I had taken a photo of this, but it seems to have disappeared.

I carefully cut the side panels using a circular saw, which required a little editing and trimming, but in the end, I have my first pictures that actually look like something was done. Hurrah!

Wood Furniture Design: This Thing I Made Yesterday

2010-06-14T12:26:00.006-05:00

I want to show you what I made yesterday.

I am two days into the build of the futon, and after spending some time making the final versions of the joints I was practicing late last week I determined I was going to need an oddly shaped angle piece that ended up looking like this.

Each edge, each angle, each distance measured and cut specifically, each bit removed with either band saw, hack saw, miter saw or chisel where needed. I wore out my right arm getting this piece as accurate as possible, a piece with not enough flat edges to clamp in place for chiseling.

It goes here, connecting the front legs to the cross piece between the front and back of the side panel:

In the end, hardly anyone will notice it.

And I am very proud of it.

Wood Furniture Design: Practice Joints

2010-06-11T19:12:00.008-05:00

Dear Internet,

Yesterday Jake asked if the Futon would be ready by next week for people to come over and have movie nights. I laughed.

Then I reexamined. I have no other immediate projects, I have the tools I need, so why not? I set a goal of Thursday to have this done. I have other projects I need to get to.

I broke out the old Ryobi tablesaw. I am starting to realize Ryobi is a Latin word meaning "cheap, partially working version of a tool" as my Ryobi band saw, drill press, and table saw all frequently cause me accuracy problems. Yeah, I can cut, drill, and rip on them, but I just can't do it well. My brand loyalty, for most tools goes to DeWalt.

I started by ripping some 2x4s into smaller strips for my Futon's side frames, and then made the major cuts into the front and back legs. But now I had an issue- my plan for these frames involves some complex joints, and I didn't want to use my finished piece on a first go. It was time to make some practice joints.

I started with the one where the front leg meets the floor. At this point, one of the side pieces also meets the front leg. I chose a complex tongue and groove joint for this. Since I'm trying to avoid using screws I had to go all "New Yankee Workshop" on it and break out the chisels again. I am starting to get a feel for how to do smooth work, but my chiseling still comes out ragged. Still, it appears better every time. Plus if I hide the rough parts under the foot no one will see:

Then I proceeded with a few more joints; the top of the front legs and the complicated 135 degree bend, and I had my examples for all the new joints in the frame. Rough, ragged, gapped examples.

However, they are now close enough that I can model my final work after them. This is the next step- lining up, tracing, and making them part of the final item.

Hopefully by this time next week I will be sitting on my first piece of finish quality woodwork.

Blog Day Afternoon 3 of 5 - F3 at The Cotton Mill

2010-06-10T18:40:00.002-05:00

Oakland downtown has the Art Murmur on the First Fridays of every month.

Alameda has the Art Attack on Second Fridays of every month.

Coming soon- F3 at the Cotton Mill - 3rd Friday of every month!

We have been talking for some time- and provided we can get landlord approval look for F3 at the Cotton Mill coming this July 16th. There is still a great deal or work to do to plan this, but I'm proud to say I'm in charge of pushing this forward. Although most of the work will be done with a large committee of enthusiastic friends within the building.

Won't you please join us?

Pictures/logos/artist list to come.

Blog Day Afternoon 2 of 5 - Get Sh*t Done Now!

2010-06-10T17:28:00.004-05:00

I want to share a story here.

On the 12th of January, this year, as you well know, Haiti was hit with a catastrophic 7.0 mega-something earthquake causing immense damage and ending the lives of over a quarter of a million Haitians. The event most severely affected the capital city of Port-au-Prince, the coastal city of Léogâne, and the Southern city of Jacmel (population 40,000).

When you donate to a non-profit who is supposed to provide aide to disaster victims (Red Cross) you rarely ever get to see your money at work. Organizations will do their best to take video and publicize the work they do, but it becomes difficult to know that your donation made immediate effect.

The first boat full of supplies to reach Jacmel was not the Red Cross, not Doctors Without Borders, not any huge multinational humanitarian organization. It was a hero named Sebastian Velez with supplies bought by money from the AHA. Now, I promise to stop plugging the AHA here, but what I really want to put across is what Sebastian did that was so novel.

He knew what to do and he just did it.

If you get to know Sebastian, and I suggest you do, you'll get the sense he is direct to the point. He won't talk your ear off, but what he will say comes with a sense of urgency. "We all recognize what needs to happen. It's time we stopped talking about it and just help."

On the day of the earthquake, Sebastian, who was at the time providing aid near the Haitian/Dominican border, made a call to the AHA. He told them he was going to Jacmel to help, and needed money for supplies. And the donors who sent the money got to see exactly where it went. And very quickly at that. Within days he arranged for a boat, aquired the funds, bought the supplies, and delivered them (over $100,000 in medical supplies alone).

It was not so hard. It took less than a day. But it made a huge difference. You reading this right now- I guarantee you have at one point transported a large load of things.

Why then, when something like this happens, is there such a long delay in getting relief where it is needed? How long can large organizations wait before realizing there is a need? How about this- WHAT THE **** ARE WE WAITING FOR?!?!

It was a feeling we all had as we watched our fellow Americans drown in New Orleans and it took days for help to arrive. How it this possible? We have helicopters, boats and bottled water. If we have one thing in America, its bottled water. Why are volunteers, shippers, pilots not getting this taken care of sooner. Why is there not a network in place to get the means to the Sebastians of the world, so relief arrives even sooner?

So here is my idea. It is crude and idealistic, but I believe not impossible. Why not have a worldwide network of people with access to transportation vessels, and when something like this happens we speed past all the bureaucracy and just get the tings there. If I can get any DVD sent to my apartment by the very next day, then why not thousands of gallons of drinking water?

Its just the beginning of GSDN.org (Get Sh*t Done Now) which will be funded by donors like you, who are tired of feeling helpless when you see human suffering on the news. Let's get started! Who is with me?

Blog Day Afternoon 1 of 5 - Bill Nye, the Rap Guy

2010-06-10T16:34:00.004-05:00

It has been well over a week since my last post- I have been quite busy- not getting any specific work done, but first helping out with the American Humanist Association and their conference, and then entertaining my good friends from said organization for a couple of days around the bay area.

To make up for that, or to interrupt the quiet you were getting used to, I will attempt to provide you 5 blog posts in one afternoon/evening!

Part 1 - Mike meets Bill Nye the Science Guy

At the AHA convention this year, they chose to honor Bill Nye, of afternoon kids TV fame. While most known for his work on Bill Nye: The Science Guy (Science Rules!) he has been on a few shows, and most recently hosted "Stuff Happens" on the science channel. The AHA usually honors specifically non-theistic authors and thinkers, but often the award goes to science promoters and rational thinkers. Bill Nye falls perfectly into this category.

Being good buddies with the people in charge of the conference, I was actually given the chance to meet Bill, and even cooler, hang out with him at the hotel bar for hours after the show.

I haven't had many brushes with celebrity before, but it wasn't long before he made us forget that he was one. There was some talk about oil spills, I asked if he was a fan of Richard Feynman (he is!), but the Science Guy doesn't want to talk about science. He wants to talk about old school rap music.

He talked of a favorite song by Kurtis Blow, back when rap music used to be positive. He not only remembered this song- he knew nearly all the lyrics, and recited them from memory. Unreal. This song is obscure enough, that even Google couldn't find me some lyrics for it.

It wouldn't have been that impressive, had it not been Bill Nye. We often want to typecast people- especially famous people, because we see a small bit of who they are, and we think they know them. But whenever you find yourself making assumptions about someone you've never met, remember Bill Nye loves old school rap. And that should set you straight.

One Month In, One Comission Complete

2010-06-01T17:57:00.004-05:00

About 12 hours of work, about $180 in materials, and here it stands commission number 1 done. A cat ladder. Rumor has it, that other people in the building now want cat ladders. This might be the start of something weird. Some are saying Mike's Cat Devices, I'm thinking more like Mike's Custom Fabrication: "Because you need it, and it doesn't exist."

I have now lived in Oakland a month. Things have begun to settle here, and I'm quickly finding my place within the community. We are a large group of fun people who are getting things done- creating the tangible items with the intangible qualities brought by the creative mind. And I'm the guy who builds cat castles.

Or more likely, I'm a guy who makes things happen. Today I initiated a wildly successful e-mail thread regarding opening up our building to the public once monthly in order to show off our work, and get some free attention for our in-house businesses of which there are many. It seems everyone is on board- an amazing thing to get a whole 74 unit building to act in concert- Chris refers to it as turning a battleship. It appears this ship is a-turning.

On top of that, I have ordered a digital projector, and plan to host movie nights on Thursdays with films projected on the side of the building. Paul has offered the screen- he has quite an assortment of blank white material, and there is plenty of room in the handicapped space in front of his unit to seat lots of people. Making things happen.

Tonight I am headed to San Jose to see Maggie for the first time in over a month, and to help the AHA get ready for their bitchin' conference. I might meet Bill Nye the Science Guy you guys. The conference will keep me busy all weekend, but I'll try to keep you updated on goings on. Hasta Luego!

My First Design-Build Comission, Nearly Complete!

2010-05-30T19:19:00.007-05:00

Sorry its been a while since I last posted- I've been sick and/or out of town since Thursday, and only got back into some real work today.

Ok, so I have already mentioned this project before, but if you think about it- this cat ladder would be my first design-build commission- before all of you start lining up to buy futons, of course. I got back on it today, starting with some supports- more drilling into ornery hardwood, and today I broke 3 drill bits over the course of an hour. A quick trip to the Depot, and I got 8 new ones to back these up (they're like a buck a piece).

A couple hours later and I had this structure in all its glory- held together with 59 screws and one broken-off and firmly lodged drill bit- but right now just a skeleton waiting for its skin.

The next step was to make some platforms. These are just 15" square planks with a couple of rails attached to them with finishing nails, then I did my first ever upholstering job with my staple gun. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

There are a few changes and additions that need to be made, but this is the basic structure of it. I had Jackie test it out and she got down fine, and I put some food up top and Amos was able to climb it. Another complete success!

Too bad with the amount I spent on drill bits and moulding material I will definitely be taking a loss on this. No matter- its nearly done and I'm proud of it. And I don't ever have to work with this lousy material again. The last steps are some sanding, cleaning, and attaching a base. Which I will do tomorrow. As for right now, I must prepare for a Memorial Day party! Thanks for reading.

Furniture Design: The Cat Who Blagged an Interweb

2010-05-27T18:25:00.007-05:00

Sunday night, a neighbor of mine voiced an issue- it seems her loft is currently only accessible by ladder, which her cats cannot climb, and so she asked if there was any builder-type person in the building who wouldn't mind building her a device so that her cats might descend more safely. I volunteered, made some measurements, and today I finally set aside some time to work on it.

The design is simple- three support posts, with staggered platforms spaced about 15" apart, about what we considered an appropriate easy height for a cat to jump. I thought, "hey, I've got those wood full rounds I couldn't use before, maybe I can make those the basis of the structure- even better because there are no sharp corners with which to injure cats.

I tested a corner joint- just made a small one- I planned to hold the whole thing together with these pins and some wood glue- as seen below. It would be simple, clean, and elegant- and best of all it would be better than the client had expected.

Easy, right? No. It turns out that handrail stock is SOME OF THE MOST ORNERY MATERIAL IN THE WORLD. First of all, it turns out they are made of some sort of hard wood, so my spade bits were going almost nowhere, and they're round- and anyone who has ever tried drilling a round item can tell you it can, at times, drive one to madness. So with everything not drilling and rolling around, I was forced to put together a jig, which, I'll admit, looks like something out of Saw VIII.

Surprisingly, the device excellently centered the holes, and I'm pretty proud of how awesome it works and how hodge-podge it looks. Unfortunately, the material was still too hard for my jig to get any more than a half inch, so I scrapped the jig idea, and went with simple wood screws and wood glue. Which in itself was a non-gluing drill-resistant fiasco, but at least, by the end, I had the main structure together.

I'll work on this into tonight- but it just goes to show knowing your materials can make a huge difference- and this is one material I will never use again- unless I am specifically installing a handrail.

Furniture Design: Tenon Meets Mortise

2010-05-25T19:14:00.007-05:00

This weeks 'field trip' takes us to Economy Lumber in Oakland, just a short jog away from our place at the Cotton Mill. There is hardware store there- but this one actually seems to have tools in it. A look around here makes one realize how small a Home Depot would be if you got rid of all the windows and lighting fixtures and dishwashers- you know all the prefab sh*t that people who actually want hardware almost never need.

We were looking for some specialty cuts- furniture sized pieces are not standard lumber cuts- usually the wood you can find is sized for decking it seems. We venture out into the piles and piles of wood to find something like a 3x3 (which in lumber actually means 2 1/2x 2 1/2) in a type of wood commonly used in furniture. The closest we could find was some 3x6s- a rare cut in lumber- in Douglas Fir, and they rip them in half for us lengthwise, for a fee. These will be the leg stock for the futon.

After some fun trying to tie a 4'x8' sheet of chip board to the roof of Jake's car with lousy twine in the rain, we returned to the Studio/Apartment and I began focusing on skill-building.

I want the futon to be held together with mortise and tenon joints, which hold only with glue, so that there won't be just a ton of screw-heads tarnishing the appearance. Of course, I've never made a mortise and tenon joint before so today was the time to give it a try. Yes, this boy, born and raised on power tools, bought himself his very first set of chisels.

I'm actually pretty pleased with how well it came out. Unfortunately the mortise is all ragged, and it didn't close all the way, but Martin gave me some pointers on technique. So I'll do some more tomorrow to continue practicing. I glued up the joint as well, to learn a bit about tolerances in these kind of joints.

I know four months of focus isn't enough time to master the art of woodworking. I know by the time a craftsman can be called a master he has made thousands of mortise and tenon joints. But I'm going to push myself to see what I can accomplish. In this time I hope to finish the Futon, a Dining Table, a Kitchen Island, and a Bed Frame, all in finish quality. At the end, I may ask Martin to grade my work- should be fun.

Get Back to Where You Once Belonged

2010-05-25T12:37:00.006-05:00

I think it may be that sometimes, getting your project back to where it was when things went wrong can be as satisfying as finishing it.

I'll let you know if that's true when I'm done, but until then, count me as satisfied. Off to a real lumberyard to buy wood for the FINAL futon. Expect a post on that subject later tonight or tomorrow AM.

In terms of life around the Cotton Mill, we have been working hard but having a great time. Yesterday, after fixing the futon proto, building a bathroom shelf, and altering the under-stairs room for cat usage, we chilled in the curiously empty parking spot out front of Paul's place and had a BBQ. Fun!

Maker Faire: Part 2- Things to do!

2010-05-24T19:23:00.004-05:00

So if you came to Maker Faire to witness what others have done, if you just wanted to be a spectator- you're only halfway there. The event is loaded with two days full of special events and activities that are all interactive, from a laser cutter you can operate yourself to a clothing swap free-for-all.

I caught two shows I really wanted to see- the Diet Coke and Mentos extravaganza, and Adam Savage from 'Mythbusters' doing his presentation on problem solving. The first was short, but exciting, and left me splashed pretty well in Coke.

Adam Savage was cool, not entirely inspirational, but his Q and A about the show was quite enlightening. The entire building was filled on all sides to see him, and I was right up front by the barrier, being the Mythbusters fanboy that I am.

I had wanted to stick around for a 'learn to solder' class or a seminar on a simple programming for Arduino called 'ModKit,' but after taking the time to see the robot fights and the enormous creation of the 'Mouse Trap' board game, it was time to go home. I still left some on the plate for next year to try.

I know its not a feeling shared by everyone, but I think its good to know that in this digital age, with flat-pack this, and instant that, that there are still people who are taking the time to craft items of sheer awe that we can walk around and touch. People who make these things add to the richness of life with their creativity and it all starts with saying the phrase, 'I think that would be pretty neat.' So keep making, you makers out there, and I'll see you next year.

Maker Faire: Part 1- Things to see!

2010-05-23T11:18:00.012-05:00

Maker Faire is a festival for those who take the act of creation seriously, for those who would rather not own something if they couldn't fix it themselves, for those who will bring about the next big things in our existence that were not there before.

And this year, I finally lived close enough to attend one. Paul, Martin, Chris and I headed over to San Mateo, to see what this years crop of creatives had to show us. As you might have guessed, we were pretty pleased- save for Martin, who as a master fabricator himself, was entirely jaded to such things. The first thing that you notice is some of the more eccentric people here. There is a bit of Steampunk culture here, but the majority seem to be just showing a style of: 'Hey! Look what I can do!' One example is this gentleman keeping cool in the hot San Mateo sun:

Our first stop was this enormous rocket ship built by Raygun Gothic. This thing is so enormous you can see it from all sides of the grounds. So bulbous and shiny, it looks like something out of a 1930s sci-fi comic. They have a real space suit for the pilot provided by NASA, and when they are done touring it, it is going to have a permanent home in city parkland by the bay.

Next on to the Maker Shed, where there was a bunch of sweet maker stuff for sale. Chris bought an Arduino- something an aspiring builder should definitely know about, and we both got some Sugru- exciting, as it isn't really available on the market yet! (A post on how awesome this stuff REALLY is, is forthcoming).

Then onto Maker Square, where the Flaming Lotus Girls had set up their SOMA Neuron fire and light sculpture, shown here, at night because it looks way cooler at night:

Around Maker Square was a large tent promoting DIY farming and eating locally, and several of really cool art cars. This one- which struck me as an acid trip made real- took visitors around the Faire in the back.

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There are also four buildings full of stuff that people have made, that they want to show off. You can scarcely round a corner without seeing something cool, that someone has devoted all their time after work to building. For example, this person has a LCD screens in electric guitars:

And this person has made a fractal-based coffee table made entirely out of copper pipe and solder:

With over 300 presenters, one would wonder how to fit it all into one day- but there's even more. The event also has several stages and event grounds set aside for two days worth of things to do- which I'll cover in a post coming this afternoon. Until then, how do you all like the new blog design? We're 50 posts in, so I figured, time for a change!

Failure

2010-05-20T14:03:00.007-05:00

IDEO has many a helpful design mantra- a personal favorite of mine is "Fail fast and often." As someone with a genuine fear of failure this is something I have tried my best to take to heart. I had two design failures recently and I will own them by sharing them with you, and how I got over them.

Tuesday night after my excitement from the Berkeley Mills trip and finishing the working, proof of concept prototype, I found that I had made a big mistake. I was making the CAD version of the futon, and the error hit me- my prototype made with a 1/4" plywood seat significantly altered the way the futon would work from that with a 3 1/2" thick seat, as the final version would have. Simply put, the difference was one that would make the thing TIP OVER when put in the bed format.

This was a crushing blow. I worried, I punched the desk, I cursed. I tend to over dramatize setbacks. For about an hour I could not work. The project came to a halt, and all alternatives I could think of were either not feasible, or ruined the whole point of the design, to lift the bed above the height of the armrests.

I cooled down. I focused. Fail fast- check. Fail often- check. I'm doing things right, so I can't sweat it. I need to start with what I know and move on.

I had to rebuild the prototype with a 3.5" frame, and learn what it had to tell me. Using the CAD design I was able to discover that a new design for the runners would work, and so I printed the patterns out, and cut them out of a new piece of plywood. I was relaxed and confident that I had found a solution that was satisfactory, and most important- would not injure any potential house guests.

I then assembled a whole new prototype- with free, lousy wood, but the proportions were right, made a crappy hinge out of cardboard and staples, and tested it.

See if you can spot the new runners...

It did not work. Folding it up completely ripped out the hinge.

Good news was, this time, I was expecting it not to work. I knew the likelihood of immediate success was small, and in careful study of the problems, I knew it was just a matter of decreasing the distance between the front and back runners. An easy fix.

I didn't make a post yesterday because of all this. I had made no progress, at the end of the day I was behind where I was the day before, right? Tuesday I had a working prototype, Wednesday I had a semi-functional prototype. No. The project may not look any more advanced but what I know about it has changed, and so is closer to completion.

I've also learned I've expected too much of myself in terms of speed. It is one thing to build a table- they are simple and the form is already prescribed. My futon is new, is unproven and has nothing to go on. One week just isn't enough time.

Furniture Design: What Berkeley Mills is Doing Right

2010-05-18T17:57:00.008-05:00

First, some baseball.

My cousin Dan was in town last night- finishing out a tour of the bay area he wanted to see a game at Oakland Colosseum, and invited me to join him and his friends. When I bought my ticket, it came with the option to have my ticket texted to my phone- I wasn't sure how this would work, but I have no printer here, so I gave it a try. A few minutes later I was texted a link to this page:

This served as my ticket. I held up my phone, and they scanned the screen, and I got in! However, I had to go in a specific entrance where they had the phone-screen scanner and go up in a roundabout way. Also, I am not left with any fun ticket stub to remember the game with, so I doubt this technology is going to replace real tickets any time soon.

The game was great, the A's won 8-4 in what started as an exciting scoring fest, and dribbled into a less exciting game as the rains started. But we had a great time mocking the condition of the park, trying to sneak down to a lower deck, and heckling Ichiro Suzuki. But enough about Baseball, you want to read a blog about baseball, go here.

This morning the plan was to visit a real furniture company to get some inspiration for my work table and futon projects. The plan is to take a field trip every week somewhere that will give me some insight. I did some internet search for "custom furniture" in the bay area, and Berkeley Mills stood out among the rest.

I arrived there this morning and was taken with the first piece of furniture I saw- just a dining chair that had embellished on a mortise and tenon joint where the tenon passed entirely through the wood, something I'm told is called a "through mortise." I sort of got the feel for their aesthetic, taking the existing structure and pulling it a little further, beyond what you expect, so the aesthetic choices don't look out of place- they're also structural. This dining chair's slats extend below the seat. I love this chair- only $2050 for a set of 8.

My favorite piece seems derived from those uncomfortable wood desks we used so sit in in grade school- the ones that were basically a chair with a tiny desk bolted under the right side- lefties be damned. The chair here has one arm rest, perfect for leaning and a seriously broad one at that. Big enough for, say, a sketchbook. I sat here and sketched of a bit, and the operators of Berkeley Mills did not seem to mind. The chair was a whopping $6k, but if I had that much to spend on a chair, this would be it.

I heard another customer in the showroom complain about people's affinity with Ikea, and my immediate interior reaction was hey, I LIKE Ikea. But then he went on about the durability of the products, and while I've never really had trouble with them lasting as long as I needed them, furniture used to be made to outlast you. Remember that old dining table in your parent's house that used to be your great-grandma's? Chances are it was never made to flat pack. Berkeley Mills, while expensive is making that kind of furniture. Beautiful stuff, and its the last table your descendants will ever have to buy.

The last bit of my time there was spent in the shop- Joel who works there and has a voice for NPR gave me a quick tour. The first news about their process was a bit of a surprise- all their furniture is rendered in SolidWorks and large portions are trimmed out on a CNC machine. Not an old fashioned practice to be sure, but it seriously cuts down on waste, saves time, and actually improves the quality of the furniture. There is plenty of the work still done by hand, but this is 2010, and even the finest things are manufactured to an extent.

The hand working section was really neat to see- I didn't want to take any photos of people working but I love this wall- Joel says they never throw a template away.

All told I took about fifty pictures and filled four pages with sketches and notes- and am ready to finalize the design for my futon. I plan to have some renders for you all to look at tomorrow! Until then, thanks for clicking. And leave a comment!

Success! A proof of concept prototype that works as I want it!

2010-05-18T16:15:00.002-05:00

My visit to Berkeley inspired me to finish this-

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

More on my trip to Berkeley tonight (and a bit about baseball)!

The Liquidation Liquidation and One Heck of a Party

2010-05-17T15:20:00.003-05:00

Weekend number 2 in Oakland, and things are good.

Mondau marks the beginning of my focused designing- at one product a week. Today's goal is to read on Eames from a book Maggie purchased at MoMA for me on one of her NY trips. I plan to find some sort of factory that I can visit today or tomorrow to get inspired about work tables- my next project to build.

What happened to the futon?

The futon is designed, now its just a matter of figuring out how its going to be made. I'll work on this concurrently with other projects and hopefully have it done by the time I have my first visitors here in early June.

This weekend was very cool- Paul and Martin took me over to this giant electrical supply company liquidator building, that was, in turn, itself being liquidated. Confused? Basically a company that used to engage in liquidations went out of business, with tons of supplies in stock- and this meant HUGE discounts on the inventory.

I got a bunch of stuff for some lighting projects I have planned in the near future, as well as some color-ed glass globes, which are always fun, some bins for tools, and a length of hose I plan to turn into a dust collection system with my shop vac. All told, we gathered a truckload of stuff- and paid only $220 for it. This gave Paul and Martin ideas about buying all of it and reselling it to make some serious cash- but the idea was ruled too much effort for the money.

Sunday I built an Ikea wardrobe for Jake to put his clothes in, and checked out a nearby gym (got to get healthy again). But the fun didn't start until last night. My neighbour, Chelsea, somehow managed to get this chill band to play in her apartment, which opened out onto the parking lot. We set up the fire pit again, but this time there were a bunch more people and awesome music. Here, a bunch of guys are jamming, just letting it flow organically by the firelight. Its like a benevolent conversation, but I don't speak the language to participate.

Today after reading and maybe that furniture trip, I'm going to catch the Oakland A's game with my cousin Dan, who is in the Bay with some of his college friends. I'll update how that one goes tomorrow, and hopefully I'll have some more insight into work tables.

I am Home

2010-05-14T17:24:00.003-05:00

It occurred to me last night, as I was sitting in my new friends apartment. There were four of us, Paul and his business associate Jason, Martin the garrulous fabricator, and me. We stood around Jason, who was operating a grinder on a piece of road sign frame- quite loud as sparks began to fly. It was 9:30 at night, and in any other building we might have drawn a noise violation. We all talked about the best way to make it fit in the overhead light box. Paul had borrowed my chop saw to cut the aluminum frame, and today I borrowed his hammer drill and masonry bits to hang a microwave on a concrete block wall.

Paul and Martin are two of a very few people who actually farm in Oakland- in the actual city, and they've asked me to help. Free exercise they say. I offer my help and tell them Jake has farming in his past. I am excited for Jake to arrive (any week now).

The night before was spent around a fire with interesting people, talking and laughing. I learned there, that the building has given itself the title "The Happiest Building in Oakland" and people go out to the fire pit nearly every night to relax and just talk. I visited some of the other units that night- cool artists' places- photo studios, programmers' dens, all looking very cool and comfortable. One person operates a business with sensory deprivation tanks and an art gallery.

I sit here,at my desk, Jackie is purring looking down 12 feet and out the windows. Amos is asleep on the shop floor on his back, stretched out in the sun. Somewhere in the building a circular saw is running. The people here are relaxed, yet proactive. This is the place where things can happen. Good things. My life is exactly what I make of it here. I am home.

Furniture Design: Desks by Necessity

2010-05-12T17:48:00.002-05:00

Not a huge update today- the project was just to make a couple of desks for my computers. They may look a little familiar to you- I just made two more of the work tables before with three major changes- the legs are turned 90 degrees, and there is a crosspiece on the back- both changes made for stability, and of course, the desks are 6 inches shorter, because they're made to be sat at, not stood at.

Now I just need to go buy a chair, you'll notice the grey tub I'm currently sitting on. But there's no time for that now, there's hockey on.

On another note, I just purchased my tickets to Maker Faire Bay Area 2010, which is just a couple of weeks away, May 22-23. Its a really cool celebration where people who make stuff- cool stuff- ANY stuff- bring it to show it off. Creations range from the weird and wacky to the ingenious. Anyone in the bay area has no excuse but to go, and the tickets are only on sale for $25 until today, after that they go up to $45! Click here to get your tickets!

Furniture Design: Futon Prototype Complete!

2010-05-11T16:35:00.006-05:00

A proof of concept prototype is a significant step in the design process. You use it to verify that your idea makes sense, to see how your imagined idea functions when it has to contend with things like physics, and to learn what needs to be changed or at least focused on in the creation of a final prototype. Proof of concepts can have marks from changes, parts that are the wrong size, and even use materials like cardboard or even duct tape. The important thing is that you illustrate to yourself- and often your client- that this thing is gonna work.

The futon POC prototype needed some trimming to be a bit more futon-like, and needed to have the runners cut out for the pipes that would be supporting the seat part of the couch. I rigged up this fancy contraption- taping a protractor to my stand-in seat-back and marking in regular intervals where the pipes would be:

Then I drew in the pipes, and connected them into a smooth arc.

Back to the jig saw to cut out the new slots, then tracing the first side onto the second side, and cutting it out again. I set up the rig again, screwed the pipes in place, and it was testing time...

It works! I have a couple of hangups in the resetting action, but I know what they are and how to fix them. Now that I have the form, its just a matter of figuring out how to translate that into decent wood.

This afternoon/evening, however, I will be hanging up the microwave and cleaning the shop, and trying to figure out how Jake fits into this apartment. And I think a trip to Trader Joe's as well. Thanks!

Furniture Design: Coffee table complete, Futon Proto nearly complete, and a new roommate!

2010-05-10T21:21:00.006-05:00

After a long night of drinking and commiserating with the neighbors- it turns out Paul just lost his mother as well- I went home and to sleep. The next day brought me to Home Depot again, and I got the jig saw I needed, some pipe for the coffee table, a microwave, a shop vac (finally), and some extension cords. The weekend is over- time to build again.

I first cut the aluminum pipe to fit the coffee table- the tube fit right over the built in clips on the Nomadic frame. I held my breath, and flipped it over. No tear-out! Its standing beautifully in my living room right now. I tested the strength of the table by putting the cat on it. It held!

Then the next step was to work more on the futon. The plywood was looking lousy, so I decided I'd make a prototype with it, to test the location of the runners. Using the jig saw this time, I duplicated the pattern from Friday, and attached the two plywood sheets together.

I then made a plywood proto for the seat part of the futon, and hinged it with duct tape, screwed it to some plastic electrical conduit in lieu of pipes and used this to properly mark the location of the runners for the lower half of the futon. I have no pictures of this, so here's a gratuitous shot of Jackie on top of the kitchen cabinets.

awwwww

After that, I began shaping the arm sections more like I intend to have the final ones. Aside from the legs, which I'm not sure on yet, they should look something like this.

Tomorrow is about copying this one, and marking the path of the lower runners.

So, not long after, I got a phone call from one of my good friends, Jake Cohen (many of you know Jake, JMU grad, former WhatWorks co-owner). He had recently had a falling out with his roommates in Seattle and needed a place to live. I thought about it, and figured- what the heck? We could at least give it a try. Its not like there isn't enough space.

So I'm expecting Jake to arrive either tomorrow or Wednesday, and we'll see how that changes things. I can assure you he will be a part of design that goes on here, and i hope it can be a positive partnership.

A Week Here, 1000 Hits, and A Day in San Francisco

2010-05-09T11:49:00.002-05:00

Good morning or afternoon!

Adjusting to West Coast time is a bit strange. Did you know that out here Saturday Night Live isn't live?! They show it at 11:30, three hours old. Probably edited too.

Anyway, just one of those things that has been a part of adjusting to Oakland. I'll admit at first I was very apprehensive about it, but I'm beginning to know the area, meet new people, and see old friends. A week in, and things are only getting better.

Yesterday, in an important milestone, my blog reached 1,000 hits! Very exciting. I'm learning all about what keeps people interested. I thought my visitors would drop off as time went on, as you all got bored with my day-to-day stuff, but its actually the opposite! Thanks for clicking!

I took the day with my friends from college, Zac and Jess, to go see San Fransisco again. We mostly saw things I had already done before, but a trip to China Town is always great. I had a filling lunch for $3.75! Then we walked down to the Embarcadero, and played with the mechanical toys at the Museé Mechanique which was a great time. I snapped this terrible picture of Alcatraz:

We walked past Fisherman's Wharf to see men with giant steamer baskets and huge pots of freshly caught crab make it clear to us a return trip was in order. Probably a visit to the Haight to breathe in a little San Fran "culture", and maybe the night tour of Alcatraz.

A stop in Little Italy for some Gelato and then a long walk back to the BART station. All in all we walked 7 miles- yes I am one of those dorks who google-maps his walking distance- the difference is I admit I have a problem. We found a local Mexican restaurant in Fruitvale (the only kind of restaurant in Fruitvale is Mexican) had some great Carnitas, and Zac and Jess made their way to a gathering Zac had in the city for his work.

Yes, I still feel like a tourist here, so I'm going to get all the touristy stuff done while I still qualify as "new here." Today, its back to design work! Oh and my design computer is set up now, so if anyone needs design work done, the freelance shop is open!

Some Setbacks and First Friday Oakland

2010-05-08T12:42:00.010-05:00

The hope was to finish a futon and a table yesterday, giving me a sort of living room to use- and finally a place to sit. I know its self inflicted, but when you're limited to standing and lying down it can be a bit trying. I may have to break down and buy a desk chair- unlikely that I could build a replica Aeron Chair at this point anyway.

So I sketched out the shape of the runners (the slots that the futon's rods will slide in) onto a piece of plywood. I got out my protractor, and my circle stencil, and my compass. I know I could have printed it out and just traced it- but it felt great just drawing it that way. And I drew the shape from memory, which was also cool.

I then set up my drill with a spade bit to get out those circular parts, and began to try to remove the rest of the stuff with a saber saw (saws-all). This proved to be far to coarse, and my edges got all ratty. I needed a handheld jig saw, and didn't have one.

Then I thought I'd check the concept of what I had done against the pattern with my wood rods I had purchased the previous day. I expected that something sold as a "1 inch full round" would be one inch in diameter. This was not so.

This meant my sketch and pattern would have to be adjusted to accommodate the new size rod, so rather than do that right away, I went over to work on my table. I set all the points in place, flipped it over, put it down, and poppoppop- three of the nuts pulled free of the glue holding them in place. It turns out the frame structure is strong enough to hold up a table- the glue, however is not. I think I'll be solving this issue by stealing Jon's idea of putting some aluminum tubing directly vertically under the contact points to help it stay up. It feels like cheating, but it should still look mostly the same.

The rest of my design day was spent sketching out the side panels of the futon- I've decided that the final design will celebrate the shape of the runners- form follows function, right? I have a few ideas on how to do that, and I just now need to choose which one is best.

But the weekend is here, and so it's time to have some fun.

Paul and his Co-worker Jason invited me out to First Friday Oakland- a big block party where everyone gathers to celebrate the openings of the new art exhibits in the galleries along Broadway. We stopped at a few of the places- balked at the sheer expense of the artwork, but mostly drank the cheap beer, at some hippie street food, and talked to people along the way. There was also this cool group that did a bunch of cool stuff with bicycles, like this double-old-timey-bicycle contraption which they wouldn't let me drive:

Then we headed off to this great bar on Telegraph called Uptown. We spent the remainder of the night there, meeting cool people, talking about ice hockey (who are the Washington Capitals? ...wow...) and drinking beers. It was a great time, and it was awesome to finally get out and meet some people! Today I'm gonna go into SF and take a look around with my friends from college Zac and Jess. Hooray for weekends!

Furniture Design - Futon Takes Shape

2010-05-07T09:35:00.008-05:00

Another late night means another morning blog post!

Thursday morning meant a trip to Ikea for some parts- a glass top for the coffee table I'm making, come locking casters for the drill press and band saw stands I'll be building, and some bowl- you know, to eat out of. I had lunch there too- not easy for me to resist- I love the mac and cheese.

I also stopped at office depot for some circle drawing tools- the mechanism for the futon is going to take some precise drawing and cutting. Then I stopped at AutoZone on Jon's advice to buy some rear view mirror glue to attach my hardware to the glass table top.

I came back and set up the table saw and did another round of the same as the day before, but having done it once already, putting together the wider part of the frame, which would be the back, went a lot quicker.

Once complete, I installed a piano hinge- a six-foot long steel hinge with 72 screws to hold it in place. This ensures a strong joint and smooth opening and closing, with a smaller profile than, say, a door hinge. As you can see, I now have a futon-like couch thing! Again, no arms to support it- the design and build of these should be done today, or at least by early next week.

Satisifed with my progress on the futon, I switched to a less labor-intensive project- the coffee table. My coffee table will be supported by the structure known as a "quad" from Nomadic Display. Ever since they made me one, I wanted to turn it into a table. I found some lock-nuts that were actually the perfect size to snap onto the hardware of the quad and glued them to the tabletop, setting them to dry over night.

Here is what the table will look like in its finished position when it sits upside-down.

I am a bit concerned that the aluminum frame won't be strong enough to support the heavy glass top, and if that proves to be true, I do have a back up plan.

The evening was spent watching the movie Contact in Paul's apartment with Paul and Martin- who looks just like Ben Kingsley, and realized that everyone would believe Jody Foster if they just dropped another person into the machine! I mean, come ON its right THERE!

Anyway, the plan today is to finish the futon and the coffee table, and I will have what some call a living room! Very exciting!

Furniture Design - Cats Do Not Like Table Saws

2010-05-05T18:28:00.007-05:00

After blogging this morning I got to that leveling job I mentioned yesterday. It was actually not so bad. What I learned: make sure the table legs are plumb before screwing them on, and you need at least two screws arranged vertically in each plane to make sure they don't tilt afterward. Lost anyone yet? Here's my beautiful flush counters:

They're less than 1/16th of an inch off, so I'm content.

Then I went off to Home Depot to buy another round of lumber- its beginning to look a lot like a wood shop in here- to start on the futon prototype. I had to rip a 3/4" square out of some 2x4s for the firring strips to sit in. To do this I needed to use the table saw loaned to me yesterday by Paul. It did not go over well with the cats, who flew from the room as fast as I have ever seen, and went up and hid in my bedroom closet.

After trimming the 2x4s, beveling the edges and squaring them up, I continued with the tedium of mounting 14 firring strips to the inside of the notched out sections, secured everything with wood screws (nail gun nails might have worked better, but alas, I have not a nail gun). What I was left with, I think is actually pretty good- I'm strongly considering making this a final version.

The only difficult parts that will need to be made more than once are the arm sections, but those can be made and scrapped independent of the main seating area. I tested it out, and not only does it support my weight very well, its actually very comfortable! By the end of the week I expect to have a futon and none of you will have any excuse to not visit me. The futon-half in place:

Right now I'm going outside to do some sketching for the arm sections, which I'll post tomorrow if I'm happy with any of them.

Thanks for reading!

Furniture Design- Prototyping a futon

2010-05-05T10:54:00.009-05:00

After my stuff finally arrived from the shipper today, I did some unpacking- at least the items for which I had places- I turned my attention to the built tables that needed leveling. I was less interested in that, and far more interested in designing a futon, so I began sketching for that.

About four pages in, I decided on the method that would employ- curved side runners in the arm sections that would allow the futon to tilt very easily. I struggle with the exact shape, as you can see in the sketches- thats what those wiggly shapes are- but came up with two I quite liked. I made a really rough prototype, decided I needed some better prototyping materials, so I bought some bamboo skewers at the local grocer. Way cheaper than wood dowels- and can be cut with scissors. My rough protos:

After this my new buddy Paul stopped by to say hey, and to loan me his drill press, band saw, and table saw. He hadn't used them in a while, and was reorganizing his shop, so he said I could have them until he needed them. So Paul effectively doubled the size of my shop, with three tools I was going to buy anyway! Now I just need to build a work table for those to sit on so they may be used. The cart they are on now is not staying.

So I then took my ideas to the computer, to make sure my engineering would be right- I didn't want the futon to tip over if one person was sleeping on one side, I wanted the top of the mattress to sit above the arm rest when flat so you wouldn't hit your head, and I wanted it to be easy to put up and down. I arrived at this solution, at about 10pm last night (thats why no update until now)

The arm sections need some refining- I am not going to go with a simple mailbox shape- but that is form stuff where I get to be all creative and artsy. The plan is now to make a full size prototype in pine for proof of concept, and then, once that works, a final version in oak with copper pipe as the moving support rods.

On a completely unrelated note- I thought you might like this- my building's garage houses the actual head from the video for "do the Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. This is no joke- it has been verified. It is about 15 feet tall and is about the weirdest pop culture artifact I have ever seen. I will update tonight on the progress of the first futon proto.

Trimester 1- Furniture design-build

2010-05-03T21:41:00.004-05:00

Greetings all-

I've just gotten done with a productive day here at the new place in Oakland! After taking care of some administrative stuff, I went out to a local car washing place to have the salt removed from my car. The guys took serious care- it took nearly three hours, but by the time they were done it was as clean as the day I bought it.

After fast food for lunch, I thought, enough is enough- I need some real food. So I went to the local grocery, and came home with some food with things like vitamins and minerals!

Haven't done a whole lot of actual designing, so to speak, but I have been building more. As you can see, my shop has grown two new work tables.

The taller tables are not quite flush with the miter saw deck, which is my intent, so tomorrow I'm going to have to do some leveling and sanding.

My plan in all this is to focus on different areas of product design- get neck deep into it in something like four month blocks. For example right now I've started into furniture design and fabrication. The choice on this one was almost entirely need-based as I have almost no furniture save for the work tables. I'll spend the early part of each week researching and sketching, conceptualizing and testing, and then spend the rest of the week fabricating. Hopefully after four months of this, I'll be a little more adept. As you can see, these work benches are not complicated nor particularly well-made, but I've already learned a bit about tables from them that I can use toward my next table.

I will start the designing for my next project, the futon, early, as I expect many complications and mistakes.

Oh and my shipment of stuff will be coming in tomorrow!

More to come- stay tuned.

Acknowledgements

2010-05-02T21:14:00.004-05:00

It was a hell of a fun trip- an exciting adventure to say the least. I am now here, safe and sound, ready to start a new adventure. Jon has taken the flight back to BWI, and so now I proceed as a one man show.

Some people to thank-

Chelsea and Andy for putting us up in Columbus, showing us some cool spots, and finding that Adult swim party. How awesome was that? We'll see each other again, and play a game of coasters.

Jenny and Stu for treating us to an experience in Nashville- what a music scene! I love your city- and we listened to the Chris Weaver Band CD several times through along the trip. Jenny, you sign them as soon as you are able.

Alex for showing us a great time in Chicago, getting us the best deep dish in town, and bringing back old times with a bit of healthy debate. The three amigos are now strewn across the country- we'll have to find a reason to get back together soon.

Maggie for the road food- we killed all f it save for the peanut butter cups and the twizzlers. I'm excited to see you and Roy in a month, and I expect to have the futon built by then. PS, you may have to park outside the gate, so you might want to consider packing heat.

Everyone who read the blog, especially those who made comments. We read every one out, and they often gave us some great laughs during some very long road trips. Thank you all.

Dad for dealing with my cats and stuff getting shipped. It was complicated and ornery, but Amos and Jackie are alive, and my stuff is in California according to my tracking information. Los Angeles, California.

Marquart for your secret gift- it sure came in handy when we got stuck in the salt flats!

Some quick thanks: the American Highway system, McDonald's free wifi, continental drift, the proprietor of "The Panda" in Salt Lake City, Hotwire.com, Friedwart Winterburg for his work on the GPS, Bonneville Mud-Cat operators, the fine people of middle America, the Chris Weaver Band, the Colorado snow plow crew, the inventor of the rumble strip, Toucan Sam, the stickmen at the Montbleu, and, of course Barack Obama.

Finally, to Jon- thank so much for making this trip awesome and fun. Thanks for making us go right through the Rockies, and driving when I was too hung over. Thank you most of all for seeing me all the way through to Oakland. Its quite appropriate that my oldest friend be the last to say goodbye. It was a week that felt like a month and I'll never forget it. Thanks too to Ashleigh for giving up your husband for 9 days.

That's all for this part of the blog- I will be making updates daily, and they will be personal, but focused more on design. And if you're wondering- I will be changing that ugly green banner at the top of the page. Probably something a bit more...orange?

After dropping off Jon at the airport, I went to Home Depot, bought some tools, and built this work table:

You'll notice its an homage to every work table ever made. Very high concept, you might not get it if you haven't studied Le Corbusier in detail.

Tomorrow I intend to build one identical to it, and put it next to the first one, and build a platform for my miter saw. Semester one will be furniture design and construction.

All for now, more later.

Day 8 - Tahoe to Oakland

2010-05-02T11:20:00.016-05:00

We woke up early, miraculously not hungover from the free drinks at the craps table, and prepared for the final leg of our cross-country journey. We stopped at a McDonald's to partake of greasy food free wifi to update the blog. Upon finishing our update, we realized that we had missed the California state line sign, and hadn't taken a picture of our final state line crossing. Being the anal-retentive dweebs that we are, we drove back across into Nevada so we could get a picture of the tiny, disappointing "Welcome to California" sign at the border.

CALIFORNIA

We proceeded west and north around the California side of lake Tahoe, on our way back to the interstate. The small state road wound through the forest along the mountains at the edge of the lake for about 40 miles. Blah, blah, majestic landscapes, stunning vistas, et cetera. Here, look at some pictures.

Just three hours later, we were sitting in traffic on our way into Oakland- we hadn't seen traffic in well over a week, so it was a bit frustrating to be in the car, with time passing, but not be moving. About a half hour of this, and we were across the bridge into Oakland proper, and soon after, to the front gate of Mike's new apartment.

We had finally arrived. Our final odometer reading- 20,760 miles. When we left Annapolis, it read 16,761- so our trip was exactly 3,999 total- so close to an even 4000!

Mike connected up with his property manager, got his keys, and then we began to move his stuff in. With only the things that were in his car, there really wasn't that much work. Mike is really excited about his new place, but rather than describe it- here are a few pictures Jon took.

It was still pretty big and empty, so a trip to Ikea was in order. Mike bought a bunch of bathroom furnishings, a futon mattress, stuff for his cats, and an orange carpet for the living room. The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and getting stuff ready for the cats.

Amos and Jackie arrived at the Delta cargo bay at Oakland International Airport in tact, and actually relatively calm. Despite being in a plastic crate for 15 hours, they were not emotionally scarred, and tentatively explored the new apartment, already staking out favorite spaces. Jackie found a hole under the kitchen cabinets, and squirmed her way into that space under the corner cabinet, next to the stove. We tricked her out using a bit of string, and that is about when Mike's neighbors showed up.

Paul, in 102, and Martin, in 104, seem to be pretty cool guys, and we spent the remainder of the evening drinking beers and eating pizza in Paul's place. Then, back next door to spend the first night in the new place.

Day 7 Part 2 - Bonneville to Tahoe

2010-05-02T11:01:00.008-05:00

NEVADA

Did you know that gambling is legal in Nevada? Of course you did. What this means is that people from surrounding states have to cross the Nevada border if they want to blow all their money at a craps table. As a result, every town on the Nevada border, no matter how small, is filled with casinos to capitalize on the tourist trade. Case in point: Wendover, NV - the first tiny desert town we encountered immediately after crossing over from Utah, was home to half a dozen large, garish, off-strip-Vegas-style casinos. It was a bizarre mix of rural desolation (read: dirt roads and trailer parks) and big town casino sleaze (read: lots of big neon signs and multi-story hotels). The gas station we stopped at to get a car wash and fill the tank had a service station, an Arby's, and a casino all under one roof.

Once the car was clean and full of gas, we sped off west down the highway toward Reno. The middle of Nevada presented us with wide expanses of loneliness to rival Kansas, but this was at least tempered by the beautiful mountains and rocky landscapes that stretched out on either side of the road.

Civilization once again appeared as we reached Reno and turned south to head toward Stateline, NV - our home for the night on Lake Tahoe, right on the California border. The drive out to south lake Tahoe was gorgeous, as the road wound up through the mountains to get to the lake. We tried our best to get pictures, but the light was fading, and it's tough to take night shots from a moving car.

We arrived at our hotel, the MontBleu Resort Hotel & Casino, around 8:30 pm. We quickly checked in and went to the room to change and prepare for a night of gambling.

The MontBleu Casino was quite nice, if small compared to a Vegas casino. We spent a short time poking around the table games to see what was available, then quickly settled in at one of the two craps tables. We managed to stay in for a good couple hours, and Mike actually left the table up. Jon was not so lucky. After Jon lost the last of his money at the roulette table, Mike finished out his night with blackjack and walked away with a profit.

With gambling done for the night, Jon's curiosity led us into Opal, the casino's "ultra lounge". The brochure had promised hookahs and go-go dancers, so on the surface it seemed like a chill place to end the night. Sadly, this was not the case: the music in the "lounge" was so loud that conversations had to be held at a full yell, and Jon's expectation of comfortable seating and available hookahs for relaxation turned out to be laughably naive. There were go-go dancers, though - so, you know, there's that.

After a couple of beers at the lounge, we retired back to the room to grab some z's before our last day of driving.

Bonneville Salt Flats

2010-04-30T20:49:00.005-05:00

Going to break form a bit here- but this event deserves its own post.

One hour west of SLC our odometer began to creep toward 20k, putting our trip mileage at over 3200 miles thus far. To make it special, we decided to take the fit up to 100mph for its landmark mileage achievement. It took a lot of yelling and maneuvering and picture taking, but we hit it. 20,000 miles, 100 mph, and a picture taken at the same time.

After that bit of speed, we were ready to tackle the American Mecca for speed demons, the Salt Flats of Bonneville. We'll wait a while you read the Wikipedia article and watch the movie "The World's Fastest Indian."

Ok.

There is a single two-lane asphalt road that extends about four miles into the center of the Salt Flats. At its end is a sign that warns you of the dangers of driving on the flats, and which direction the speed week drivers go. After careful research and consideration, and after testing the ground with foot traffic, and watching another driver go first, we were quite confident that the Fit would be able to handle the drive. We pulled off carefully, and first sped off about a mile into the white nothingness.

We stopped to get a sense of just how big this place was. Never, have I felt so far away from everything. The car looked like a tiny orange speck within the white expanse, and us even tinier.

After a photo session, we jumped back into the car to see what it could do. We did a couple 0 to 60 speed tests, and both hit 19.2 seconds on the dot (remember this is a front wheel drive compact car that is fully loaded with Mike's crap), and then made an attempt to break 100 mph again but on the salt flats. We both hit about 96mph, as the salt doesn't have as much traction as asphalt. But after this bit of fun, we decided to call it quits and get back on the road.

This is where the trouble started

In a vast white emptiness it is hard to maintain any sense of distance or direction. Thats our story and we're sticking to it. The portion of the Salt flats north and south of the access road are a bit muddy, and the salt crust is less than half an inch thick. The portion that is usually driven on is much more solid, as it has a salt crust several inches thick. On our way back to the access road we shot a bit too far North, began to loose speed, and then came to a stop about a mile northeast of the access road. We got out, and saw that we had sunk into the flats a couple inches. A few tries, and ikea bag, and a broken cat door prototype later it became several inches deep, and it became clear we would not be getting out on our own.

Jon called the local towing gentleman, who let us know that his "Mud Cat" was in Salt Lake City, and we would have to wait an hour and a half for him to come get us. We practiced some Zen exercizes, called family and friends, took care of some business, but still were not able to fill the time before getting immensely bored.

Finally, after about 2 1/2 hours, our hero in a yellow truck showed up. He almost got his truck stuck in the mud near us, then when he got the Mud Cat onto the ground, its engine froze a couple of times, giving the two of us a couple of "oh shit" moments, before it started up, and began lumbering our way.

He hooked us to the Mud Cat, pulled us out backwards to his truck, charged us our first born child- worth it- and we drove off finally onto firm ground (read:Asphalt). In our defense, when we left, there was already another car stuck in the mud not 100s yard from the road as we were leaving. (We alerted our tow truck about the other car- cuz we're good people.)

Then we drove to Nevada (like 4 miles away) found a car wash, and got most of the mud and corrosive salt off of the car's undercarriage.

Night 6 - Salt Lake City

2010-04-30T20:49:00.001-05:00

It was snowing when we got into SLC, which was apparently as much of a surprise to the local weatherman as it was to us. Day six was about the drive, so night 6 would be about the sleep. We would stay in, catch up on the blogs, and watch a little TV. Seeing Salt Lake city would have to wait for another trip.

Then, at 9pm it happened. We got hungry, having not eaten since the McDonald's in Rock Springs, Wyoming that afternoon. We found a Chinese place listed as being nearby the hotel, but our iPhones failed us yet again, as no such place existed. We found more chinese places a bit further East and headed that way- toward downtown SLC. We should have probably stayed in and eaten at the hotel restaurant, but we all of a sudden had a hankering for chinese.

The main street in northern SLC, 600 street, is eight lanes wide inbound - one way. This bizarrely wide street was also bizarrely empty for a major city street at 9:30pm, and the place only got more desolate after a turn down state street, where the lights got low, and the buildings got more run down. The only thing open at this time on this street were far too many tattoo parlors. There were a few chinese places in this area, and after finding the first few closed, we resigned to go back to the hotel for a late late dinner. Again, probably what we should have done.

It sat on the corner, glowing a faint yellow, most of its interior lights out, with just two cars parked out front. The Panda had one very important light still lit- the "Open" sign. We quickly parked, checked the hours, and saw that it was in fact open. We went in to find one woman inside cleaning up, who said she would even serve us! We ordered some wonton soup, dumplings, lo mein, and a dish that appeared to be "General-Tso's Chicken"-like. The food came out in reverse order, and was largely disappointing. we finished up and paid the check as Leno started interviewing his first guest, about 10:45 in the mountain time zone.

So our experience in Salt Lake City involved nothing Mormon, nothing, Salt Lake, and nothing you're actually supposed to do there. We will still have to hit it on another trip to give it its due.

A short drive back to the hotel, we booked our hotel in Tahoe, and hit the hay. Tomorrow we had a land speed record to break.

Day 6 - Denver to Salt Lake City

2010-04-29T20:42:00.023-05:00

COLORADO

First order of business for Day 6 was to figure out the route we would take: around the Rockies or over them. According to Google Maps, the quickest way to Salt Lake from Denver was to head north into Wyoming on the interstate, the travel directly west, bypassing the highest area of the Rockies altogether. We decided that a more scenic, adventurous route was in order. After a bit of playing around with the routes, we found a path that would take us up over the Rockies west of Denver, cut north into Wyoming (so we could check it off the list), and still get us to Salt Lake in about 9-10 hours.

We weren't disappointed with our route choice. The road west out of Denver moved into the mountains very quickly, and the abrupt change in terrain and environment between the Kansas-style flat plains and the high Rockies was actually rather jarring. Case in point: 10 minutes outside of Denver, it was snowing. Heavily. The fully loaded Fit struggled with the steep uphill climb, but we were shortly treated to some of the most beautiful mountain scenery either of us had ever seen.

We worked our way further up into the mountains to our highest point: the Eisenhower tunnel, approximately 11,000 feet above sea level. Denver is a mile high, meaning we had climbed over a mile up the mountains in the course of about half an hour. Pretty impressive. While inside the tunnel, we were treated to a scary bit of news via the tunnel's electronic notification signs: "Steep 8% downward grade next 8 miles", and "Ice and packed snow on roads ahead, slow down now". Jon was driving at this point, so he made sure he sat up straight, put his hands at 10 and 2, and tried to remember if he had told anyone that he would prefer to be cremated.

Out of the tunnel, and down the mountain we went, dodging slow-moving semi trucks and fast-moving SUVs. There were a couple of scary moments when the car would skid a bit on an icy turn, but we made it down to level ground in one piece, and turned north off the interstate, heading for the Wyoming border.

WYOMING

We stopped to gas up and switch drivers in Baggs, Wyoming: a small town just across the state line, and were amazed at the amount of ice and dirty road snow the Fit had accumulated during our mountain crossing. We considered cleaning it off, but the crust of ice covering the front license plate felt sort of like a merit badge, so we continued on in a dirty car.

The first section of Wyoming was, for the most part, flat and featureless, somewhat like Kansas, but with shrubs instead of grass. However, as we moved further into the state, we were presented with waves of beautiful rock formations, mesas, and rolling hills with sides showing colorful rock strata. It should be noted that, during our time in Kansas, the car stereo was never off: we needed music or comedy to keep us awake and interested while flying through the open plains. On this leg of the trip, we never turned on the radio: we felt that music would distract from the wealth of natural beauty rolling by just outside our windows. We didn't want to miss a moment.

Next stop: Salt Lake City!

UTAH

We crossed the border into Utah around 6 pm. Much like the latter part of Wyoming, the road was lined with beautiful rocky hills and cliffs for the majority of the drive. The main distinguishing features between Wyoming and Utah are that the hills in Utah are more covered in grass, and the rocks are more red. As we worked our way through Park City toward Salt Lake, the scenery continued to impress, with great snow-covered mountains and picturesque hillside towns. With each turn, some new beauty would revel itself, to the point that we started getting annoyed - Jon's camera hand was getting tired, and he only had space for 175 more pictures on his memory card. We actually found ourselves longing for the monotony of Kansas, if only for a break from sensory overload.

We finally arrived in SLC around 7 pm. One thing we had not prepared for: Utah is cold. We're debating going out tonight to see some of the city, but it is late it looks like freezing rain. The hotel room is looking pretty good right now.

Night 5 - Denver

2010-04-29T17:06:00.010-05:00

Our hotel in Denver was as impressive as the one in Topeka, not for a slide, but for the sheer quality of the room. It was a suite with a couch and a 42" flat screen TV, free internet, and free breakfast. We got settled in, Mike watched the first part of the heartbreaking Capitals game on his computer, and then we hit the road into Downtown Denver for a dinner we had planned since before we left.

Warning: descriptions and images below may gross out vegetarians or animal lovers in general. Proceed with caution.

Atlas Obscura had shown us to a restaurant known for its completely bizarre range of meats. The Buckhorn Exchange, operating in Denver since 1893, offers such satisfying meats as rattlesnake, elk, buffalo, and yak. They also offer the epitome of bizarre mountain foods- the Rocky Mountain Oyster. For those unacquainted they are the sliced, battered and fried testicles of a buffalo or bull.

We arrived in what looked like a converted brick townhouse, where every single available wall surface was covered with the stuffed head of an animal. We sat down in at a table right under a display case full of stuffed birds, and ordered the risky appetizer- a steal at only $9.75 - as well as the rattlesnake which was mixed into a jack-cheese and salsa dipping sauce and served with chips- like you'd expect. The rattlesnake was no big deal, and Jon had similar feelings about the oysters. Mike ate a few slices of testicle with some trepidation, enough to say he had done it, and left the rest of his portion on the plate.

Our meals included the meats elk, quail, cornish game hen, kobe beef, and ostrich, but I want to talk about the mixed vegetables. Just kidding. The meats were all palatable, but they had cooked them to a char on the outside, so it was hard to get a sense of what the meat itself tasted like. We can now say that we have eaten those animals, but not whether we like them or not.

We then caught the the light rail to downtown- which apparently operates on the honor system because no one checked our tickets. We were looking for a bar on the main strip, 16th street, but it being a Wednesday night found the streets empty and the bars mostly quiet. We grabbed a beer in one of them, but the emptiness of the streets coupled with the tire of the day made us return to the hotel for a moderately early night. Denver has not been our favorite stop along the way, but we have a fun mountain drive ahead of us tomorrow, so spirits are high.

Day 5 - Topeka to Denver

2010-04-29T08:57:00.004-05:00

KANSAS

This just in: Kansas is flat. At the start, in eastern Kansas we foolishly gloated that people had greatly exaggerated how flat the state was. And then we crested the last hill for several hundred miles. The road stretched off straight into the distance and disappeared into the horizon. Boredom abounded. We saw a bunch of tumble weeds and small oil derricks! Ummmm. Yeah. Now you're as bored as we were. Being in this vast emptiness, with enormous expanses of land between signs of civilization, really brings on a feeling of severe loneliness. I can understand why people out this way like to have Jesus with them everywhere- somebody to talk to!

We pushed the mileage to the limit and barely made it into the town of Oakley, KS before running out of gas. We pulled into the truck stop with the intent of filling up- both food and petroleum. I want to give Oakley, Kansas the benefit of the doubt. I want to say it would be a lovely place to take your grandma. I want to say its not always like this, but on this day, on this time, in this heat, Oakley, KS smelled like shit. The smell of animal feces was overpowering, so after filling up quickly, we ran into the local Subway for lunch.

Mike now driving, the roads continued to be boring, as we continued first into the mountain time zone, then into Colorado.

COLORADO

Colorado started out as bland, empty, and flat as Kansas, but a few hours in we started to climb hills. Finally, over one of the hills, we saw, in the distance, faint blue mountains! A high-five was exchanged as we headed on toward our hotel in Denver.

NIght 4 - Topeka

2010-04-29T08:13:00.005-05:00

We arrived at our hotel in Topeka around 9 pm. It was a bit outside the city proper: a Holiday Inn right off the interstate. We weren't expecting much; but man, were we surprised. We walked into the lobby to check in, which didn't look like much as we entered, until we looked to our right and noticed the water slide. Now when we say water slide, you're probably picturing a short little slide into a little wading pool or something - the kind of think that might seem reasonable for a highway hotel in Kansas. Please note that reason did not apply to the builders of the Holiday Inn Topeka. The Water Slide (I'm capitalizing to give it its proper respect) was two stories high, with multiple tight spins and switchbacks, and a 48" minimum rider height. It had a name, as any great ride should: the Turbo Twister. We checked in quickly so that we could get changed and get slidin' as soon as possible.

KANSAS

We spent about an hour in the pool area, making ample use of the Turbo Twister and hot tub, until we realized that it was nearly 10 pm, and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. So began the search for food in Topeka late at night on a weekday. Apparently every food place in the area has hours until 10pm, but nobody leaves their homes after 9:30, so most places close early. After a half hour of frustrated searching, we found a Chipotle that was not quite closed, and managed to procure some grub for the night. The end of the night comprised eating of Chipotle, drinking of chocolate milk, and watching Adult Swim. You know, tearing it up.

Day 4 - Chicago to St. Louis to Topeka

2010-04-28T08:22:00.006-05:00

We got out of the hotel at the usual time and made our way out of Chi-town. We decided we didn't want to use the GPS directions until we were on the interstate, so there were a lot of frantic "which exit do we take?" conversations while making our exodus.

ILLINOIS

Moving through Illinois to Missouri was pretty uneventful - lots of flat land, and we're bored with wind farms at this point. Next stop: St. Louis.

MISSOURI

St. Louis is right on the river between Illinois and Missouri, so as we crossed the mighty Mississippi, we got to check off a new city and a new state at the same time. On a tip from one of Jon's college friends (thanks, T.J.), we stopped for lunch at a place outside the downtown area called Fitz's. The restaurant makes its' own sodas - they're best known for their root beer, but Jon and Mike both hate root beer, so Mike got an orange soda and Jon got a cream soda.

Alright, enough of this "local stuff only"nonsense - it's time to be tourists. What would a trip through the Gateway to the West be without a visit to the Arch? We got directions and drove through downtown to the Arch waterfront area. It's much bigger than we expected - apparently it's 630 feet tall, making it by far the tallest structure in St. Louis. Also, it's shiny. Once at the Arch, we decided we should make our trip into the West official by walking through the center of the Arch from east to west. We walked to the middle of the grassy field below the arch, and made the momentous steps past the silvery threshold, thereby cementing our place in history with such great pioneers and explorers as Magellan, Lewis & Clark, Neil Armstrong, and Bear Grylls.

We decided to get to the top of the Arch, because what would a Mike and Jon trip be without climbing something tall? We walked down into the large underground lobby below the Arch, and bought tickets for the tram which takes people to the monument's summit. The under-enthusiastic high school kid who sold us our tickets asked if either of us had a problem with claustrophobia, and he was right to do so. The trip to the top was made in a tiny 5-person pod which was about 5 feet in diameter and resembled a cross between a tuna can and the white pods from "2001". The pod's circular shape allowed it to stay level as the angle of the arch changed on the way up. It leveled itself in a series of very comforting jerky adjustments which would throw our heads against the sides of the pod. Fun.

Once at the top we were able to enjoy the panoramic vistas from several tiny widows that seemed better suited for firing arrows from a position of relative safety than actually seeing stuff outside. No matter - the views of the city and river were actually quite nice, and it was cool to see the Arch's shadow on the ground from above.

After making our way down, we were approached by a reporter for the local NBC news affiliate for an interview. Apparently, earlier in the day, the pod elevator system had broken down, and several people were stuck at the top for several hours. Great. During his interview, Jon said it was a good thing he didn't watch the local news, and Mike said that someone needed to be held accountable. It's unlikely our interviews made it on the air.

Night 3 - Chicago

2010-04-28T07:15:00.009-05:00

Chicago is enormous, but it has a different feel than any place we've been to. The streets are mostly clear, and every couple of minute the el-train rolls by, making it impossible to hear anything. It is still cold here this time of year, and very windy, as one would expect, so we dressed in our warmest clothes and headed out on the town.

This may be the worst picture ever taken.

We asked Alex to take us to some of the night spots in the area, and we started at The Exchequer, a bar Alex goes to with his Comrades after ISO meetings. We started catching up, had some great fries and better beer. Then we stopped by the Apple store to play with the iPads. Enough pussy-footing around. It was time to try the deep dish pizza.

Alex took us to his favorite place in Chicago, Gino's East, which has a storied past you can learn all about on your own time. The walls, chairs, and booths are covered in graffiti of past diners (and for all the doubters, Slobbering Sam was in fact there) which created an enjoyable casual ambiance.

If you've been reading thus far you may have noticed a great deal of our posts are about driving and eating. Then eating, Then driving. So by this point, after so many big meals, we are stuffed, and not much activity we are feeling like lumps. Bring on the deep dish. We each order a small, which turns out to be about as big as a 10 lb barbell weight and twice as dense. It was fantastic, but we had to cool down lest we explode. We each made it half way through before giving up and heading out, giving our leftovers to a couple of homeless kids who, most likely, could not finish and gave their leftovers away too.

We planned next to take the elevated train to the part of town Alex lives in, and see his local hangouts. But with no cash, and all the ATM vestibules locked for the night, we couldn't buy tickets for the dang train. So, in the interest of spending time with Billet, we went to a nearby British bar, the Castle and Elephant to shoot yet more shit. Alas, there never was a castle, and the elephant was in the shop, but the local Chicago beer was excellent, and the conversation turned to politics, as it usually does with the three of us.

The staff at the bar looked restless, so we continued talking for a bit outside the bar, before we realized that we were losing sensation in our extremities, so we wisely continued or conversation in the hotel room until about 1:30 am. When you're as close as the three of us have been, catching up takes a long time. Wishing there was more time, we sent Alex on home, as we would have 10 hours of driving the next day, 5 in the morning to St. Louis, 5 in the evening to Topeka.

Day 3 - Nashville to Chicago

2010-04-27T17:04:00.002-05:00

TENNESSEE and KENTUCKY

We made a quick exit, backtracking only a couple of hours to make it into new territory. The landscape had begun to flatten out, and there were many silos.

INDIANA

After a stop for gas, the only planned stop in Indiana was lunch at a place known as the "traders point creamery" for lunch. We had a tip that they served the tastiest chocolate milk in the country. We went up in their modern-decorated barn loft and ordered a burger of grass-fed beef served with cheese from the creamery, and mac and creamery cheese mixed with chicken and thick bacon. It was all great, especially the chocolate milk, which the waitress was kind enough to top off for us until we left. We bought some more milk to go, and are waiting for the perfect time to open it up.

Back in the car, about an hour north of the stop we passed through the first wind farm either of us had ever seen. There were 200-foot tall propeller towers in all directions on both sides of the highway, extending all the way to the horizon- it appeared to be an alien landing site. Completely surreal. As Thoreau famously wrote in Walden "dude that was fookin crazy."

ILLINOIS

After scrambling to find change to pay the inbound tolls, we made it into chicago at about 4pm. Alex met us out front of our hotel, The River Hotel, right downtown on the water. We checked into our room which was tiny, but it had two twin beds and a shower so we were set. After we got settled we started to plan our night.

Night 2 - Nashville, TN

2010-04-26T16:48:00.006-05:00

We connected with Jenny and Stu who would be putting us up for the night, and they were busy until about 9, but recommended one hell of a good barbecue joint for dinner. I use the word "joint" to describe Jack's Barbecue because that's what you call a place with a rusty metal neon sign, the sticky-sweet smell of slow roasting animal parts, and a wood-paneled barn-like interior. As you would expect, the food was INCREDIBLE. For $13 you can stuff yourself with three kinds of meat, two vegetables, and some really tasty barbecue sauce. I recommend the ribs.

The main drag in Nashville is called Broadway, and for something like 10 blocks it is nothing but live music venues with powerful melodies and bar singing pouring out of every door. The street is lit up with neon light like downtown Vegas, and each place is the venue where someone in the Country Music Hall of Fame got discovered. The energy is just great.

We started at a bar called "Broadway Brewhouse and Mojo" which had a two for one special on draft beer- which in Nashville means if you order one, you get two. Mike and Jenny caught up on old times, we all shot the shit, and talked about the music industry and got a little drunk. Mike payed for 8 beers- a whopping $17 - and then we headed to the clubs around to absorb some of the local music scene.

After the Brewhouse, we moved on to The Stage, a country-themed bar with a large stage at the front and plenty of room to stand and watch the band play. The bar's theme didn't imply the type of band, though, as the night's group (the Chris Weaver Band) spend the night playing classic rock covers (along with some more recent stuff - I never thought I would enjoy a Maroon 5 cover so much). The lead singer had a wonderful gravelly voice - perfect for rock - and the band comprised a bunch of excellent musicians. After a couple hours of listening to Journey and Wilson Pickett covers, and loving every minute of it, we decided to move on to some other clubs. Before leaving, Jon had tipped the band $10 - the same price as the band's CD's, so he didn't feel guilty just getting a copy from Jenny.

After The Stage, we moved on to two other clubs: Tootsie's and Legend's Corner. Tootsie's had two floors, with one band on each floor. The upstairs band was a very decent country group, but we were ready to move along, so we only stayed for a couple of songs. Legend's Corner had another classic rock cover band, but nothing special. The last bar of the night was actually closed from the outside, so we snuck in the side through a neighboring bar which was closed for business, but unlocked. After a few more good country ballads, we retired to Jenny and Stu's place, and called it a night.

Day 2: Columbus to Nashville

2010-04-25T16:47:00.014-05:00

OHIO

We took our leave of Chelsea and Andy's place this morning, after they were kind enough to pick up donuts from the Jolly Pirate. We got on the road around 8 am, and began out trip southwest to Nashville, through Kentucky. Goodbye, Ohio. It should be noted that, at this point, this is the farthest West that either of us have ever driven. It's all new territory from here on out.

KENTUCKY

We made it to Kentucky (which has "unparalleled spirit" according to the sign) around 10 am, and immediately began to plan our lunch adventure, which was to involve procuring a KFC Double down. After all, shouldn't the chicken be better in the franchise's home state? It ended up being much more of an adventure than we had expected. The first KFC we came upon was a bust, as it was closed "due to fire". Clearly adding grilled chicken to the menu creates more of a hazard for the employees who are only used to operating a deep fryer.

We then used the iPhone to find the next closest location, which showed up on the map near a small road in Waddy, KY. We took the directions on the map, and were treated to a lovely scenic drive on a windy road through the back woods and farmlands of the state away from the highway, although the spot where the KFC was supposed to be turned out to be a small railroad overpass with no other buildings in sight for miles.

As we were working our way back to the interstate, we finally managed to find a KFC in Shelbyville, KY (AKA "Springfield Sucks, KY"), and treated ourselves to a lunch of bacon and cheese between two pieces of fried chicken.

Having emerged from lunch victorious (and not dead of cholesterol-induced CancerAIDS), we proceeded south toward Nashville.

TENNESSEE

We crossed into the Volunteer state around 2:30 pm. The roads just past the border were really quite picturesque, with a mix of farmland and mountainous terrain. Shortly after crossing into Tennessee, the roads were cut through rocky hillsides which left these great faceted rock walls. Not as big as the gap in Mt Somethingorother in MD, but very pretty nonetheless.

Nashville was only about 30 minutes south of the KY/TN border, so we arrived at our destination at 3pm. Our destination? Grand Old Golf - a giant, 3-course, 45-hole miniature golf course on the outskirts of Nashville. Mike had played here once about 10 years ago on a YMCA swimming trip, but his attempt to finish the course was cut short by a thunderstorm. So we were on a mission: we would finish the course, come hell or high water (or thunderstorms). This was no easy task, mind you: the second course we played was a frustratingly difficult 9-hole "Challenge Course", with holes at least 2-3 times as long as your typical putt-putt course. We finished well over par, and Mike hit Jon in the leg with a wild putt (hard enough to leave a welt with divot marks), but we did finish.

RTXC 2K10 - Night 1 in Columbus, OH

2010-04-25T12:58:00.002-05:00

Andy and Chelsea showed us around Columbus, starting with Yellow Brick Pizza, an awesome Pizza joint with interesting pies and a great beer selection. We got some of each and shot the shit- which led to the invention of a new bar game we called "coasters," the rules of which are still in development.

Then we went on to dessert, and those of you who have been to Columbus have probably heard of Jeni's, and if you haven't, you need to. This awesome place has great flavors like "goat cheese with roasted red cherries" and "Thai curry." Jon had a cone of "Queen City Cayenne" and I had a scoop of each goat cheese, dark chocolate and cherry lambic.

The next step was a surprise- Adult Swim was hosting a party at the Lodge Bar in downtown Columbus with free carnival games and tons of free Adult Swim schwag. We collected frisbees and T-shirts and posters and an inflatable meatwad beachball. Drinking a beer and playing sponge toss is an awesome combination. And yes, that is a giant inflatable Carl from Aqua Teen pooping a star.

Back at our hosts' place we got back just in time to watch a Pittsburgh sports team win. A few beers, some youtube videos, and some great conversation, and we crashed for an early departure on Day 2, headed for Nashville.

RTXC 2K10 - Day One Annapolis to Columbus

2010-04-24T17:33:00.007-05:00

We left Annapolis this morning, stopped to fill up the car with air and gas and headed out west. When we left we had the lovely palindromic Odometer reading.

Jon has titled this trip "Road Trip XC(cross-country) 2010 - THE DRIVENING"- which is appropriate for the level of intensity that we expect throughout the trip. For the sake of brevity we will be calling it RTXC 2K10 in future posts.

MARYLAND
Our home state didn't take very long to get across, and was mostly roads we had traveled before, but a trip through the cleft in Mt. Somethingorother out toward Cumberland is always exciting, sort of Maryland's gateway to the West. We were out of Maryland in about two hours. Goodbye, blue crab stats, I will miss you.

WEST VIRGINIA
We stopped around lunchtime for some pub grub at a local joint, Rhythm & Brews. It was either that or Ruby Tuesday, so we figured a real local place was better. We weren't disappointed, although our lunch of burgers and chicken wings may not have been the best choice before another 4-hour road trip leg. Once back on the road, we discovered that every road in West Virginia is apparently a scenic route. We were directed back to Route 50 by the GPS, and spent the entirety of our trip through the state winding through the Appalachians, treated to beautiful mountain vistas and blissfully empty roads. (I guess John Denver knew what he was talking about). When you're used to urban driving, it's strange and wonderful to be the only person on a highway for miles at a time.

OHIO

Ohio was significantly different from WV, almost immediately after the bridge that crossed the Ohio river. Industry covered the shore, and the roads got more crowded (relatively) but we spent the remainder of the trip from the border to Columbus listening to stand up comedy routines, and shooting the shit. We met up with Chelsea and Andy, who will be housing us for the night. We'll update later about the raucous time we're sure to have out on the town tonight.

Leaving DC - Chapter 1: Quittin' time

2010-03-15T14:31:00.002-05:00

OK, some overdue answers to some questions regarding leaving DC for Oakland, CA.

What are you thinking?
Well, there are a lot of factors. Very recently a lot of things changed in my life, some personal, others quite public (like my firing and subsequent re-hiring by n0m@dic). There is upheaval, there is timing, thanks to some inheritance there is funding. As many of you know, I have had wanted to work in product design for some time. Now is the time to act. If not now, never.

Do you have a job out there?
I don't, and I don't forsee much of a problem with that. While I intend to get a part-time job
while I'm out there, the majority of my time will be spent doing freelance and private design work and competitions to get my name out there, get a reputation, and get found. Read this earlier post to better understand why. My goal is to be supporting myself with product design work within three years, or open a mini-golf course that also sells pie.

Why Oakland?
Oakland, CA is right near design central (San Fran.) where I need to be if I want to attend industry events or get hired. Oakland rent is about half of that for living in SF proper, and only a short drive away. I found some killer live/work lofts there with reasonable rent where I can set up a design studio in my apartment. More on the Cotton Mill Studios in an upcoming post.

Does your boss know?
Last Monday, March 8th I put in my 4 weeks notice with N0m@dic Display. While a bit upset, my superior said she had been expecting it for some time, given my lack of job security and being put on reduced hours for months. Everyone at the company already seems to know...

Can I see you before you go?
Yes! Try to schedule with me to grab a beer or something, otherwise, make sure you're at the going away party Thursday night, April 22, at the Saloon on U st. in DC. Everyone is invited. Everyone. Yes you.

How will you get there?
I am driving across-country with Jon from April 24th to May 1st. My stuff is being shipped, as are my cats. I don't think eight days driving with cats meowing would be fun. Don't worry Ashleigh, Jon promises he will fly back.

Will we ever hear from you again?
I intend to come back to the DC area and visit for a couple of weeks yearly, so we can grab a beer and catch up. I will also be on facebook and this blog, and expect the posts to get more personal, opinionated, narcissistic, and design-central as time goes on. (Sorry in advance.)

Can I visit?
Yes! I will have a futon to sleep two people, and I'm totally near all this great stuff. Come by. We'll build a device for slinging cabbages. I am also considering a trampoline.

What about Maggie?
Maggie and I are departing on great terms. I love her very much, and always will, but we decided this was the best way for both of us. She will be staying in DC and continuing to do awesome work for the AHA. I will miss her terribly.

I am sorry for the novel, but these things I just need you all to know.
And even more info coming soon.

Laid Off pt. 2... takesies backsies!

2009-12-04T11:23:00.002-05:00

The update you've all been waiting for. I didn't want to do this preemptively, so I waited until the agreement was made over the phone.

In what must go down as the oddest week in my life (I really wracked my brain to think of a weirder one) I was let go by Nomadic Display, and no less than two (2) days later I was offered my job back with Nomadic Display. Same pay, same position, same 4-day per week schedule. At which point I request 5-days per week, and today they cleverly countered with 4-days per week. Being the cunning businessman and negotiator that I am, I accepted their offer.

From what I could gather from my boss, it turns out that the employee in my department who was cut to part-time and wanted to be laid off instead got her wish (big hooray because she is awesome) and now there was money to hire me back.

I hadn't even taken my desk chair out of my car.

I figure I want them to go around and introduce me to everyone again, give me another employee handbook, basically treat it like I'm the new guy again. Or I'll make 100's of "What are you gonna do, fire me?" style jokes. Either way, next week is gonna be a little weird as well.

And there's another reason- the company wants the severance pay back. I'm no lawyer (although, if someone makes the right offer...) but from what I've gathered from some friends with HR experience since I was in fact laid off, I am entitled to my severance. Those of you who are lawyers, (Jess E., Jess P., Kristen W., and Chris F.- this means you.) I could use your help on this one!

In conclusion- because I have lost my job and got a new job since I have last seen you, the way I see it, you all owe me two drinks! See you at the bars!

Laid Off

2009-12-02T10:23:00.002-05:00

As some you may have heard, I was recently let go from my position of Graphics Designer at Nomadic Display. I had been working there just under 10 months, so with the need for financial cutbacks, it was determined that I was the most expendable person in my department of 4 people. Hard to argue with, as there were other people there who can do most of what I did- except InDesign and Illustrator. But god help them if they need another catalog designed anyway.

I'm not taking it personally, as four other people were laid off, and several more cut down to ~20 hours per week, but, to put it bluntly it still sucks.

I'm not, however, going to crash. While any steady income is gone (save for VA unemployment) I recently got some money from the sale of property that my Mom had (who knew?) which will hold me over until I can find some new work. The only question is- now what?

I have been talking about a move west for a few months now, and while it seems like it will happen at some point, it's hard to figure out when. I have a lease that ends on April 1. I'd love to try to get a job out west first, but that seems impossible. These places require in-person interviews, and I just don't know if I have the portfolio strength to get hired. It feels like my best option is to move SOMEWHERE, get a studio space, and do freelance and competition work until I've garnered enough experience and attention to work in a place I really like. I have an idea for something called "insanity labs" kicking around in my head, which I'll explain in an upcoming blog post, but its rather unrealistic and fraught with pesky issues like zoning laws. But as of right now, it's got to be nothing but Industrial Design. I won't settle for anything less unless I KNOW it puts me on the right path to it.

In the meantime I'm back to C# training, should be picking up Objective-C in the near future, and messing with this little thing called arduino. Oh, and I've started lifting and running again so by January I can already outrun the New Year's resolution crowd.

Thanks everyone for your calls and messages, and I'll try to keep you all updated.

Why you will probably be driving an electrc car soon...

2009-10-28T09:07:00.003-05:00

One of the new, battery swappable EVs from Better Place

Electric cars have been around a while. You've probably seen a few plugged in on your college campus, you've probably driven a golf cart. Maybe your friend who is too smug to own a Prius has one. But there have long been obstacles in making these cars even close to desirable to own. That's all about to change.

Electric cars are finally fun to drive. Check out the Tesla Roadster, which I'm sure you've heard of if you follow the issue at all. The waiting period to grab one of these is enormous, but the point is, Tesla has brought the power and excitement to the electric car. Don't believe me? Check out the boys at Top Gear review it here.

At the end of the video, Clarkson mentions the biggest concern for the electric car- battery life and charge time. When you kill the battery for an electric car it can take 16 hours to recharge. Not a problem if you're just commuting, but totally eliminating road trips longer than a single charge can get you. Until now.

Shai Agassi, an Israeli entrepreneur has stumbled upon the greatest idea yet. Instead of having car recharging stations, why not have fully charged battery stations, and hot swap the lithium-ion battery out for a fully charged one? Common sense dictates that this action could take even less time than filling up your tank. Check out more about this simple, yet important change in strategy at his company's website.

So, all that coupled with more companies produce pure electrics that don't look like remote control vehicles, (See old Honda Insight vs. the New One) means we've really run out of reasons to not go electric. Mr. Agassi sees a wide infrastructure of these battery stations within 10 years, so your next car, believe it or not, may take no gas at all.

How to get an Industrial Design Job: my Whirlwind Tour of SF

2009-10-27T15:26:00.006-05:00

As some of you may have heard I ventured to the Coroflot Confab in loverly San Francisco last Wednesday to see what I could see, get myself out there, so to speak. I had an uneventful flight, thanks to some Nyquil, got a free hotel upgrade and had my business cards shipped straight to the hotel. The whole thing was a complete success. Almost. (More on that later.)

I made a cool business connection with a programmer from un upstart known as Farm'sReach, and that was just on the cab ride from the airport. The conference itself was really helpful- the morning session regarding how to improve your web presence and get hired was very eye-opening. Some pointers for those of you who didn't attend: get your self on a wide range of sites, and get them all to link to your main portfolio page. Broad, thin range of sites, one single, in-depth site.

Then the panel discussion, which had IDEO and Google represented, revealed some interesting truths about getting hired in the design industry. Are you ready?

1. Be ready to wait TWO YEARS. Sometimes, even after initial contact, in an industry that considers its hires to be TALENT, not just an employee, the scout might watch you for two years to see how you are progressing as a designer to make you an offer. Although, sometimes its as little as a month.

2. Give a sense of who you are in your potfolio, or how you show your work. Since design is so collaborative, they sincerely care about what kind of person you will be to work with. Skills and programs can be taught. If you're not a decent, interesting, and effective person to work with, you probably will never be. (Time to undertake undertaking.)

3. Applying for jobs you are completely unqualified for is a GOOD THING! Believe it or not, in design, because the job description, usually written six months prior to the actual hire by someone in HR, is so different from the final job that you get hired for, you should go ahead and apply anyway. Its better the scouts know you're out there than have you sit on your hands.

Then after the discussion I got drunk at the reception, and proceeded to lose my new pack of 500 business cards on the streets of San Francisco. Well, I did give like 30 of them out. And I met some very cool design people, and exchanged some info over beers nearby!

Two days after my flight home the hotel calls me. Apparently, some good Samaritan found my business cards on the street and delivered them to the address on the box! They are due in the mail to me tomorrow.

Look for a homepage redesign @ www.MichaelWTaft.com with some help from my friend Jake Cohen.

New Droid Phone, is Everything the iPhone isn't. Like Ugly.

2009-10-23T11:37:00.004-05:00

iDon't have a physical keyboard.

iDon't care.

Motorola's upcoming Droid has similar styling to the Motorola MicroTAC of 1989, or that its UI looks eerily familiar. I can't comment on the quality of it as a device, but from seeing it-

This appears to have very little character. A look at this and the keyboard, and it becomes clear that this phone, apparently one of the fastest ever made, will appeal to people who don't care what their phone looks like.

Now don't misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with caring about sheer functionality of a device, its just not enough to take Apple's share of the market. The Droid will most likely compete with the Palm Pre.

The most important point is not that one phone is better than the other, this is just like the Mac vs. PC debate- there are different types of people in the world, ergo there are different kinds of phones. SO STOP ARGUING.

This phone will appeal greatly to a certain sector. Probably everyone that bought a Voyager. Just not the iPhone users who, if you ask them, will tell you they don't miss a physical keyboard one bit. Who am I kidding, iPhone users will tell you about their phone whether you ask them or not.

iPhone Commits Suicide, Cites Constant Murder Threats.

2009-10-23T11:05:00.003-05:00

In a surprise move, after getting beat up on the playground, teased for not having a physical keyboard or a decent digital camera, the iPhone took its own life yesterday because, as read in a note uploaded to its blog through its sweet wordpress app, "I cannot go on living like this."

Sources say those close to the cleanly designed handheld device were shocked to find out what had happened, especially with the huge popularity of the phone, and it's apparent resilience against phones that has tried to assassinate the phone before. "But this time was different," said Steve J., a friend and mentor to iPhone "people had really worn down his self esteem. I mean, have you seen what they write on those message boards?"

True, in just scanning one recent article in which he is mentioned, some libelous charletains have claimed "iPhone is totally gay." and "Whatever, the newest Nokia phones have like a bizillion gigapixel- camera or whatever. This phone sux at everything." People apparently unaware that there could be a phone that is good for some people and not good for others. Although, this doesn't seem likely to be the complete impetus for his death, as his supporters on there boards were usually just as numerous and stupid. "You f8ckers are fucing stpid. Stop hating and read a danmed history book!" wrote one concerned citizen.

More likely, pressure from the upcoming release of the Motorola Droid phone caused a great deal of new pressure, as the latest attempted iPhone killer presented himself publicly. "The Droid ad runs like a smear campaign. I mean, come on, all this guy wants to do is listen to the Ting Tings while snowboarding. Leave the little hipster shit alone!" said this guy I know.

With his ego bruised and new pressures to constantly be the best thing out there, iPhone ended it all yesterday by running a remote wipe on his own Mobile Me account. Which, let's be honest is a truly bitchin' feature.

He is survived by the iPod touch, which is just as good.

The 3D Printer YOU can (nearly) afford!

2009-07-30T10:44:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the future. The year is 2030, give or take a year. It's Christmas Eve, and you forgot to buy young Timmy that remote control monster truck with the lightning bolts on the sides that he has been talking about for a month. 20 years ago, this would have been a problem. 20 years ago, you would have waited in line at wal-mart for this toy, and found none left. But its 2030, so you download a mesh, replace the low "rubber" cartridge in your rapid prototyping machine (RPM), and you print him one.

This Christmas story may seem a bit far-fetched, but moved a bit closer when a company called Desktop Factory released their first ever RPM for under $5000 new. That still seems a bit hefty for the average household, but when one considers the nearest competition is about the price of a small car, one realizes this is a HUGE leap in the right direction.

The device has a pretty small envelope, as it can only print objects as large as 5"x5"x5", and the smallest wall thickness is about .06" which is not great as industry standards go, but what is important is that there is a company out there that sees the potential for this product to sit on your desk at home.

"Hey Bill, I'm bringing my new girlfriend to your party. You'll need to print another chair."

This is a big deal to the design community as well. Designers may eventually no longer work with clay and foam prototypes, save for very rough ones, much in the same way graphic designers don't use as much of the pen and ink as they used to. The ability to make a clean working proto as early as your second attempt, that can be adjusted with the click of the mouse is not 20 years away. Some companies already do this. Soon, your clients will expect it.

Then your products will often be released as meshes, printable files that any old hillbilly with an RPM and the proper raw materials will be able to reproduce identical versions of your idea in his garage next to his moonshine still. All of a sudden, you will have a marketplace like iTunes selling meshes, and people trading them illegally on the web.

But this is impossible, you say. You can really only effectively print in plastic, right?

Not so. The circuit boards in your computer are metal printed on plastic wafer boards, and scientists have developed an amazing product called liquid wood. Being able to print in fabric and foam surely isn't far behind.

Think of the possibilities for product customization! Think of the jobs lost at manufacturing plants! Think how different are world will be! Think how being a CAD operator will be as much of a skill as being a toaster operator is now! Think how old you'll feel!

Now tell others what you think, and leave a comment.

Take Notice- The world trough a viewfinder.

2009-07-28T07:48:00.004-05:00

How many times have you seen this: you're at a monument or other tourist destination and there are several families there, all of which have someone- not to promote stereotypes but this usually is the Dad wearing a yellow shirt and socks that are way too high- who is watching the whole thing through a camcorder viewfinder. In trying to capture forever those precious memories he has, with a device, excluded himself from them.

Or this: you're at a wedding and the bride is beginning to walk down the aisle. The couple have hired a professional photographer to capture - with some expert skill hopefully - this defining moment in their lives. Yet everyone in the botanical garden, even Aunt Gertrude who wouldn't know a horizon line if it bit her in the ass, and claims the soft focus was on purpose, is reaching over their heads to grab a snapshot.

The digital camera has become so simple and easy that we may be limiting our life experiences simply by trying to record them. Taking ourselves out of the moment so it is ours forever. It is really worth it? I have mostly always been a live in the moment kind of person, but I submit that things are getting out of hand.

Is it possible to conceive of a camera that doesn't cut the user out? What would a camera like that look like? Yes we all have camera timers, but those only work for posed shots. And what of making the photo process more collaborative? Photo sharing sites have started to make this easier, but the sheer quantity of photos everyone takes is just too many for the free sites to work on. Can we get to the point where people around the world start saying, "Let's just leave the camera at home, someone else there will be taking pictures."

Or am I wrong? Is all this amateur photography a good thing? What do you think?

--Take notice is a feature on IDoLOG regarding changes in trends relating to consumer products-

How to read a company by the last few letters of their name.

2009-07-23T08:24:00.007-05:00

Root for the LLC, the LC or the Co-op - if you want to find a product or service company that is looking out for the consumer. A company that might not be as likely to be worried about what you think probably ends in I-N-C.

There is a lot of pressure on a successful company to "go public" or "incorporate" so that people may invest in the company, and become a shareholder. Basically because this company is making money, and greedy people want in on it.

Up until this point a product company only has an obligation to its customers- the folks who decide whether or not to spend their hard earned money with the company. And when the time comes where the company has to make a decision between the quality of their customer's experience and making more money, they CAN still choose the customer.

If a comapny incorporates, they now have an obligation to their shareholders- and a legal one at that- to choose the option that makes the most money. If a corporation makes a move that can be seen as making decisions not in the best financial interest of the owners, that company can be sued for damages.

Many corporations do manage to keep quality customer consideration in their minds, but it is a tendancy that a Co-op will handle this better.

Companies tag this "INC." surname to imply financial stability, but what they're really saying is that they're here to make money. Maybe I'm some sort of consumer idealist, but I happen to believe that there are still companies out therethat exist to provide a quality good or service to their customer first, and continue to make money because their customers reward them with increased sales.

Found on Coroflot! - Zig Bench by Catherine Worsham

2009-07-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

An awesome idea for outdoor seating brought to you by Virginia Tech graduate Catherine Worsham. Zig is a bench as well as a bike rack, while maintaining a vibrant exciting appearance. For more of Catherine's work, click here.

If you find something neat on coroflot don't hesitate to put the link in the comments!

Thanks!

- Found on Coroflot! tries to bring to light good design ideas by scouring designer portfolios -
- Coroflot.com is the premiere web site for finding Industrial Design jobs and Industrial Design portfolios -

It's almost too easy.

2009-07-16T09:01:00.003-05:00

Easier. Faster. More efficient. Done while you sleep.

Buzz words from a culture driven by speed. As designers, we are frequently asked to make things fall into this territory- But at what cost?

The other day I was having a debate with fellow designer Jacob Cohen about this very subject- more specifically the automatic gear shift versus the standard (manual) gear shift. His point was, now that there is a machine handling your gear changes, you are less connected with the act of driving, making the act of driving more dangerous. The manual car driver is far less likely to text, eat, or at least space out while driving. Jake suggested that we revert back to the way things were, before a computer separated our intent from what the machine does.

I argued that ideas like anti-lock brakes, power steering, and traction control were recent advents that are beneficial, because they turn human intuition into intended action. Without anti-lock brakes, jamming the brake pedal would cause your car to go out of control.

But Jake's point is so valid and intriguing. In a world where people have to join gyms to remain healthy, there is a bus stop on nearly every block on 16th st in Washington DC. Many people think Jake is crazy because if something is within two miles, he'll usually walk there. But maybe you're crazy to waste the gas, put the wear and tear on your car, and then drive to a facility where you pay to run in place for an hour. Does anyone else see the discord?

And of course, there is also the sentiment that succeeding at a difficult task is usually more rewarding than a simple one.

Trying to look at making the world more difficult seems hard and counter-intuitive as a designer. Easier has always seemed like better. My suggestion for a solution- when we design something- anything - with the intent of making an act simpler - we need to ask what we are losing in speeding up and dumbing down this task.

Are we losing control and familiarity? The ability to learn something? A little healthy exercise? The satisfaction of a job well done?

The loss of these virtues need to be weighed against how easy the task is being made before making the change. We don't need to revert to the way things were in every respect, but we do need to examine future moves.

What can designers actively do to help abate the sentiment that easier is better?

Look out for Loft

2009-07-15T07:45:00.003-05:00

Stunning curves, classic style. Is that Eames? No, the joints aren't quite right for Eames.. Aalto? No, its far too geometric for Aalto. Why do I feel like I've seen this chair before?

And why do I want one so bad?

"Loft" is a lounge chair dubbed an "instant classic" by the judges at I.D. Magazine's 2009 Design Review and winner of the Best in Category in the area of Furniture Design. Yes, 2009. That means it was designed sometime in 2008. Look to see this chair everywhere despite the STEEP price tag- because last years winner in this category- Yves Behar's "Leaf" light became an icon nearly immediately.

So who is the designer behind "Loft"? Is it Behar? Grcic? Try Shelly. Shelly Shelly (no typo) to be more precise, who is a student, no less, at the Art Center College of Design. Let it be noted that there was a whole category for student work, which this chair managed to transcend. Thank you, Shelly, we'll be keeping an eye on you- you've grabbed the attention of the design community- let's see what you do with it.

Humming a new tune

2009-07-14T12:20:00.004-05:00

It wasn't too long ago that even the most conservative saw that global warming was probably real, and everyone was paying over $4 per gallon of gas. Many felt that it was time for a change in the auto industry- those of us interested in auto design had taken a peek overseas at Smart and Citroen and VW and seen low emission vehicles getting over 50 miles per gallon already, and new that this was the way America would have to go. SUVs dropped off Consumer reports top 10 sales list (save for number 10) and the world braced for America's foresight and green-minded autos.

Then none came.

The first round consisted of bigger, more luxurious SUVs. Then some hybrid SUVs. A hybrid SUV? So for an extra 10k your dangerous, self important, space-wasting vehicle can get you an additional 5mpg, getting you in line with the worst of the sedans? Then there were some poorly marketed hybrids. Quick, name an American made hybrid car. Does anything come to mind?

So the "Big three" floundered recently, and are now facing serious financial challenges. And right now, through force, we are going to see the face of the American vehicle change.

Chrysler is now, basically owned by Fiat. Imagine what you think a Fiat automobile looks like. Chances are, you imagined a small, red hatchback. Fiat doesn't make big cars.

Ford announced that they are practically going to start over- concentrating on greener autos- and pay more attention to what people want.

GM made one of the biggest moves, selling Hummer, a type of vehicle that has no business existing anyhow.

What can we learn from this? Consumers still have the power to push the market in the direction they want. Finally the American car industry is realizing that they need to pay closer attention, and have a little foresight. Because next time, there might not be a bailout.

Kindle 2's price cut to $299. Who will care?

2009-07-09T08:04:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Amazon announced that everyone's favorite eBook reader is having its price slashed again- from $359 to $299. This appears to be the result of the company that assembles the Kindle - Prime View - acquiring the company responsible for that eye-saving screen technology- E-ink. This appears to be just the first step in one of many as the technology gets more sophisticated and cheaper to produce. And amazon has chosen to pass the savings on to you. Gotta love it.

Now you might expect this to mean that you'll see eReaders in the hands of everyone- saving the newspaper industry single-handedly. Not so fast. I don't think the market is ripe for such a device.

The problem you have is no group to adopt the item quickly. Your usual early adopters- teens and young adults- let's face it- don't read. And your big readers- the baby boomers and older - are going to be slow to adopt new technology, or actively resistant to it.

You just describe the Kindle to your mom, and she will inevitably say the same few things. I like holding a book in my hands. I like having them all on my shelf to look at. I like seeing by the thinkness of the book how far done I am. All related to the comfort the person associates with reading and their physical connection to a book. And these are valid points. Reading is a VERY intimate act, and people want to be comfortable while they do it.

How about the feeling This is my favorite book ever- and I love it. Imagine, dear reader, your favorite book is just a digital file, a candle in the wind waiting to be snuffed out when your external hard drive crashes. A fearful thought for many. Until the kindle adresses the personality of the product, so it is one that the user loves as his/her favorite book, they will not be able to penetrate that market.

Now in regard to tweens and teens- there is slim to no interest here. Reading is a long and involved task, and getting this generation to slow down and take notice is no easy task. The way into the hearts and minds of these ones is through textbooks, an area Amazon has already made some progress into. College students spend several hundred dollars every semester to buy books- big, heavy books that cause almost as much back pain as they do financial pain. And the key- students have little or no attachment to their Macroeconomics textbook, nor do they want to read it cover to cover.

Perhaps the intent of Amazon is not to replace the book, but to supplement it. But if they want to make young people adopt their product, the only way in I see is through academia. So the price cut should make little to no difference- I know of no one waiting on buying a Kindle beacause its just too expensive.

Welcome to IDoLOG

2009-07-08T10:40:00.002-05:00

IDoLOG is a user-central design blog that make commentary on products, branding, design thinking,

If you are interested in writing for IDoLOG, send a writing sample to IDoLOG@gmail.com about something design related you are passionate about.

If you would like me to link to your blog, send the link to IDoLOG@gmail.com

Thank you for your visit, your links, and your friend referrals!

Mike