Studio Journal Episode 4 – Are my moving dates flexible?

OK, this one is real kick in the pants.  I got a call today from my future landlord asking me if my moving date is flexible.  They have several people moving in on September 1 and they need some to shift a day or two forward or back to accommodate the rush.

What makes this insane is that I was begging them to move the date a month ago when I signed the lease (story here).  But they would not budge.  I pleaded.  No luck.  I even asked/begged/pleaded to change the hour of my move earlier (from 5pm to early afternoon). They refused to give up even a day of rent and moving up the time was not possible either because they needed time for the paint to dry.  I wanted new paint didn’t I?

Now that I have locked in a move-out date from my current apartment and reserved the movers for the afternoon, all of a sudden they want me to be flexible.  I am guessing that everyone is in the same boat as me.  Movers get booked up and can’t move at a week’s notice.  Move out dates get locked in because a new tenant signs a lease to move in, so changing the date creates a chain of problems.  I experienced this the hard way when I signed my lease in the first place.  And they should know – they are landlords and have new tenants and departing tenants 100 times a year. 

Give me a break!!!

A Telecommuting Model for Rural Communities

I have an idea, not completely original but with my own personal take, that I think might be successful.  There are many rural communities that need ideas for development.  One idea is to build the “mini Silicon Valley.” 

But I think this is too much and a smaller approach might work better.  After all, tech workers can work from pretty much anywhere these days and there is a pretty sizable population that would love to live in the mountains of Vermont or the forests of Appalachia.  But to achieve a Richard Florida type Creative City, you can’t just take a “build it and they will come” attitude.

So here is my idea.  Let’s say a community creates work/live/play spaces customized for the telecommuting tech worker instead of trying to attract the startup itself.  I am imagining small, cozy developments that have mixed housing types (to accommodate single, married, married with kids) and in the center there would be a co-working space complete with receptionist/secretarial support, café, food trucks, and play area.  A town center in the middle of several developments there would have the larger retail and the fun stuff – movies, clubs, or whatever the market demands.  But smaller footprints because the community is not trying to attract a large population.  The downside would be it may be impossible to have the venues that require volume – concerts, sports teams, and that kind of thing.  And there would be no industrial, no office park-sized development, no high rise, nothing that would detract from the rural-ness. 

But the tech support would have to be high end.  A community-wide high bandwidth wi-fi and fiber to the home in all the developments.  The higher income residents should be able to support this. 

If they have spouses that are not also telecommuters, there would still be jobs in the retail, the outdoors (ski instructor, forest ranger), government (police), health care (perhaps specialist doctor offices in small buildings and a community hospital with heli-pad to transport the tough cases), and leisure (every brewpub needs a good brewmeister).  Perhaps artisanal farm businesses could fill the local farmers’ market.

It seems pretty self-contained – which means that it wouldn’t need to grow in order to thrive.  So it wouldn’t ruin the mystique of the rural, out of the way, idyll.  And the idea could be customized for each landscape.  Maybe a beach version.  A plains version.  A desert version.  There aren’t for everyone.  Some people would still want to live in Manhattan, San Francisco, or Boston.  But I would imagine a lot of people who would thrive here.

Studio Journal Episode 3 – Daily Packing Quirks

It has been a while since I posted to my studio journal.  It is only 2 weeks until moving day.  I have to admit feeling some anxiety about it, not because I am worried about the small space, but because of what happens between now and then. 

Getting rid of things is turning out to be harder than I thought.  In three ways actually.  First, I am having trouble giving away the heavy furniture for which I need a pickup.  Every organization that does pickups has a month-long lead time. I guess I waited too long to call.  Who would have thought?  I would have called months ago had I known!!!  So now I have to figure out what to do with my gorgeous white leather couch (hint hint if you live close) and my antique and also gorgeous dresser.  I can’t just throw them away!!!! Their original purchase prices were in the four digit range.

The second reason is my hoarding tendency.  I packed my shoes last night.  I have three pairs of almost identical black dress shoes.  I only need one.  But because these are the kind I like, I will eventually wear them out.  And my foot is not growing.  So I will eventually need all three pairs.  I can give them away and get something like a $5-10 tax break (35% of a $20 value – ish) or I can save all three and save myself future purchases of $100 or so.  But then I have to figure out where to put them in the meanwhile. I packed them, but didn’t seal the box so I can change my mind.

Then there is the silly category.  I used to collect baseball caps.  When I lived in Miami I had over 300 and they were all pretty cool.  When I moved to Boston I saved my 50 favorite and gave the rest to a homeless shelter.  They were much more popular than I expected, since the residents could pick one that actually resonated with them (some favorite sports team, brand logo, funny statement or whatever).  It would be nice to do that again with the 50 I have left.  But . . . .  I packed them, but didn’t seal the box so I can change my mind.  See a trend emerging here?

I found another Goodwill collection site (remember what happened to the old one) and brought over a load.  Today was kitchen goods.  Pots, pans, food containers and that kind of thing.  When I got back, I packed up a load for next time.  Foreman grill, steamer, books – even the solar powered and rechargeable lantern I got in Miami in case of power outages from hurricanes. Then for next weekend I have a color printer with a year’s worth of color toner cartridges and all kinds of office supplies.  

I got rid of some things too.  I tossed two old umbrellas.  I finished my good tequila and tossed the bottle (hey, that counts!!) and the jar from the salsa I had with it.  I also got rid of tons of old tax records.  1993-2003 went out the door, somewhat partially shredded because I was a little too lazy to do them all carefully.  I don’t have any of the associated bank accounts, jobs, utility accounts, blah blah blah any more so I think I am OK. 

 

This Week in EID - Episode 16

I always love learning something from one of my students.  It was just a coincidence that the Smithsonian magazine had an article on the same topic a few months later. 

I really like the idea of using self-identity resonance as part of a marketing strategy, especially when you are marketing a good cause. 

I didn’t think I would be posting anything in memory of a Richard Nixon anniversary, but I guess you never know.  And I suppose that the Oval Office recording system has been important in a lot more than one administration.  The records of the Cuban Missile Crisis discussions have been invaluable to historians.  If you missed this post, take a look.

 

There were some great discussions on two UX-related LinkedIn groups for my post on this hotel mobile device prototype.  Most responses were skeptical.  I am too.  I didn’t get many comments from non-UX practitioners, so I am still unsure as to whether the idea could work.  Hmmmm.