Archive for April, 2008
Recent Space Visits
So we’re kinda stuck until we get Electricity to the suite, but I stopped by and snapped a few shots of the build-out as it stands. We’ll take a few more when we’re there tomorrow, but we wanted to test the latest version of the slide-show plugin, so this gives us an excuse to post some more.
HVAC Pipe is complete, the walls are all up, and we’re about to get moving again…life is good.
Lighting Ideas
We hit a roadblock today…
Some aspects of our build-out weren’t quoted correctly, and the lighting we’d picked out was about 3X what our budget allowed. Not a good problem to have.
I’m now scouring the net looking for cool ways to light the space on a budget. I think I have a way to use those drop-ceiling fluorescent lights to do something cool, but I’ll have to buy one and play with it to see if it’ll work.
We bought one of these BlueMax fixtures on Friday, and it arrived today. It casts a LOT of light, but it’s too “blue” for us. Geoff and I tried it in the space. Looked too “sterile” for us.
So I started looking at other offices to see what they’d done. It appears that the other tenants in our building spent a lot of money on their fixtures. I think we can do it for 1/2 of our alloted budget if we get creative…
The Motherboard Wall - Phase 2
I decided to lay out all of my motherboards to see if I’ll have enough to complete this project. So I started digging in the box, and lying them on my driveway. There was a mouse living in the box at some point, so I had to hose them all off before I put them through my dishwasher…twice.
Looks like we’ll have plenty after all. I may look for a few more to work with. I’m sure I’ll find a use for extras.
So into the dishwasher the went. Cards up top, boards on the bottom.
After 2 cycles on the “Pots and Pans” setting, I need to put them in the basement on their faces to dry for 2 days before we send them off to get painted. One load did 12 boards, and about 15 cards. I’m thinking in 5-6 more loads I’ll be ready to lay them all out to paint.
So painting isn’t as tough as you’d think….but it takes a long time when you factor the drying-time. I can paint about 12 a day. The Appliance Paint that we’re using is SUPER thick and VERY shinny. So you just need to make sure you get it in all the nooks/crannies, and let it dry for about 12hrs. I’ve been doing 12 a day for about a week now, and I still have a pile left. They DO add up quickly though. Hint: Don’t do them at night…do them in the AM before you leave for work. I did one batch at night, and the dew on them in the AM made for rain-spots on them after they dried inthe afternoon heat.
Also mentioned…
Over at Cleveland.com…
SparkBase LLC, a Solon technology company, also plans to move to the building in May. The company provides data center services to merchants for the processing of gift and loyalty card transactions.
Doug Hardman, the company’s owner and chief technology officer, said SparkBase will quadruple the size of its old office by renting 3,500 square feet at Tyler. That will allow the company to expand its staff from seven to 13.
I’ll take a mention like that any day. Shaheen Samavati and I talked for about 30min, I’m surprised that we only got a small mention though. O-Well…life goes on.
Back to work.
HVAC Begins
Well the HVAC stared to go up and it is amazing how the space that you thought was never ending starts to shrink on you. They had to lower the ducts to compensate for the sprinklers, so they are a bit lower than I anticipated but Doug assures me they are fine.
We wait no more
Permit approved! Now we get into the fun stuff. The plan is to take a few photos from the same spot every couple of days to show the progress. Maybe at the end we will turn it into some sort of virtual flip book.