Renovation: week 1
After almost 2 years, the renovation has started. I drove over on Monday specifically to see the bin in the driveway and just to see that it had finally started. It feels good to be moving forward.
Everything started on-time as planned. The contractor and crew managed to make a lot of progress. We got temporary power setup; all the basement electrical pulled out; the stairs removed; the two chimneys removed; the plumbing removed; the mechanical (furnace and hot water tank) removed; the environmental inspection completed; and the roof sealed back up. The new drawings and structural changes have to make their way through the City next, but should be at best a small administrative task.
With everything pulled out the space feels a lot bigger. The only surprise was a small squirrels nest that was starting to form near an opening (sneaky bastards). I’m hoping to save some of the chimney bricks to use for landscaping as some of them can be salvaged.
Next week is the big job of the char removal which is like sandblasting it off with a particulate (usually glass or baking soda) so that all the fire damage is removed and all that will be left is wood. The shed also gets moved to make way for the new parking pad and they’ll be framing in the chimney openings.
The picture below is a drawing my son did at his architecture class this weekend of our temporary digs — a furnished condo near BC Place – where we’ll be living during the work.
World IA Day (Vancouver)
Registration is now open for World IA Day 2012 here in Vancouver. Looks like a great lineup of speakers including my former colleague Jess McMullin (Centre for Citizen Experience), Karyn Zudinga (Analytic Design Group), Samantha Starmer (REI), Gordon Ross (OpenRoad) and Karen Pecknold.
Our fire story on TV
Global TV aired our fire story tonight on the 6pm news. Nice to see they used a lot of the video and even some of us talking about it. If you haven’t seen it you can watch here.
You may ask yourself
Here’s a question that you should clip out and tape to your bathroom mirror. It might save you some angst 15 years from now. The question is, What did you do back when interest rates were at their lowest in 50 years, crime was close to zero, great employees were looking for good jobs, computers made product development and marketing easier than ever, and there was almost no competition for good news about great ideas?
source: Seth Godin
IBM’s plan
Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM, on his guiding framework for IBM’s strategy:
- “Why would someone spend their money with you – so what is unique about you?”
- “Why would somebody work for you?”
- “Why would society allow you to operate in their defined geography – their country?”
- “And why would somebody invest their money with you?”
The four questions, were a way to focus thinking and prod the company beyond its comfort zone and to make I.B.M. pre-eminent again.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/business/how-samuel-palmisano-of-ibm-stayed-a-step-ahead-unboxed.html