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As you can see, the laundry room in our new rental house has a strange configuration. It was added on to the outside of the house by enclosing a former side entrance. The guy who owns the house claims it works fine with a standard top loading washer and a front loading dryer if the washer is back in the corner and the dryer is positioned in the door (as shown above). Even if you could make that work I’m not sure how you would get to the clothes in the bottom of the washer as there would be no room to squeeze in past the dryer to get to the washer. You’d have to belly flop over the dryer and flail around with your legs in the air to fish out stray socks! Here are a few shots of the empty laundry room: More »

January 30th, 2010 | Tags: 220v, 2x4, 2x6, base, Bosch, build, diy, dryer, duct, frame, front loading, hose, how to, laundry, lumber, moving bolts, pedestal, plywood, room, washer, water, wood | Category: diy, how to | Comments (2)

This seems a little weird to be posting but here it goes anyway…

This is my 4 year old pair of Keen Arroyo IIs. I bought them after my first trip to China and have worn them nearly daily since then. They have been to Asia twelve times, Paris, dozens of US cities, Publix, Bouchon, etc, etc. They have been my go-to shoes and are the first pair I pick when I’m looking for a single pair of do-it-all shoes for travel, work or just lounging around the house.

They are easy on/off when going through airport security, are well ventilated so they keep my feet cool and have enough support and tread for the occasional off-road excursion (or just schlepping my suitcase through the Hong Kong subway system). They may not be the latest in haute couture but they work better than anything I’ve ever worn. It made me quite sad to drop them into the trash can. But, thanks to my mom and my lovely wife I’m looking forward to breaking in their replacements.

BTW, the original Superfeet (blue insoles) I bought with the old pair of Keens migrated to the new pair and are ready for 4 more years of service.

December 25th, 2009 | Tags: Arroyo II, China, Christmas, Keen, new, old, Paris, shoes, SuperFeet, Travel, worn | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (2)

This has been home for me for the past nine days. That’s all about to change, though. A truck is on it’s way right now from Auburn loaded with all of our worldly possessions. Tomorrow we move into our new house in Anderson, SC. Not only is this a transition for us as a family but it is also a transition for me professionally. The new job encompasses much of what I have done in the past but it marks the first time in my adult career that my job does not encompass designing things. Sure, I am responsible for the design of the products that I am in charge of developing, but I have officially made the jump from being a designer to becoming a product developer. And you know what? I like it! More »

October 24th, 2009 | Tags: Anderson, Comfort Suites, designer, hotel, move, new job, product manager, South Carolina, transition, TTi | Category: My life | Comments (1)

18 months ago I left my job as VP of Marketing and Design at Griffin Technology in Nashville, TN. I spent last summer traveling the country looking for a new job. With no promising prospects I decided to cash it all in and take a year off to go back to school and complete my degree in Industrial design at Auburn University. The original plan was to have a new job lined up by graduation in early August. When that didn’t happen things started to get desperate. More »

October 10th, 2009 | Tags: Anderson, Auburn University, Birmingham, career, China, decision, ExpoDisplays, Flickr, Florida, Griffin Technology, Hartwell Lake, Industrial Design, job, move, offer, relocation, RoBrady Design, Ryobi, Sarasota, Senior Product Manager, South Carolina, Tek4, TTi | Category: My life | Comments (13)