Design Challenges

Sunday, April 26, 2009

2-Miles: Jacksonville Zoo

Today we went to the Jax Zoo for the first time. I love the zoo, there's nothing more exciting than being that close to the real wild life and not have to fear it.

We visited the zoo as part of the HEAL First Coast Zoo Walk for Autism. HEAL ~ Healing Every Autistic Life ~ Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit based in Jacksonville Florida with a mission to help families who have a member with Autism. Visit our website at www.healautismnow.org and learn more.

The Walk started at 8:30am and was well attended. It was kick-off by Mkristo Bruce, fromt the Jacksonville Jaguars alongside other Players and Cheerleaders. We went down the path handed Icelandic glacial water to quench the thirst along the route.

We first encountered the storks, who were not originally part of the exhibit, but over the past couple of years have made the zoo their home. We later saw the east African Bongo, which are the largest forest dwelling antelopes. These mammals can reach up to 600 pounds. We later saw some Angolan colobus monkeys and soon after encountered my favorite species, the lions.

The jax zoo has one male lion and two female lions. Since the zoo made a special early opening for the walk, all the animals were freshly awake and moving around the grounds. The lions were no exception, the male was wide awake and fondly moseying around while the two females were still laying down, but yawning and stretching readying for the day ahead. After some photos and excitement, we moved on to see the giraffes and jaguars. The walk ended appropriately at the jaguars' exhibit where RadioDisney.com had set up a booth and were providing gifts and prizes for the kids, and the "Jaguars" were standing by signing autographs and taking photos with the attendees. We mosey ourselves over and had some time to talk shop with the Jaguar players. It was pretty amazing to see how tall and big these fellows are and were pleasantly surprised that they took the time to talk to us for a good 10 to 15 minutes while taking photos and providing autographs. The players in attendance are Mkristo Bruce, Atiyyah Ellison, Greg Estandia, and Stefan Rodgers.

After the crowds disassembled, we continued to see the rest of the exhibits and ended up spending over 5 hours there.

The bottom line is that when you get a chance to support an event while doing something you enjoy doing, it is a no brainer to jump-in with both feet. We had a great experience and were amazed how well stock the zoo is and the wonderful work they have done to provide a suitable space for the captive animals.

Labels: 2-mile, Jacksonville, jax

Saturday, April 25, 2009

2-Miles: Dogs and covenants

As I previously mentioned communities in Florida are governed by a Home Owners Association (HOA) and its covenants. In Saw Mill Lakes the covenants state that dogs are not to be left unattended and are not to be outside without a leash.

Why is it then that I constantly see dogs outside, without anyone left to look after them, but an invisible fence. What many pet owners fail to realize is that invisible fences are not 100% foolproof. Who is in charge of enforcing these rules?

Today, during my two mile run, a man was walking his dog alongside his toddler. He was concerned for the little girl and was paying very little attention to the dog.

The dog was small and full of energy. He had a leash on the doggy, but in his distraction, he fail to see that the dog had strech the leash close to six feet and inadvertly was heading righ down my way. I was in no way treaten by the little thing, but did get tangle and almost hit the pavement because of the retractable leash. I recover quickly and did not fall.

The bottom line is that when someone adopts a pet into their life they assume a certain responsibility. A responsibility that should not be taken lightly, if I happen to have fallen and crack, say a bone, who would have been responsible for the cost? During the year that I have lived in this development I have been chased by three different dogs during my outside runs. Would I be entitle to bring suit if one of those dogs have bitten me? Who would I sue, the community, the pet owner or both? Luckily for me, we are moving in a few weeks to a community known for enforcing its covenants and rules. In addition, our next community is bigger and offers more sidewalk and trails to allow, hopefully, for a more enjoyable 2-Mile experience.

Labels: 2-mile, Jacksonville, jax, lawsuits, maps

Friday, April 24, 2009

2-Miles: Coquina

Up in the northeast, where I grew up, most houses are built with either wood or aluminum siding. Vinyl siding is a plastic exterior cladding for a house. Vinyl siding was introduced to the exterior cladding market in the late 1950s. At that time, blending of colors was done manually. Because of all the manual labor involved, the process made it difficult to produce and install a consistent, quality product. In 1970s, a transformation of the product began, with the industry engineering formulation changes. Because of these changes a lot of houses in the northeast where upgraded to the product.

In Florida, however, we have seen three distinct materials in used. Stucco, vinyl, and Coquina. The first I was familiar with, the latter however was new to me. Coquina is an incompletely consolidated sedimentary rock. Coquina is mainly composed of mineral calcite, often including some phosphate, in the form of seashells or coral. It has been used in building stone in Florida for over 400 years, coquina forms the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine, this country's oldest city. The stone makes a very good material for forts, particularly those built during the period of heavy cannon use. Because of coquina's softness, cannon balls would sink into, rather than shatter or puncture, the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos.

In my current community of Saw Mill Lakes where I perform most commonly my two miles I have noticed that about every fifth house is sided with Coquina. At first I was not fun of the material. Although it gives a very beachy atmosphere, it texture is very shelly, and looks very rough. When we were looking to buying a house we decided that this material just wasn't for us mainly because all the houses we saw that had coquina had a pink tone to them. Later we found out that coquina can be painted. Ever since I have noticed many shades of coquina in our community. We ended up buying a house in a different community, The Players Club at Sawgrass, but it is made of stucco siding. This is not because of our original dislike of coquina, but because we found the right house for us, just a coincidence that it did not have coquina. We actually grew fond of coquina over time.

The bottom line is that you can't a judge something until you have all the facts. We originally dislike Coquina because of the tones we had noticed, turns out that it can be painted just like any other material to any color that suits your taste. It is very durable and long lasting. To replace coquina for another material in a house is quite costly, but this is true for all materials. If you find the right house, don't worry about the exterior, remember you expend 99% of the time indoors.

Labels: 2-mile, biggest loser, Connecticut, Florida, Jacksonville, jax

Thursday, April 23, 2009

2-Miles: ARC approved

When we moved to the Jacksonville area from Connecticut, everything looked so foreign to us. Every house and neighborhood appeared to look the same, it was all uniform and stepford wife like. We just could not understand the vast difference driving from one community development to the next.

Now, almost 2 years later we have grown accustomed to the area. We now see all the differences and understand property value and locations a lot better. We recently bought a house and are in the process of adding on. Part of the process requires that we go through the community board for an Architectural Review. As we were walking our tow miles today, we went past a house with an ARC approved sign on it. They have now completed their renovations, they added a pool with a screen enclosure to their house. They also ripped out the concrete walk-way ad replaced it with pavers. My wife commented that she saw in the community Web site that someone was getting sited for violating their ARC approval. We think it was these folks as it seems they had partially ripped out their driveway and only partially placed pavers in its place. It looks quite silly that they have distastefully only done part of their driveway with pavers and the rest of the area with concrete.

This got me thinking that this would have never happened in CT. Everyone up there takes care of their home, however, if someone wants to add or remodeled their home, they don't have to ask the neighbors for permission, they simply hire an architect and do as they wish. It is nice to have the freedom to do whatever you want in your own property. However, there is something to be said to limiting what color you can paint your house or what monstrosity you can keep away from being added.

The bottom line is that regulations are good to have. It keeps the neighborhood looking right. We are moving to one of the best communities in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. I want to ensure that my investment increases in value. As long as the board doesn't abuse its powers or steps in to cause too much grieve, then so be it. Our government has plenty of regulations in place and it hasn't done too much harm to our freedoms. As for me, I'm just glad that our house received an ARC approved stamp at today's meeting and onwards we go deeper in debt with our addition and remodeled.

Labels: 2-mile, Connecticut, Design, Jacksonville, jax

Friday, June 20, 2008

Melissa Etheridge - Revival Tour

My wife bought tickets to go see Melissa Etheridge for the June 19th concert in Jacksonville, FL. I said wtf, how bad could it be, lets do it. So we went down to the landing for dinner, dine on some fine Italian, the best so far in Jax, but mind you that there just aren't that many Italian restaurants in Jax, and don't get me started on the pizza situation.

I digress, the concert was very revitalizing as marketed by the title. I never thought I would enjoy a Melissa Etheridge concert, but I actually would venture to say that this one was one of the best, if not the best concert experience I have had. It had a very unplugged feel to it, yet all the mechanics of the typical rock band were present. She was very low key, yet her voice was as powerful as it was 20 years or so ago. I think what made this different was that there was some story telling involved. Melissa paused between songs to tell the audience about the song and where she was in her life, both personal and professional, at the time which led to the motivation for the lyrics. I found this type of performance refreshing and honest.

She concluded with her battle for cancer and living with no regrets. She encourage the audience to look deep within themselves and ensure that they live their lives as they would want, because there is only this one.

These messages hit very close to home. We moved to Jax to experience a better live but is a better live a financial statement or a more relax and sedentary one?

The bottom line is that we have made a great home down in the Jacksonville area. We have done well economically as well, but no better than we were doing in CT, the biggest change is the quality time I get to have with my wife. We have now pick up golfing together and sharing more moments together. I think that's what life is about experiencing joy with the one you love and choose to spent your years with. Intellectual curiosity is also another factor to consider, as humans our number one gift is the gift of learning and we should strive to learn at least one new thing a day, whether is to expand and promote growth in your career or to learn a new technique to improve upon your hobby, is just crucial to never stop learning. Once you decide you can't learn anymore, then you might as well select your grave next.

Labels: college, Connecticut, Entertainment, Florida, Jacksonville, jax

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Package Design

I have always been intrigued with design, specifically package design. There are so many ways to present an item, and yet so many designs exists for items of similar fashion. For example, I have at my desk to soda cups. One is from Longhorn, a steakhouse restaurant chain in the Jacksonville Area, another is from Daily's, the local store in the Shell Gas station. They both served as drink holders and hold the same amount, yet one is skinny in the bottom and the other one is straight up tall.

I can only imagine the meetings that took place to come up with each one of those designs. The arguments taking place, "no that's not going to fit in a standard cup holder", others stating, "have you any idea how long the straw is going to have to be?"

The bottom line us that there are many creative individuals in this world. You see them as inventors, marketers, advertising agents, and many other fields. I hope to one day come up with something as brilliant as these designs a friend forwarded in an email: