FranLab is getting evicted

[EEVblog]

Video released.
Starts at about 13:40

[langwadt]

what kind of magic voodoo sauce made it impractical?

the quality of  the finished product mainly,plus at  least one of the pedals uses a long discontinued ic so would require major rework

one thing is needing a redesign, but quality?

[EEVblog]

21:22 She mention living in her car if Franlab shuts down.
Time for a VanLife change of direction!
Maybe convert and old bus, half living space, half lab, and just cruise around America. Stream the drives!

[rsjsouza]

Indeed having a second source of income helps a lot. Despite this, one thing you didn't do was rent a larger lab space but instead move back to the one you already owned. IMO this was a very smart move at the time to keep yourself financially responsible.
One thing to keep in mind is that, out of the millions of Youtube or electronics channels, only a tiny fraction of them are fully viable - not to mention the typical saturation that happens in any channel, especially the established ones.

I did a video on that one too, and yes it was the smartest option:

I remember that video. I think you did a poll and the "cheap arse" won.

[EEVblog]

Indeed having a second source of income helps a lot. Despite this, one thing you didn't do was rent a larger lab space but instead move back to the one you already owned. IMO this was a very smart move at the time to keep yourself financially responsible.
One thing to keep in mind is that, out of the millions of Youtube or electronics channels, only a tiny fraction of them are fully viable - not to mention the typical saturation that happens in any channel, especially the established ones.

I did a video on that one too, and yes it was the smartest option:

I remember that video. I think you did a poll and the "cheap arse" won.

Yes, Cheap Arse won by a lot. My audience is smart.

[rsjsouza]

what kind of magic voodoo sauce made it impractical?

the quality of  the finished product mainly,plus at  least one of the pedals uses a long discontinued ic so would require major rework

one thing is needing a redesign, but quality?

The professional musician crowd is moved by a lot of non-quantifiable elements that convey the perception of quality and suitability to their art, so it is hard to fully comprehend what is involved in such statements...

At the end of the day, the market for "full custom" products is very interesting but sometimes hard to quantify. Especially in Fran's case, where she did not manufacture a pedal in many years (IIRC).

[magic]

Americans widely seem to believe that the whole world simply owes them anything they want

Really? My view of Americans is they don't fear of doing work. Pursuing their dreams and so on. I think the "society (read: taxpayers) owe us everything" is more like European welfare state concept. But this is of course a generalization. Both types are everywhere.

I didn't mean it in the sense of "society" owing them money, but the whole reality owing them correctness of their assumptions and viability of those "dreams". There is simply no such thing as being wrong, if you Dream™ hard enough you will make it happen and no one is to interfere because Freedom™. This mentality turned that place into a dangerous mix of delusional fools led by narcissists.

Americans in general are not the ones known to be waiting for others to provide for them.

How about betting on succeeding against expectations, then being provided for by others out of pity, as expected?

[nctnico]

I don't think you can make a generalisation for an entire country filled with a wide variety of people.

From what I've seen along my travels is that people in general are the same. Only difference is that some are more free to think outside the box than others.

[MrMobodies]

Everytime I see this thread reappear I think there's bad news.

21:22 She mention living in her car if Franlab shuts down.

When I read that last night it made me sick.

As a horder myself I can't imagine loosing my things.

I know she said she has clients or customers in Philadelphia but if whatever they do is not helping her afford another place or help pay the bills she is slowly destroying herself to a point where her life could technically be over and I'd hate to think past her living in a car after loosing everything.

[EEVblog]

Everytime I see this thread reappear I think there's bad news.

21:22 She mention living in her car if Franlab shuts down.

When I read that last night it made me sick.

As a horder myself I can't imagine loosing my things.

I guess if she got desperate enough it's always possible to move the storage out of Philly entirley. Heck, if she put out the call she might even be able to find a viewer in PA who has a spare barn on a big property or something. Even if it's 100km away, better than losing it.
I've got two storage units myself, if I lost them and couldn't afford one in my business park, I'd certainly be looking for the cheapest crappest place with Sydney.
I believe she has said before that the factory would be the first thing that goes in a financial crunch, before the storage units.
I believe she is renting 4 places total: the factory space, two storage units, and the lab/apartment where she lives. That must be a brutal cost already.
Unfortunately my spidey sense is telling me the new owner is going to jack up the rent as a minimum, we'll know in December.

I know she said she has clients or customers in Philadelphia but if whatever they do is not helping her afford another place or help pay the bills she is slowly destroying herself to a point where her life could technically be over and I'd hate to think past her living in a car after loosing everything.

AFAIK she doesn't have any clients and doesn't do any contract work.
What's keeping her in Philly is the trans safety thing (plus she likes the culture there), just see her replies on the recent video. She has completely ruled out small towns or even another city.
I looked at a recent article on the 10 safest and most accepting cities in the US for LGBT people, and Philly didn't even make the Top 10 list, so  But then again, I have no insight into that community apart from what Fran and few others have told me.
From what she has told me about Philly, I'd be more concerned for anyone's general safety there if you are in the wrong area, nothing to do with LGBT.

[NiHaoMike]

I remember Rinoa moved to Philadelphia a good while back, maybe time for them to join up and buy a shared shop the way Laura Kampf and some of her friends did?

[EEVblog]

I remember Rinoa moved to Philadelphia a good while back, maybe time for them to join up and buy a shared shop the way Laura Kampf and some of her friends did?

Generally not a good idea to go into purchasing property with friends or business partners.
And unless it's a huge place, she'd still need the two storage units, and of course still needs an (smaller) apartment to live in.
And given that she has said the "factory" would be the first thing to go, it's obviously the lowest priority option.
So I suspect such an option is not going save her anything in the end.
What she needs financially is to combine all 4 current rentals into the one big place that has a huge garage/industrial space with live-in ability. Fran said these places don't really exist in Philly any more.

[Siwastaja]

What she needs financially is to combine all 4 current rentals into the one big place that has a huge garage/industrial space with live-in ability. Fran said these places don't really exist in Philly any more.

I agree this should be #1. It's not like cost per square meter is a constant value, you pay premium for distributed solution of many smaller rented units.

Official live-in ability is probably the biggest showstopper. If desperate enough, it should be able to work around that. I did, I was officially registered as "homeless" but factually lived in the workshop/garage space. Legal status of that is interesting because no one could ever show any law which would criminalize living in your office. As long as you don't cause any issues to your landlord everything's fine.

She could at least give it a shot. I mean, my friend did, and a few months later I did, and ended up doing that for many years. Had I tried in advance somehow plan it or ask around, I'm sure the idea would have been shot down by nearly everyone. Sometimes it's just better to do something than overthink it in advance; and ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission.

I spent maybe a day or two putting basic things together like removable plumbing for a kitchen sink, shower and washing machine. Simple stuff like PEX pipe plumbing which can be removed.

[EEVblog]

Official live-in ability is probably the biggest showstopper. If desperate enough, it should be able to work around that. I did, I was officially registered as "homeless" but factually lived in the workshop/garage space. Legal status of that is interesting because no one could ever show any law which would criminalize living in your office. As long as you don't cause any issues to your landlord everything's fine.

My commercial office building has a no live-in clause, as does virtually every commercial strata here. But if Mrs EEVblog booted me out, I'll suddenly be working very long hours at the lab. And that shower down the corridor is totally for after gym use. And that clothers dryer is a thermal and vibration test machine.

She could at least give it a shot. I mean, my friend did, and a few months later I did, and ended up doing that for many years. Had I tried in advance somehow plan it or ask around, I'm sure the idea would have been shot down by nearly everyone. Sometimes it's just better to do something than overthink it in advance; and ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission.

I'm pretty sure she has said there there simply aren't any big commercial places like this left in Philly, they have all been "gentrified" into apartments.
Hence why she's ended up with 4 different spaces.
Well, they are available, I've searched myself and presented them to her, but they are in dodgy parts of the city she wouldn't dare go.

[Siwastaja]

My commercial office building has a no live-in clause, as does virtually every commercial strata here.

Yeah, of course. Then again, if you don't cause any trouble and pay your rent, landlord should have no reason to end your lease. And if they want to get rid of you for reasons not related to you, they will do it anyway even without you breaking any contract terms.

And if you don't cause any damage, they have no grounds to sue for any compensation. If you "get caught" all they can do is to end your lease early due to you breaking the contract terms. Which they can do anyway, just with a little bit slower (typical term of notice here is just 3 months for example).

My contract also had no live-in clause of course, but no one really knew what I do there and how often I am there. I'm quite sure my landlord knew it but was fine with that. He wouldn't have been able to prove it anyway; working late is normal, so is having bed at work for taking breaks.

[nctnico]

Not sure that is the way to go if it becomes like having a camp site in a commercial building. Then again, you could furnish part of the building as a living room area without raising much suspicion. The famous 'man cave' (or 'Fran cave' to stay on topic). I see such areas at some companies for the employees to hang out in a less office-esque environment.

edit: typo

[Siwastaja]

Not sure that is the way to go if it becomes like having a camp site in a commercial building. Then again, you could furnish part of the building as a living room area without raising much suspicion. The famous 'man cave' (or 'Fran cave' to stay on topic). I see such areas at some companies for the employees to hang out in a less office-eque environment.

It's easy to test this idea with camping equipment first and if it feels it's going to work then put a bit more effort in making easily removable semi-permanent renovations or furnishing the area. It's interesting to understand that all these elements - kitchens, showers, toilets, sofas etc. exist on many normal commercial/industrial buildings. Therefore I don't think anyone's negatively interested in presence of these elements, the problem would be lack of everything else. But Fran has no such problem, her space(s) are full of stuff related to industrial electronics etc. obviously professional-looking stuff.

But if you were operating just a bar then that would be a problem.

[EEVblog]

It's easy to test this idea with camping equipment first and if it feels it's going to work then put a bit more effort in making easily removable semi-permanent renovations or furnishing the area. It's interesting to understand that all these elements - kitchens, showers, toilets, sofas etc. exist on many normal commercial/industrial buildings. Therefore I don't think anyone's negatively interested in presence of these elements, the problem would be lack of everything else.

Every office in my building including mine has a small kitchenette, some bigger ones have full on kitchens. There is a nice big shower on every level in the disabled toilet, and of course the communal toilets.
Nothing in the by-laws about having furnature or even full on beds in your office as that's your business. So absolutey nothing stopping anyone from effectively "living" in their office.
I think it's in the clause just for the extreme cases, like to prevent a new owner from turning a commercial office into an actual apartment and potetially leasing it that way or whatever. Thus ruining the "commercial" nature of the building.

As a building owner and on the executive comittee for my building, I'd be one of three people that actually decides on enforcing this sort of stuff. Basically, if it wasn't bothering anyone then we'd probably let it slide if say someone was homeless for a few months and wanted to live there. As someone who does often work here late when no one else is in the building, I think it would be next to impossible for someone to find out unless you walked around the corridors in your pajama's with your toothbrush hanging out your mouth.

[SiliconWizard]

This could be more of a problem relative to your business itself.

As a business, the rent is a business expense. But if you're dedicating part of the rented place for personal use, then that would be considered an "employee" benefit that must be declared as such. Now that would depend on the exact type of your business. But in some cases and if not handled properly, it can be considered "asset misappropriation", or something of that nature.

[EEVblog]

This could be more of a problem relative to your business itself.
As a business, the rent is a business expense. But if you're dedicating part of the rented place for personal use, then that would be considered an "employee" benefit that must be declared as such. Now that would depend on the exact type of your business. But in some cases and if not handled properly, it can be considered "asset misappropriation", or something of that nature.

Only if you were dumb enough to tell them.

Oh no, I used my company multimeter to measure my house wiring, guess I'm gonna have to get my accountant to prepare a tax schedule for that asset and proportion the capital write off.

[tautech]

It's easy to test this idea with camping equipment first and if it feels it's going to work then put a bit more effort in making easily removable semi-permanent renovations or furnishing the area. It's interesting to understand that all these elements - kitchens, showers, toilets, sofas etc. exist on many normal commercial/industrial buildings. Therefore I don't think anyone's negatively interested in presence of these elements, the problem would be lack of everything else.

Every office in my building including mine has a small kitchenette, some bigger ones have full on kitchens. There is a nice big shower on every level in the disabled toilet, and of course the communal toilets.
Nothing in the by-laws about having furnature or even full on beds in your office as that's your business. So absolutey nothing stopping anyone from effectively "living" in their office.
I think it's in the clause just for the extreme cases, like to prevent a new owner from turning a commercial office into an actual apartment and potetially leasing it that way or whatever. Thus ruining the "commercial" nature of the building.

As a building owner and on the executive comittee for my building, I'd be one of three people that actually decides on enforcing this sort of stuff. Basically, if it wasn't bothering anyone then we'd probably let it slide if say someone was homeless for a few months and wanted to live there. As someone who does often work here late when no one else is in the building, I think it would be next to impossible for someone to find out unless you walked around the corridors in your pajama's with your toothbrush hanging out your mouth.

Yet a close buddy with several small commercial units prohibits 'live in' use and writes such in his lease agreement.

Instantly someone shacks up in your commercial premises, wear and tear doubles and risk of loss increases.
Although I'm not in this game I would imagine insurance costs will also rise, now with a 24/7/365 inhabitance.

[abeyer]

Instantly someone shacks up in your commercial premises, wear and tear doubles and risk of loss increases.
Although I'm not in this game I would imagine insurance costs will also rise, now with a 24/7/365 inhabitance.

Yeah, insurance, building code, fire code, and other regulations tend to be more expensive/more rigid/more enforced for multi-unit residential properties... and I think in some cases the landlord can be liable even if the lease technically didn't allow it but they turned a blind eye.

Also, at least in parts of the US the tenant protection laws for your residence can kick in even if you're living somewhere you aren't supposed to and even if the landlord doesn't know... and then all of a sudden you qualify as a residential tenant and the eviction process gets significantly more expensive and time consuming for the landlord.

I don't disagree that it would often be difficult to catch someone doing this if they were even moderately discreet, but there are strong reasons for a landlord to not tolerate it if they do catch someone.

[EEVblog]

Yeah, insurance, building code, fire code, and other regulations tend to be more expensive/more rigid/more enforced for multi-unit residential properties... and I think in some cases the landlord can be liable even if the lease technically didn't allow it but they turned a blind eye.

Yes, due to the Grenfell fire disaster our building had to have all the combustable cladding removed (cost me personally $8k out of pocket), and the requirements for removal and insurance were based on commercial office use and not residential. It's obviosuly more stingent again for residential towers.

[EEVblog]

In Frans case I think there are still some places in Philly that suit her purposes for an all-in-one solution, I've personally searched for her before, but the problem is location and personal safety. Philly is already a notoriously unsafe city, and it would be way worse if you lived in a really dodgy area.
Personally I'd think she'd be WAY safer in her own house on her own land in a small town, even if some there didn't like trans people, than being in a generally unsafe big city like Philly in an apartment building. But she doesn't agree.
The great thing about your own house on your own land is complete privacy and security, it can't be beat. I would have though that would be the ultimate solution, but maybe that just my suburban house dwelling bias showing?

[RJSV]

   Reading with interest, the Office Squatter thing,  as I call it:
   I did that,  staying 5 years in spite of the downsides.   A decayed downtown but did have stores nearby, within walking distance, plus I was working a day job nearby.   Some of the better aspects, of a 'skid row' neighborhood was that I could work late, making all kinds of noise (no residential neighbors).
The 'street crime' nearby was bad...but nowhere near the decay there today.

   I believe it's the Fire Dept. that has the biggest worries, as any commercial building should not have a situation that endangers the Fire Dept. personnel, as well as any office tenants staying there.
   Blocked the windows off, which got noticed.   You have to live a kind of 'half-life' in that there was no shower, or proper sink for food prep.
You are not accumulating a valid renter history during your stay, which could hinder future renting qualifications.   I used a mail service.
With any groceries, I would enter through back entrance, with groceries stashed in a box.
   A bigger hazard, than getting caught by Fire Marshall was getting spotted by some METH FREAK, who can think (he) deserves some hush money...if he is smart enough that is.

   I benefitted the building in the consistent mock-ups I performed at night, and sometimes even insisted that some intruders leave the building, there at 2 am. (More meth freaks).
Currently that would not be a safe challenge to make, there alone with a strange, homeless weirdo.

   All in all, it's not living, really, only more like a temporary respite, until a real residential rental becomes possible.  I did get my 480 pages of Patent application completed and sent to USPTO.

   Many stores, now are boarded up or occupants are sometimes without actual, locking front doors...full of useless junk, and shoppin carts.