Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

WAYLAND, MA It's going to be an unusual election. This time that's not due to politics, but because of the pandemic.

Wayland's spring town election will take place Tuesday following a more than two-month pandemic-related delay. Polls will be open all day, but the Town Clerk has been advising residents to vote absentee due to the lingering coronavirus pandemic.

Here's what you need to know about the June 9 election:

Voting hours

Like normal, you can vote between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the town building. For those who are not voting in-person, absentee ballots have to be in by 8 p.m. Tuesday. You can drop ballots in the mail, but your best bet is to drop off your ballot in the box in the town building vestibule it's open 24 hours.

As of mid-May, the Town Clerk had received close to 700 absentee ballots. You can find absentee voting applications on the Town Clerk's website.

Candidate profiles

Way back in February, Patch asked candidates to fill out questionnaires about why they're running in 2020. Here are the candidates we heard back from (in alphabetical order):

There are more than just School Committee and Board of Selectmen races. There are 11 races ranging from Town Moderator to the Recreation Commission. See everyone running here.

Ballot question

Wayland voters will be asked to approve a debt exclusion so the town can borrow money to pay for a new roof at Loker Elementary School. The Loker roof is leaking and in need of a full replacement. The total cost of the replacement will be about $4.3 million, and the state School Building Authority has approved a $1.2 million grant toward that total cost.

Original post:
Your Guide To The Wayland 2020 Town Election - Patch.com

Here's the Flo installed in my house.

I originally reviewed the Flo smart water monitor in 2018. Since then, I've replaced it once and added to it with a water overflow detector. My initial observations and my conclusions after 18 months are documented below.

I have had the misfortune to experience the results of two leaks inside my home. Trust me when I tell you that, if you haven't gone through this, you really have no idea how bad it can get.

The first occurred quite some time ago. I went to work in the morning, worked a long day, and came home... to my basement apartment filled with five inches of water. My cat was cowering on my bed, clearly quite freaked out.

As it turns out, one of the hoses to the washer had split. Water from the hose flooded into my apartment for hours. Later, I was told by the insurance adjuster that the top source of in-home flooding is broken washer lines, and the best way to prevent that from happening is to spend a few bucks and upgrade to metal lines. Let that be a hint to you. I've always upgraded my washer lines since that day.

To prevent that from happening again in this house, I've added the newly released Flo Smart Water Detector. More on that device below.

Also: CNET lab tests the Flo

It took more than two months for my life to go back to normal. Thankfully, most of the expense was covered by the apartment management and insurance, but I lived with huge fans running day and night trying to clear out the moisture. All my rugs had to be deep cleaned, and all my furniture had stains on the legs. All told, it cost the insurance company, the apartment manager, and me more than $4,000 to recover from the lack of a $12 metal hose.

This is what our wall looked like after discovering one small leak. Not pretty.

The second leak occurred just recently. We bought our new house and had a home inspector check it out. We were told there were no visible or known leaks.

Two weeks after the sale, I drove down to the house with my wife (we were still living in our rental house while we fixed up our fixer-upper). My wife noticed discoloration on the wall near the ceiling in a bathroom.

It turns out there was a pipe junction in the ceiling above that wall that was leaking. There was more discoloration behind the drywall. We wound up ripping out the entire wall, and with it, the vanity, to mitigate the problem. Not counting the cost of the plumber to fix the leak, the drywall repair, painting, and a vanity probably cost us a few thousand dollars, an expense we had not budgeted for.

I'm sharing these two examples in some depth to show you what can happen when your home has a leak. Keep that in mind when I discuss the Flo, a smart home device that, if installed, could have substantially reduced the damage from both these emergencies.

Serendipitously, the folks at Flo Technologies reached out to me about doing a review of Flo just about a week after we discovered the stain on the wall and were making plumbing repairs. To say I could appreciate the need for its product was an understatement.

You can see exactly what's flowing into your house in real-time.

Here's the thing: At that time, my wife and I were still living about 45 minutes away in our temporary rental home. We expected there to be at least three more months of work on the new house before it was ready for us to move in.

Although one or both of us went down there as often as our schedules would permit, there were still times when the house would be unoccupied and unobserved for days at a time. We had no idea if we would discover more leaks or problems that, left unobserved, would mushroom into new big expenses.

But, if we could put a Flo on the pipes, if something bad happened, we'd know pretty quickly, even when we were miles away from the house.

Flo picked up the cost of the $500 device and sent me one for review. It needed to be installed right at the point where water comes into the house, and it needed a power socket nearby. It cost me about $350 in licensed electrician and plumber hours to get the device installed.

If you're doing the math, getting a Flo and installing it will cost somewhere between $500 and $1,000 for most users. That seems like a lot. It is a lot.

But when you factor in the time, stress, and out-of-pocket cost for a major leak, the up-front cost is actually worth it. That's why I took you through my two experiences. I want you to understand the scope of the emergency the Flo is meant to protect you from.

The Flo is a smart valve. It sits at the point water enters your home and, if it detects an anomalous situation, it closes off water flow to the house. That's why it needs power. There's both a Wi-Fi client and a motor inside the unit, and both need power to operate.

Once installed, Flo takes about a week to get used to the water usage patterns in your home. A toilet flush uses a certain number of gallons quickly, then stops. Washing at a sink might use a smaller number of gallons for 3 to 5 minutes, then the water flow stops. Taking a shower uses a larger number of gallons, but after 10 to 20 minutes, that water flow stops as well. Washing clothes also uses a certain number of gallons and might run for 20 or 30 minutes.

Each of these patterns is observed and cataloged by the Flo. Flo then watches to see if anything outside one of these patterns occurs.

You don't want to see one of these, but you'd rather see one than not, if you know what I mean.

Here's how it would have worked if I had a Flo back when my apartment flooded. Once the feeder pipe to the washer broke, Flo would have detected water flow. Based on the gallons per minute, it might have even assumed a wash was running. But if the water kept flowing for 30, 40, 50, 60 minutes, Flo would suspect something was amiss.

The first thing it would have done would be to send me an alert on my phone. I would have gotten a message that said there was high water usage. At that point, I could have tapped my phone and remotely, at work, turned off the water flow into the house. If Flo sent me that alert and I did not respond, Flo would have automatically turned off water flow to the house.

Water that was still in the pipes might have leaked out the washer hose. First, if I found out there was a leak, I might have left work early to check it out. Alternatively, when I got home that night, I would have had a big puddle around the washer, not a 5-inch deep lake throughout my whole apartment.

Flo also does regular tests for small leaks. Every night, it shuts the water off for about 10 minutes. During that time, it monitors to see if there's a pressure drop. Your home's water pipes are a closed system. If the input port is closed and all the valves are closed, pressure should not drop -- unless there's a leak.

Leaks can be from a faucet not fully closed or from a pipe in the wall dripping onto drywall for weeks. The Flo can't tell you where the leak is, but it can tell you if it sees a pressure drop, which you can then investigate.

Let's start with the last test I just described, the Flo test for tiny leaks in the system. Here's a log from a few days last week. As you can see, most nights Flo reported a successful health test. One night, it detected a small drip. And one night, the health test was interrupted.

This log contains a lot of useful information, especially when trying to determine if a leak is systemic or situational.

An interrupted health test is usually because someone in the house opens a faucet or flushes a toilet. But the small leak is the important one. If a small leak is detected each night, that's a problem. But if it's only detected once in a while, the odds are that a faucet hasn't been fully closed.

Thankfully, I've only had one high usage alert, and that was while painters were at the house. Funny story. I had installed the Flo, but still wasn't living in the house. As such, our water usage was negligible. There might have been a toilet flush once every day or so, but that's about it.

Suddenly, the painters were there, and they were using a lot of water to clean up. I got a high water alert and immediately called the contractor. "Hey," I said. "Is there any chance you started to use a lot of water down there?"

"Uh, yeah," replied the painter. "Why?" A second or two passed. "Wait," he exclaimed (for real, his voice went up a whole octave). "How do you know?"

I explained the Flo. While I was excited that the system worked, it was clear that the idea I knew what was happening at a water flow level from across the state discomfited my contractor. I think he's been suspicious of my gadgets ever since.

As I said, we're living in a fixer-upper. Fixer-uppers are often great investments, but there are days.

A month or so after I got the Flo, the rainy season hit in full force and we discovered a leak coming from the ceiling in our hall. We had to break open some of the ceiling and we found both a water pipe and boards from the roof. The question was: was it the pipe or was it the roof?

We were pretty sure we could eliminate the pipe because the previous night's Flo health test hadn't reported a leak. To be sure, I manually initiated a health test run, and ten minutes later, we had our answer. It was not the pipe that was leaking.

We were able to quickly eliminate one possible source of the leak. While we still had a roof to fix, the Flo was able, at least, to tell us it wasn't the fault of the pipe.

Setting up the Flo was a pain. You're supposed to pre-bind it to your Wi-Fi network before the plumber shows up. I did that, but once installed, it lost that connection, and I had to spend almost an hour fiddling with the unit and restarting it before I got it to bind with my router. That cost me an hour in plumber fees.

Once it was finally connected, it worked flawlessly for about six months, then it died. Kaput. Zilch. Fortunately, it didn't die in the middle of a water pressure test, so we were still able to use city water. Had it died with the flow constrictor closed, we would have needed to use a special hex wrench to open it back up.

I contacted the company (this was before they were acquired by Moen), and it sent me a new device. However, not wanting to incur more plumbing service fees, I let the replacement device sit on my shelf for about half a year. Then, I had another plumbing project that needed attention, so while the plumber was here, I asked him to replace the dead device with the new one. He did, and since all the prep work had been done for the previous device, the installation of this new one didn't cost nearly as much as the original install.

The new device does the smart water check in seconds instead of minutes. Since we installed it, it's reported on our water regularly, and once again, we've got peace of mind.

I'm also not thrilled with how the power connector goes into the Flo unit itself. There's a gasket that's intended to prevent water from getting into the power connector, but it tends to push the connector out of the small socket.

A much better design would have been a positive link or lock once the power connection was made into the Flo. Again, it's worked since I set it up, but it could be a bit better.

Moen has added a line extension to its Flo product that makes a lot of sense. The Smart Water Detector is a little puck that sits where pooling water would gather in the event of a leak. When my 18-year-old fridge died last fall, I bought a Samsung Smart Things leak detector and placed it under the new fridge. Because the plastic water line goes into the wall, we couldn't replace it with a metal one. That plastic line was at least as old as the old fridge, so we decided a pro-active monitoring solution would be a good idea.

This was before Flo introduced its water detector. While the Samsung device will post alerts, the Flo Smart Water detector goes one step further. If it detects a leak on the floor, it automatically shuts off the water using the Flo. I placed the unit Flo sent me under the washing machine, in case that decides to flood.

This gives Flo multiple points of leak monitoring. The device can sense water pressure changes at the main junction. But by using the leak detectors on the ground, it can also sense leaks from around the house and shut them down, possibly preventing the kind of disaster I had with my washing machines back in the day.

Yes, probably. The cost of water damage is so high that if you're even slightly concerned about making sure you don't live through an inside flood or leak that could cause mold or other organic substances, it's worth getting. It also detects high water pressure and freezing water temperatures, so you have a much better chance of preventing bursts due to freezing pipes.

Back when we were in Florida, there was a lot of what we called "snowbirds," folks who lived in the north through the summer months and moved down to Florida for the winter months. If you're someone who migrates between homes and, for whatever reason, can't shut off mains water at the house you're not at, a Flo might prove essential.

Likewise, if you're someone who travels a lot, being able to monitor water usage from anywhere in the world is a big win. I had a major disaster in my apartment, and that was from water flow while I was at the office, just my normal commute away from home. Back in those days, I traveled a lot, and when I think about how bad things might have gotten if the water kept running for days, it gives me the chills.

Yes, the Flo is pretty expensive. It's also not able to pinpoint where a water problem occurs, just that there is one inside your home.

Think about this:Zillow says the median home value in the US is $221,000. The site CostHelper says that it can cost from $5,000 to a whopping $70,000 to clean up damage from a water leak. Is it worth spending $500 (plus labor) to protect such a huge investment while at the same time preventing such huge costs?

In my mind, after living through two very costly water damage situations (which, still, were at the low end of the overall cost spectrum), and then, with the Flo, being able to quickly eliminate and positively identify a roof leak, my answer is "yes." It is worth the initial expense. That's because the cost of damage ranges from simply daunting to truly horrifying. Plus the stress. Don't forget the stress.

Of course, if the Flo fails, as mine did, you might only think you have water monitoring. When our first Flo stopped working, the app did not alert me. We probably went days to weeks without active water monitoring, and it was only when my wife pointed out she hadn't heard the sound of the valve closing during test time that we finally realized it was dead. The Flo rep wouldn't tell me if these failures were common or if it was simply growing pains since I was an early adopter. That said, I'm far happier with the new replacement Flo installed than I was during the intervening time that we didn't have it watching over us.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.

Read more:
Is the Flo smart water monitor still worth it 18 months later? - ZDNet

The Level cafe by Simon Carey from geograph.org.uk

The cafe on The Level was built in 2013 as part of the award-winning revamp of the central Brighton park. Contractors Thomas Sinden said the cafe construction project was worth 1 million.

But earlier this year, the roof had to be replaced because it was leaking.

And according to a Freedom of Information request from a member of the public, the council has picked up the 77,000 cost of replacing it even though its still under warranty.

Its response appears to put the blame on the fact so many different companies were responsible for its installation, no one company is liable for the replacement.

When making his inquiry, resident Ted Newton said either the architect or the contractor should pay for the repair.

He told Brighton and Hove News: I have a gripe with the whole Level thing. Once you start getting money from the Heritage Lottery Fund its like free money and its thrown around willy nilly.

There used to be a little kiosk selling chips and those people had been there for years and they werent involved in anything to do with the Level revamp, they were simply told their lease was going to be ended.

That cafe just represents everything thats wrong with how Heritage Lottery Fund money is spent.

In its response to Mr Newtons FOI, Brighton and Hove City Council said: We used a standard form of contract with a commercial warranty.

However, it was decided that the costs of the legal proceedings against various parties, had no guarantee of success, due to the history of involvement of various parties, and that the costs we would have to bear outweighed what would be recovered.

In a subsequent response, it added: Even where successful, not all costs would be recoverable.

The council owns the building and is responsible for its upkeep. It first leased it to the Velo Cafe, run by Small Batch Coffee, and is now run by Tomato Dolce and Salato.

The work on the cafe is featured as a case study on websites of several of the contractors involved in its construction.

Organic Roofs, which also helped install the replacement roof, features the then Velo Cafe roof in a piece entitled Organic Roofs vs Cowboy Builders about their appearance on a Channel 5 TV show.

It said: Some of the multiple benefits Lee (Evans, company director] explained included the greatly extended lifespan of the waterproofing . . . and the magical figure of cost.

Overall the message was that everyone can do their bit, and the upfront investment is more than balanced by the life cycle savings.

Organic Roofs did not respond to a request for comment.

Hertalan, which manufactures the waterproof panels used by Organic Roofs, also featured the Level Cafe in an online case study.

It says: Our EPDM systems have a life span of more than 50 years (SKZ Study 2001).

Architects Knox Bhavan and contractors Thomas Sinden also feature the cafe on their websites. Neither responded to a request for comment.

Brighton and Hove City Council also failed to respond to a request for comment.

See the article here:
Council landed with 77k bill to replace leaky eco roof - Brighton and Hove News

Hollinger houses afteer 1936, when the peaked roofs were added, effectively adding a second storey to the four-room homes.(Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre)

When Noah Timmins founded the Hollinger gold mine, he needed housing for his workers. So in 1919, he built 150 four-room, tar paper houses on the avenues west of Mountjoy Street North then another 100 in 1922 and another 100 on Spruce, Balsam, Maple and Elm Streets.

Museum director-curator Karen Bachmann tells us that backyard privies were replaced by indoor bathrooms in the 1920s.

By 1936, these little homes are flat-topped roofs and again families are big, so we create the little peaked areas on them, creating some more space upstairs, she says.

Many of the Hollinger mine employees living in the houses were avid gardeners.(Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre)

Bachmann adds that when the mine closed in the late 1960s, employees living in the houses were given the opportunity to buy them.

There was some money available to renovate them, so they were more than glad to do that, she recounts. And the Hollinger houses have been a part of our community ever since.

See the original post:
When the Hollinger houses got indoor bathrooms and peaked roofs - My Timmins Now

BELOW are planning applications received by Somerset West and Taunton Council in the week up to June 4, 2020.

The applications and notifications have been received for consideration and can be inspected online at http://www.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk/planning.

BATHEALTON

03/20/0003/T: Notification to fell one Acer tree within Bathealton Conservation Area at Farriers Orchard, Bathealton

BRADFORD ON TONE

07/20/0013/T: Notification to fell one Acer, 6 dead trees (species unspecified) and to carry out management works to one Sumach within Bradford on Tone Conservation Area at The Old Rectory, Bradford on Tone

DURSTON

16/20/0002: Erection of a single storey extension to the side of Cogload Farm, The Olde Sheep Barn, Glastonbury Road, Durston

NORTH CURRY

24/20/0018: Variation of Condition No. 02 (approved plans), removal of Condition Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 and 12, variation of Condition Nos. 5, 8, 9, 10 11 and 13 of application 24/16/0042 for residential development on land south of Knapp Lane, North Curry

OTTERFORD

29/20/0011: Erection of a general purpose agricultural building on land at Otterford

PITMINSTER

30/20/0019: Construction of raised deck area to the first floor of Old Smithy Cottage, Sellicks Green, Pitminster

WELLINGTON

43/20/0005: Erection of 1 No. detached dwelling with integral garage, parking and access arrangements in the garden to the rear of 78 Oaken Ground, Rockwell Green

43/20/0054: Replacement of lean-to roof with the erection of a single storey extension to the side and erection of porch to the front of Fourwinds, Bagley Road, Wellington

WIVELISCOMBE

49/20/0027: Erection of 1 No. detached dwelling with associated works in the garden adjacent to Chorleys Farmhouse, Blackwater Lane, Whitefield, Wiveliscombe

BRUSHFORD

3/04/20/005: Erection of two-storey extension on the south elevation: Ellesboro, Brushford, Dulverton, TA22 9AW

MINEHEAD

3/21/20/040: Erection of two storey side extension, loft conversion to include a dormer window to the rear and associated alterations. 30 Staunton Road, Alcombe, Minehead, TA24 6DX

NETTLECOMBE

3/24/20/001: Erection of a two storey side and rear extension and associated works (resubmission of 3/24/19/002). The Blade Mill, Woodford Road, Monksilver, TA4 4HW

STOGURSEY

3/32/20/011: Erection of a single storey extension to the side and rear. 14 Town Close, Stogursey, TA5 1RN

WILLITON

3/39/20/008: Outline planning application with all matters reserved, except for access, for the redevelopment of the site to provide a food store (A1), retail shops (A1), professional and financial services (A2), food and drink uses (A3), health services (D1), residential dwellings (C3), vehicle and pedestrian accesses, associated car parking and landscaping. Land off Bank Street with link to Fore Street, Williton

DECISIONS

BICKENHALL

04/20/0005: Erection of single storey extension to the rear of Barton Oaks, 2 The Old Dairy, Bickenhall Lane, Bickenhall. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

BISHOPS HULL

05/20/0015: Erection of single and two storey extensions, detached garage/gym building and creation of additional access at Highlane Manor, 51 Stonegallows, Taunton. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

BISHOPS LYDEARD

06/20/0020: Erection of single and two storey rear extension at 41 Hither Mead, Bishops Lydeard. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

HALSE

18/20/0005: Relocation of porch and removal of render on the front elevation to expose the traditional stone beneath and removal of part of stone boundary wall to improve visibility for vehicular access at The Cottage, Halse. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

18/20/0006: Erection of single storey extension to the rear elevation and replacement of timber windows with double glazed upvc windows at Culver End Cottage, Halse. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

KINGSTON ST MARY

20/20/0013: Replacement of garage and outbuildings with the erection of a carport and store with solar panels to roof at Greenbanks, Lodes Lane, Kingston St Mary. WITHDRAWN BY AGENT/APPLICANT

LANGFORD BUDVILLE

21/20/0005: Removal of Condition No. 03 (occupational tie) of application 70526 at Camberley, Wellisford Manor Road, Langford Budville, Wellington (resubmission of 21/19/0007). CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

NORTON FITZWARREN

25/20/0002/LB: Replacement of windows and doors at The Old Stables, Harnham Court, Wiveliscombe Road, Norton Fitzwarren. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

OTTERFORD

29/20/0007: Erection of a two storey extension to the rear, replacement of roof and windows with various internal alterations at 1 Ivy Cottages, Holman Clavel Road, Culmhead. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

PITMINSTER

30/19/0038: Change of use of land from agricultural to tourism with siting of 4 No. shepherd huts for use as holiday accommodation on land at Lower Woodram Farm, Woodram Lane, Pitminster. WITHDRAWN BY AGENT/APPLICANT

RUISHTON

31/20/0010: Replacement of coal shed and erection of single storey and two storey extension to rear of Littlemead, Ruishton (amended scheme 31/19/0020). CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

STAPLEGROVE

34/20/0007: Demolition of carport/garage with conversion of remaining structure and erection of a single storey extension to the side of 1 Drake Close, Taunton. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

TAUNTON

38/20/0080: Erection of single storey side and two storey rear extension at 50 William Street, Taunton. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

38/20/0113: Erection of first floor extension to the rear to create 1 No. flat at 24 Billet Street, Taunton. WITHDRAWN BY AGENT/APPLICANT

38/20/0114/LB: Replacement of failed render at Manor Farm Cottage, Woodland Road, Taunton. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

38/20/0116: Erection of a detached studio/hobby room in the rear garden of 60 Wood Street, Taunton. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

TRULL

42/20/0013: Erection of two storey rear extension and replacement single storey rear extension at 3 Fairview Terrace, Wild Oak Lane, Trull. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

42/20/0025: Construction of roof over slurry store Canonsgrove Farm, Little Canonsgrove Lane, Trull. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

42/20/0026: Construction of roofs over cattle feed yards at Canonsgrove Farm, Little Canonsgrove Lane, Trull. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

WELLINGTON

43/20/0039/T: Application to carry out management works to one Yew tree included in Taunton Deane Borough (Wellington No.1) Tree Preservation Order 1990 at Saxby, South Street, Wellington (TD488). SPLIT DECISION

WIVELISCOMBE

49/20/0008: Change of use of land from allotments to churchyard with erection of fencing at St Andrews Church, Church Street, Wiveliscombe. CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

DULVERTON

3/09/20/001: Erection of a single storey side extension. Fairview, 18 Battleton, Dulverton. GRANTED

Read more from the original source:
Planning applications in the Somerset West & Taunton area: June 4, 2020 - Somerset County Gazette

When faced with an emergency, growth stops and maintaining the status quo becomes everything. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many projects and expansion plans expansion plans have been placed on hold, while the business of staying in business has become top priority.

Enabling remote access, virtualising applications, and keeping an eye on security at the same time have kept IT teams occupied in recent weeks.

Initially all anyone was concerned about from a business point of view in this pandemic was business continuity and keeping the lights on. People were trying to figure out how employees would access technology at home via laptops or other devices. Then there was an immediate focus on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), facilitating remote access and the scaling up and flexibility that this required, said Maeve Culloty, managing director of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Ireland.

Some companies already had an idea about how to do these things and how to get from here to there, but others just didnt know how.

Companies that depended on on-premise infrastructure needed to know quickly how to use VDI as a service, using hyper converged solutions. Some companies, said Culloty, just didnt have the knowledge and expertise to be able to scale that out.

From an HPE point of view, we had many digital transformation projects stop cold as companies in sectors such as retail, construction and others just stopped. Those workloads were replaced by companies that needed to accelerate their virtual desktop infrastructure deployment, she said.

It could be Office 365 or whatever solution they were going with, but regardless they had to start making decisions about where that would sit. Would it sit on-premise and if so what infrastructure was required? Most did that on site, but some scaled into the public cloud as well.

Those that scaled using their own on-premises solutions with HPE were able to make use of the companys Greenlake VDI Lighthouse programme, a pay as you go system that allows users to control costs by paying per seat per month.

We had to deal with a lot of customers who wanted that sort of functionality immediately, not in several weeks time but now. They also needed their systems to be secure and reliable, to be able to take their office desktops off physical machines and make them accessible from anywhere, at a rate that was acceptable given the levels of connectivity and broadband that people had, said Culloty.

Prior to this, remote access was an add-on to many companys IT infrastructure, something that people could use if they werent in the office or were working from the road. While it was useful, it wasnt considered an essential service. That changed overnight suddenly there was a huge remote access issue and security became a big issue.

Companies needed to get access sorted but there is risk at a time like this that when a company moves quickly to certain new services, it can then find itself locked into a significant ongoing cost to deal with a short term problem, Culloty said.

At a practical level, companies that are able to help others manage the disruption that has been caused by the pandemic have rarely been busier. According to Marc ORegan, chief technology officer for Dell Technologies, few in that organisation have experienced a more busy time.

It has spent a significant amount of its time and resources helping its customers to reposition themselves to be able to deal with the challenges of having a remotely distributed workforce.

To begin with, everyone is using Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Skype as their communication and collaboration tools and internally, theyve allowed us to work and communicate at a global level. Lots of other companies are doing the same thing and tools like these have really helped in the pandemic because a lot the meetings we would normally have face to face just havent been possible, he said.

Using these remote collaboration tools, weve been able to educate our teams and help them adapt to the situations were all dealing with. Its not as good as being face to face in a workshop environment, where eye-to-eye contact and thinking can spark magic, but its a lot better than nothing.

Dell Technologies has used these tools to create collaborative spaces where employees can build what it calls bootcamps and give its customers one-to-one experiences.

Outside of our own internal experience, in wider industry were seeing a huge rate of some workloads going onto public cloud platforms, and a real cry for other workloads and services to be very quickly spun up and built on private or hybrid cloud platforms, said ORegan.

Interestingly we have also recently seen a massive spike in people heading for the public cloud for simple virtual machine utilisation. A big issue for many of the service providers is that some werent able to cope with the strain of this.

Cloud providers offer users the ability to scale their resources up and down as they need them. However if everyone tries to increase their capacity at the same time, that can place serious pressure on a provider.

Its like a run on the banks. Banking works fine as an idea unless everyone turns up at the same time looking for their money. Public cloud has been sold to the industry as this infinite pool of resources that can be just fired up in response to demand. All you have to do is hit the button and youre good to go, said ORegan.

But there was a percentage increase into the hundreds because of the pandemic and that really put that idea to the test. Its pretty widely known across the industry that the capability to do this for everyone at the same time just wasnt there. That was very interesting to see happen in real time.

For ORegan this was a real test case for the scalability of public cloud platforms and what happened as a result was that a lot of potential public cloud consumers were forced down other routes.

They were forced back into their own data centres or to those of partners to help them build these platforms themselves. Public cloud is extraordinarily powerful and useful, but nonetheless it was an interesting observation to see the system stress tested, he said.

According to Seamus Dunne, managing director of data centre specialist Interxion Ireland, many cloud-related projects have been shelved at the moment, but he anticipates a major pick up later in the year.

After the emergency phase is over, towards the end of the summer and into autumn I believe well see acceleration in change in IT. When it comes to things like digital transformation and prioritising digital projects, I think companies have now got it. The need for anything around digital transformation by which I mean application consolidation, cloud migration, data centre consolidation and infrastructure projects all the IT projects which are being driven in businesses will power ahead, he said.

There is absolute clarity now that these projects need to work and progress. In the short term, a lot of activity for companies is about maintaining things, avoiding disruption and doubling down on supporting what theyve got.

Dunne foresees a gearing up for the second half of the year and expects to see an acceleration of action into 2021.

There are three different levels of cloud infrastructure, platform and software as a service and most businesses in Ireland are still on a cloud journey. Only about 4 per cent of industry workloads are actually in the cloud, the rest are still on-premise and in peoples data centres, he said.

There are plenty of migration strategies out there but whats happened is that IT workloads and capacities during the Covid-19 pandemic have really expanded, hugely, driven by things like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Its that sort of network traffic that accounts for most of it and its gone through the roof.

However larger cloud projects have slowed down for now. In the face of an emergency, preserving the status quo is more important than powering growth.

Many projects have been shelved until people can be deployed into data centres and can make changes manually. I believe what well see is that in the second half of the year, a lot of digital transformation projects which are very much centred on migration to the cloud will accelerate, he said.

Its all paused at the moment though. Things right now are about maintaining the IT thats there, not letting it go down and supporting network traffic. Our customers are asking us to maintain everything and help make sure nothing goes down.

According to Dunne, the cloud industry will be forever changed by the pandemic. It has accelerated adoption and changed perceptions.

Businesses understand that theyre in a digital economy now. Cloud has delivered a new economic model and its not just one built around lower cost. Yes, going to the cloud is a better financial proposition but the real benefits are speed, flexibility and agility for every business through IT, he said.

The cloud facilitates faster deployment of new applications to run your business and being able to scale them up and down, facilitated things like dev ops and containerisation. Look at operators like N26 and Revolut arriving in Ireland and the struggle that the banks are having to compete with them.

Similar genre-busting examples exist in all industries, as a general shift in perception is taking place. IT is not just considered a cost of doing business anymore, its considered a mechanism for growing a business. It can be a revenue generating centre rather than a cost centre.

Its a hard time to be a chief information officer because increasingly people in those roles are being asked to do more but without getting a bigger budget to make that happen. CIOs have to be able to move faster, be that by deploying apps or upgrading capabilities and applications are typically needed now, not in six months time, said Dunne.

Companies with a significant amount of infrastructure in a data centre can find that efforts to find a work-around to deal with the pandemic have hit significant problems due to lack of access. While a huge amount can be done remotely, for some things you really need a person to make manual adjustments.

This is where companies like Rubrik come in, offering advice on how to help those struggling to manage their data across a spread of private and public cloud.

Thats something were seeing a lot of at the moment and weve worked with a few customers that didnt have access to their own data centre or offices because of lock down. We were able to help by removing the need to manually intervene in the management of data, said John McCleverty, enterprise sales manager for Rubrik.

At the same time, were seeing a lot more requests for cloud native capabilities. There is big growth in customers that were previously running on-premise infrastructure and are now moving to the cloud. And theres no mystery why. The current challenges around the lockdown and Covid-19 pandemic faced by organisations have highlighted the importance of automation.

According to McCleverty, companies across Ireland have reported to him that they struggle to manage data spread across private cloud, public cloud and remote locations.

They dont want something like this to happen again. They want to future proof themselves to mitigate being hit as hard in future. As we come out of Covid, the big focus will be on planning for such events again and looking at issues like business continuity, he said.

Its still very early to predict what is going to happen in the market but Ireland is well placed. Customer confidence just needs to follow.

Rubrik stores its customers data in an immutable format, meaning that cyber attackers cant alter any of your backups.

This is an issue that many people have with regard to storing data in the cloud. Weve built our systems to reduce the risk of downtime, optimize cost, achieve operational efficiency and realize cloud modernisation, said McCleverty.

Lasting change or temporary swerve?

Companies of all different sizes have done their best to deal with the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, and for some that meant moving from having little to no online activities to depending entirely on an online offering.

Some companies we deal with that had very little online presence discovered quickly that the only way they could survive and get money in the door was by reinventing themselves at least partially or even fully online, said Michele Neylon of Blacknight Solutions.

Take Velvet Cloud, a client of ours. It makes fantastic sheeps milk products but its business was primarily working with distribution channels that focused on getting product to supermarkets and wholesalers it didnt sell direct to the public But then the pandemic hit and it had to reinvent itself really quickly as an online seller. Weve seen a lot of that over the last couple of months.

According to Neylon, there has been a large surge in internet traffic in general as more people are doing more communicating and shopping online. Those companies which have embraced that new reality have been able to better weather whats going on.

Weve seen a massive surge in people registering domain names and some of that is people looking for temporary solutions to allow them to deal with the lockdown, and some of it is people looking for ways to pivot and help other companies redesign their shops and offices to deal with social distancing, he said.

I cant see all this progress being lost. I dont think were going to see people going back to being as offline as they used to be. I think the pendulum has swung and people on both sides of the supply and demand equation are now comfortable with the technology.

According to Neylon, many companies that have traditionally been risk-averse when it comes to trying new ways of doing business have had their hands forced by the pandemic.

They basically thought things are fine as they are, and yeah, maybe we could do something online but could we be bothered? Theyve now had to embrace online and theres no going back from that. When the world returns to normal, theyll still have that capacity and theyll be dealing with a consumer market that will have grown used to the convenience, he said.

Cost savings not a significant factor in cloud adoption rates

One of the enduring ideas surrounding cloud adoption rates is that companies primarily do it to save money, to pay for infrastructure, platform or software using the as-a-service model.

The ability to shift costs from the capital expenditure column to the operating expenditure column of the balance sheet has often been cited as a major motivator powering cloud adoption. However it might be time to leave that idea in the past, according to Loman McCaffrey, head of practices at Logicalis.

His company recently carried out some research and among its findings was that of the 110 companies that responded, 43 per cent engage a technology partner to manage their cloud services because it simplifies management for them. Some 39 per cent do it to overcome a lack of in-house skills and only 18 per cent do so to achieve greater cost effectiveness.

Anecdotally this tallies with our experience, but as we all know its dangerous to form opinions based on what you think your customers priorities are so this research is really helpful, said McCaffrey.

So its our opinion that cost isnt really a motivating factor to people. A bigger barrier to adopting the cloud is that while companies do it, they typically dont wind down the on-premise infrastructure they already have and they end up managing both on and off premise solutions. The result is that complexity becomes a problem.

Moving workloads to the cloud multiplies complexity and that makes people wary of making big changes.

People dont live in a world where their in-house environment is everything they want it to be. Its not always as well patched as it could be, as resilient as it could be and so on. The vast majority of people running IT systems spend at least some of their time putting out fires, said McCaffrey.

If people can get a managed offering, getting access to the so-called -ilities, the flexibility, the agility, the scalability and so on but without increasing the complexity, thats great. That will overcome some of their concerns.

See the rest here:
Cloud traffic through the roof in pandemic - Business Post

Every decade brings forth a new change. 2020 is no different. Want to get a headstart on your design inspiration? Heres a piece of good news if you plan to start remodeling your home. These will define home trends in 2020.

One of the biggest trends to come out of 2020 is the emergence of non-white kitchens. Two-tone kitchens, as well as colored cabinets, have seen a rise in popularity. All-white kitchens had dominated the market for a while, but with this new decade, were seeing a pattern of diminishing in its use.

For the modern homeowner, bathrooms are not just about utility anymore. More and more homeowners are converting their bathrooms into a sanctuary. While you may not need a full-blown spa, a sitting arrangement or two can do the job, as well.

Out with the old, in with the new. This seems to be the mantra for 2020 trends. Floating vanities are practical, save space, and give your bathroom a more contemporary look.

The popularity of the floating vanities is also due to the rise of a minimalistic aesthetic. While this trend may still be sinking in, it is undoubtedly a favorite for 2020.

In previous years, powder rooms have been nothing more than a formality. However, the new decade is shifting attention to this underrated room.

Homeowners are increasingly choosing to go the extra mile when it comes to remodeling their powder room. It includes elaborate wallpapers, accented hardware, and quirky themes, as well.

Most of us had assumed that formal dining rooms were pretty much on the verge of extinction. However, the new decade has brought a revival of sorts.

Homeowners are accepting the old with a hint of new. Not just that, they arent afraid to pull all the stops to go as extravagant as they want to highlight the importance of the dining area.

The word sustainable has been making its presence known in recent times. The world is moving towards an environmentally aware state and home trends are not an exception.

Homeowners have been taking the environmental impact of their purchasing decision into consideration. From using upcycled materials to sticking to an earthy theme for their design, sustainability is the name of the game.

From bright-colored cabinets to quirky decor, every design element in 2020 comes down to one thing: Personality. The biggest trend in 2020 is to show your personality rather than shy away from it.

Homeowners are embracing breaking rules and trends. Drifting away from popular trends and staying true to your personality is the biggest trend of this decade.

2020 has seen a rise in very familiar, yet unique trends. Those are here to stay. If you want to get an edge on your remodeling plans, its a good idea to keep them handy.

*This article is posted by and in partnership with GBC Kitchen and Bath, a kitchen and bathroom remodeling store in Alexandria, VA and Rockville, MD.

Read the rest here:
Trends That Will Define Home Trends in 2020 - The DC Post

Mamas Place: These are the times that try men's souls

Over the course of the past week, a long-forgotten phrase Mama often quoted gradually came together in my mind. Thomas Paine wrote in 1776, These are the times that try mens souls. It was quite a week. In fact, it has been quite a year. Last summer I decided to stop talking about moving back into midtown Fort Smith and start packing. But ... before packing, I sorted every closet, cabinet and dresser drawer, weeding out treasures I could tear myself away from. Two friends came and worked two full days helping pack items for storage and doing touch-up painting. I must say that my CRV made many trips to the Salvation Army. I also participated in the neighborhood garage sale. (For the record, Avon bottles are no longer a hot item.)

Property in my south Fort Smith neighborhood was selling fast, great motivation for staging and listing my house. After the purge, strong young neighbors moved half of my furniture into the garage. My realtors goal was to create open spaciousness to allow prospective buyers to visualize their things in my house. From friends reaction coming for a private showing, we were successful in creating open spaciousness. One exclaimed, Its so bare. Another wailed, Oh, I miss all of your pretty things.

My house was listed the third week of July. The market stood still. Literally. Two other neighbors listed homes, both relocating for work. As they walked by my house most days, the question was, Anyone looking at your house? The answer was, No. Eventually, the two husbands moved to begin work elsewhere, leaving both wives to sell the houses. Finally, one wife moved to be with her husband, leaving her house empty.

As summer turned to fall, I continued to scout for houses or lots in my preferred area, finding absolutely nothing. One Sunday in early October I noticed in the Times Record a real estate auction to be held later that month. Making a mental note, I planned to drive by and take a look; however, I was busy and forgot about the auction until three days before its scheduled date, when I passed the sign pointing down a side street. On a whim, I turned left onto the street and three houses down saw a rather quirky, red brick house with new architectural shingles and white shutters. I parked, walked around to the fenced backyard and saw a covered porch with wide overhang and brick elevated surround for hanging and setting plants. I liked this place and called the number on the sign out front.

Many times since that call, I have asked myself, What was I thinking? After three friends inspected the house, I bought the place at auction on a dreary, rainy Thursday morning. For the record, I did not get a deal. In fact, I paid more than it would have brought on the open market. Do not ask why. I do not know why. I just know that I have learned a lot about myself, about the construction trade, about the goodness of people (I have dealt with a few bad apples), and about the power of prayer.

As with typical auctions, I made a down payment on the day of sale and closed in 30 days. Until the day of closing, I considered every way to avoid closing. I closed and plowed ahead into what the contractor called a rather major remodel. Indeed. Right away a friend noticed a slight dip in the garage roof, and upon inspecting the attic, discovered inferior framing, as well as a broken rafter. My contractor was chosen because as a former framer, he explained how he could bring the roof up to proper standards.

The listing on my home expired Dec. 31. I planned to have the remodel finished when I relisted and sold in the spring. Old carpet was ripped out, aging drapes trashed, upper kitchen cabinets removed, furr down ripped out, partial walls removed, openings widened, circuit breaker replaced fuses, entire inside repainted and original hardwood floors were refinished to look new. Remember I said, I planned to have remodel finished when my house sold.

My house was relisted March 1, sold March 13, and closed the morning of April 7. The plan was for my daughter to come from Chicagoland March 20 during spring break to help pack. The coronavirus hit Chicago in full force. Lee Anna was isolated at home. Before the virus isolated us, a Tulsa cousin came for two days and packed fragiles that required careful attention. I packed the rest, while dealing with delays and frustrations at the remodel, which was not complete when my furniture was moved on April 6. Movers returned to finish moving my boxes on April 7 as the new owner moved in.

Today is June 1, and the remodel is still incomplete. The electrician was delayed by illness. The floors took longer to dry because of rainy weather. The outside water faucet leaked and was replaced. Papa Gary was hospitalized for four days. A few weeks later he took an ambulance ride to the ER for severe back pain. With constant prayers from friends and family, virtual church services, Zoom meetings, and Facetime with grandchildren and their parents, I have remained calm and patient through most of these seven months of moving and remodeling during social isolation; however, this past week my stiff upper lip drooped a little.

I lay awake in the darkness unable to sleep, fretting over many unfinished details at the house and Papa Garys care with both children so far away, and knowing I must sleep in order to face the days tasks. And then cousin Randy called to say his mom, my dear Aunt Maxine, had just passed peacefully at 91 to her eternal rest. I told Randy how much I loved Max and that I would not attend her service because of the virus, that my present chaotic reality required me to stay well. He texted back to me, I know that Ive learned to be still among the chaos and then God speaks to me.

These are times that try our souls, and then God speaks through the words of a cousin who speaks from experience, from friends who help paint cabinet frames, or reassemble a crystal chandelier, or move boxes in garage to clear space for car, or clean oven racks, or wash loads of cover cloths, or bring food, or call with encouragement.

Be still among the chaos and God will speak. Mama knew.

Louise Owens Finney is a retired secondary teacher and part-time minister in Fort Smith. She can be reached at LouiseOFinney@gmail.com.

Here is the original post:
Mamas Place: These are the times that try mens souls - Times Record

Many businesses have faced financial hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The home improvement industry, much of which is considered essential business, is faring far better.

Michael DeMarco, owner of On The Spot Home Improvements in Saddle Brook,said his sales have increased about 25% since the pandemic hit. On The Spot does emergency home repairs, as well as roofing, kitchen and bathroom remodeling, deck installation, power washing and gutter installation, repair and cleaning.

"Theres a lot of people staying home," said DeMarco. "People have called us saying their home is going to be their office for the foreseeable future, and they want to make it nice."

According to DeMarco, many of his clients rerouted the money from their canceled vacations to finance repairs andadditions to their homes.

Real estate: NJ could see increase in people moving from the cities to the suburbs after coronavirus

Social distancing rules have made homethe safest place to be. With parks packed, backyards and front porches have becomethe ideal place to get some sun and let the kids burn off some energy which means On The Spot Home Improvements and other landscaping, contracting and home improvement businesses are experiencing a rise in sales.

Swing Set & Toy Warehouse, which has locations in Upper Saddle River, Freehold, Fleming and East Hanover, has seen a 50% increase in business, said Sue Williams, a sales representative for the company for the past 30 years.

"Ive never seen anything like it," said Williams. Trampolines, basketball hoops and swing sets, specifically, are being ordered nonstop.

"Usually families decide to buy swing sets when their children are age-appropriate. But now, Im seeing even people with very young kids buying this year," she added. Why? Because being outside eases stress, said Williams, especially in a time when entire families are cooped up at home.

The phones at Jacobsen Landscape Design in Midland Park, which designs landscaping for pools and patios andinstalls irrigation systems and outdoor landscape lighting, have been ringing off the hook, as customers yearn for more put-together homes.

Of course, things in the home improvement industry have changed since the pandemic. DeMarco says his staff members wear masks and get their temperatures taken at the door. They keep 6 feet apart from each other and clients. The office building and trucks are constantly being sanitized.

DeMarco predicts the home improvement boomwill continue for the next year, even as businesses and entertainment venues open up. As expensive vacations will likely have to be canceled for the rest of the year, he thinks that money will instead go to building a new cabana in the backyard, installing a pool, or finally building that dream deck.

5 easy home improvement ideas

Cleanhard-to-reach places, such as vents and the tops of fans. This is the perfect time to take care ofspots that usually get neglected. Use the brush attachment on your vacuum or a microfiber cloth to wipe away grime. Add a fresh coat of paint to a room. Yes, this task may seem a bit daunting, but repainting even one accent wall can completely transform a room. We've never had more time to tape, tarp and paint. When's the last time you power washed your house? The weather is getting warm, which means the time is right to impress your neighbors by giving the exterior of your home a scrub. Create a gallery wall with your favorite photos. Gallery wallsare very trendy right now, and printing out and framing pictures of friends and family can make the days in quarantine seem less lonely, while also adding a striking element to your home. Outdoor furniture can get grubby over the years. Perhaps set aside some time to give them a scrub -- Lysol wipes and soapy water work great.

Rebecca King is a food writer for NorthJersey.com. For more on where to dine and drink, please subscribe today and sign up forour North Jersey Eats newsletter.

Email: kingr@northjersey.com Twitter: @rebeccakingnj Instagram: @northjerseyeats

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rebuilding America: Home improvement companies thrive as pandemic keeps North Jersey shut in

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Rebuilding America: Home improvement companies thrive as pandemic keeps North Jersey shut in - New Jersey Herald

For Sale/Rent

Live large in these 800 square feet, nestled along Worcester Square.

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

18 Worcester Square #3, BostonPrice: $709,000Size: 788 square feetBedrooms: 1Baths: 1

This one-bedroom condo is all about scale: Tall windows, 12-foot ceilings, and even the heavy double door you walk through to enter the unit. Which is to say nothing of the homes crown jewel, a massive chandelier dripping down into the center of the large living area. Situated on the second floor of a brick bow-front building bordering Worcester Square park, the homes age is another part of its grand appeal. The light pine floors, dotted with dark nail heads, date back to 1900 and the baroque crown molding is thought to be original, too.

Off the main hall, there are three smaller rooms: A narrow kitchen with stainless appliances, a bath with painted tile floors, and an incredibly stylish bedroom. Push through a pair of pocket doors with frosted glass panes to kick up your feet in the latter, which showcases somehow even more embellished molding than the rest of the unit. A starburst-style light fixture and cool gray walls modernize the 20th century glamor, and on the other side of a glass door is a truly timeless featurea roomy balcony where your plants can get some sun, and you can lounge in the shade.

For information, contact Jennifer Gelfand, Keller Williams Realty, jennifergelfand.com.

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

Photo by Dan St. John, Lightshed Photography Studio

The Boston Home team has curated a list of the best home design and home remodeling professionals in Boston, including architects, builders, kitchen and bath experts, lighting designers, and more. Get the help you need with FindIt/Boston's guide to home renovation pros.

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On the Market: A Swanky One-Bedroom Condo in the South End - Boston magazine