[Noisebridge-discuss] [Health] So, how many people live at noisebridge now?

Mon Nov 1 07:00:41 UTC 2010

that was a beautiful reply man. thank you. where were you 12 days ago? :)

On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 11:58 PM, John Magolske <listmail at b79.net> wrote:

> >> haul all the couches off to the dump and replace them with
> >> folding metal chairs"
> >
> > oh yes because i enjoy spending a good hour or so on my laptop
> > sitting in my nice warm comfy metal chair.
>
> My comment about folding metal chairs was a bit hyperbolic...sorry
> about that. Actually, I really do appreciate comfy couches. When
> using a laptop I find couches and low-slung chairs to be much more
> ergonomic than upright chairs and tables.
>
> > how about we just get couch covers? then all you'd have to do
> > is take them off every now and then, shake out the couch candy,
> > and wash them. sure it's not 100% as effective as replacing soft
> > cushions with cold metal in bed bug deterrence but, you know,
> > common.
>
> For a couch cover to have any effectiveness at all against bed bugs,
> it would need to completely enclose the couch, be made of a tight
> weave fabric, and have zippers that seal the whole thing shut tight.
> Such covers can be had for box springs & mattresses in the $70 - $100+
> range (check out the Bed Bath & Beyond [1] and Keetsa stores in SF for
> box spring covers & mattress covers respectively), but I don't think
> they exist for couches. It would probably need to be custom-made and
> rather expensive. Might be more interesting to make a custom couch [2]
> with cushions that could be removed and run through the washer & dryer
> (which definitely does kill bb's).
>
> In any case, the main reason I bring this up is to draw attention to
> the vulnerable situation we're in with respect to people sleeping
> on couches at Nb. If one of our couches gets infested, it would be
> non-trivial to un-infest it. Steaming the crevices could be somewhat
> effective (and I certainly don't want to discourage steam-cleaning),
> but if any bugs happen to crawl up inside a couch and make a home in
> its frame, it would be really difficult to get rid of them. Placing
> the couch in an oven and heating it to 120°F for a 4-5 hours or in
> a freezer down to at least 32°F for a couple days would probably
> do the trick. Most likely, an infested couch would just have to be
> shrink-wrapped and hauled off to the dump. By far, the most effective
> and least troublesome solution would be to prevent an infestation from
> getting established in the first place.
>
> > plus i thought we banned bed bugs a few weeks ago.
>
> And what would go a long ways towards achieving this would be if
> people were to refrain from overnight sleeping in the Nb space.
> Without sleeping bodies to feast on, the bugs will not be able to
> get established.
>
> I understand too well the frustration of being stranded by public
> transit systems that turn into pumpkins at the stroke of midnight.
> And I can appreciate the comfort of being able to rest after being
> absorbed in a project into the wee hours. Napping breaks are great!
> Some relevant discussion: [3].
>
> Personally, I think it would be an interesting challenge to create a
> hacker space with some sort of sleep capacity to accommodate visitors,
> enable multi-day hacking sessions with sleep-overs, etc. We can't
> really do that in the space we're in now with the lease we have...and
> there seems to be a range of opinion as to whether this is desirable
> at all.
>
> Regardless, please bear in mind that sleeping at Noisebridge,
> particularly overnight (bb's tend to be most active in the 2-6am
> range), essentially amounts to leaving food out for potential pests.
>
> We avoid leaving dinner leftovers out overnight so that rats don't get
> fed & come back for more. We do not know if bed bugs are present at
> 2169. It's entirely possible that they aren't. But we do know there
> are rising levels of infestations occurring in SF (and many other
> places as well). Having personally dealt with an infestation myself, I
> assure you it can be a very costly and troublesome thing to eradicate.
> Waiting until it's a problem before dealing with it would *not* be a
> good strategy in this case.
>
> If it does end up being necessary to sleep overnight, IMO the best
> approach would be to pack (& take with you) your own sleeping bag,
> and sleep on a folding metal cot with double-sided tape (carpet tape
> is good) wrapped around or Vaseline smeared on the legs of the cot's
> frame. Or place its feet in cups of oil or Tupperware tubs dusted with
> talcum powder. And don't let any bedding touch the floor. Do some
> research. Please be considerate to others who use the space.
>
> *
>
> [1] I just went to the Bed Bath & Beyond store in SF yesterday to find
>    they were mostly sold out of box spring covers (only Twin & CA
>    King left). They said Manhattan NY had completely depleted the
>    stock. Interesting to note that the Colma store was not sold out.
>
> [2] A dream I had a while back was to build custom furniture for the
>    Noisebridge space well-suited to comfortably sitting & creating
>    with a laptop & having everything right there ... couches with
>    built in ethernet RJ45 jacks & retractable power cords for
>    Thinkpads, MBPs, et al, USB charging ports, cup holders, flop-out
>    writing surfaces & book stands, headphone-jacks & seat warmers ...
>    you know, the ultimate experience when you want to sit down to use
>    a laptop and get into the creative flow. I'm now thinking if I ever
>    approach this overly-ambition project, something additional to
>    toss into the mix would be extreme resistance to bed bugs & other
>    pests. Not sure if it's something I'd have time for...maybe I'll
>    sketch out some ideas & throw something up on kickstarter.
>
> [3] Hacker News | Why Companies Should Insist that Employees Take Naps
>    http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1732182
>
>
> Thanks for reading,
>
> John
>
>
> --
> John Magolske
> http://B79.net/contact
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>

-- 
Trying to fix or change something, only guarantees and perpetuates its
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