Sleepless in Philadelphia

Start a Go Fund Me Fran. I will deffo donate. <3

Zed

I have faith that you will come out of this and have a great new spot. Best wishes from NC.

PLEASE SET UP A GOFUND ME SO WE CAN GIVE YOU A ONE TIME DONATION.

Ben Dean

To re-iterate, alas. A hurricane destroyed my world, and I survived. Stand up and take control. I am broke too. I have no power. But I have a will and a mind. Chaos is ubiquitous. Leave ideology to rot and b the genius I know you are. The scientist I know you are. If I had any money I would bail you out, and that's no lie. Life is never easy, and even rich jerks can be screwed. Show us how strong you are!

Of all the damned things to happen. Please Fran, as Dave has already spelled out, draw on your Patrons and crowd source this. I was thinking about your scenario recently. There is no means by which one can make a one time donation to you first off. I would happily send you one. Some way that will not profit the instrument that gets you the cash would also be helpful. The service fees for international patronage are very unfair. Patreon takes better than 30% of my $ CAD, before you see a penny in Philly :-( EDIT: Then you can hire young energetic makers to help pack and move. It will be just fine Fran. Put your game face on and get busy. You have 6 weeks of relative quiet in which to get this underway. ***ALSO*** For your international crew, maybe we could send you money by cheques and money orders to a postal box for instance. Love and light.

Christopher Leech

How can we help?

I feel for you, Fran. You're going though a lot. While I can't help you move, I can make a one time donation of $25, if someone can tell me how to do that.

so f*cking sad... in all of this I hope your seeking counseling. It sounds like you are depressed and need a professional to help you work through the mental part of this horrible experience...

It's Fran Blanche, who makes things, v Donald Trump who makes killings in real estate. That is what has become of our once proud USA.

You said you have no power with the landlord. You might have some if demolishing the other apartments will kick up asbestos. If they know you will be testing for unsafe asbestos levels in the air and reporting it to EPA they might pay out your lease to prevent a potential work stoppage from a EPA investigation. (Note that I don't know much about the USA so i could be wrong about how things work over there)

Ben Wilson

I'm sure that if you needed bods to help you pack up, you'd only have to say the word Fran. Dave's (EEVblog) comment above has some meaty ideas too. If I lived anywhere near you, I'd be there assisting somehow, as would plenty of others I'm certain :o) Here's willing a new place for the lab to turn up very soon. Get some sleep ! Looking forward to better news very soon. Dave

Fran, Don't lose hope, I know its rough, but you can win in the end, just keep up the good fight. we're all rooting for you.

Fran, I know it seems hopeless, but it's not!, use this as an opportunity to move onto bigger and better things. Let us help you crowd source a new space, not just in terms of $$$$, but searching as well. Be open about what your lease budget is, what your exact minimum requirements are in terms of space and living arrangements (live in the lab, or apartment + lab?), what you need in terms of nearby city community lifestyle stuff etc, and how far you are willing to relocate. Then let the community help search for a suitable place for you. As someone who is currently searching for a bigger space myself, just searching my own small business park is hard enough, it's orders of magnitude harder to search wider afield, and it's very hard and time consuming to do that effectively yourself. I think you'll be amazed at the places and opportunities people will find for you if you crowd source this. It'll be awesome! Next is the money, you have almost a thousand loyal patrons, start a GoFundMe to relocate and I'd be surprised if you couldn't raise at least $10-20k off the bat. Just do a video asking us to help. Use the EEVblog forum as a discussion place for it all. We can do this!

EEVblog

I feel helpless here in Australia. I don't want you to have to throw away your treasures. I am overwhelmed at the size of the moving task, and all that effort just to lock everything up in storage! Such a frustration. But you can't exist in a demolition zone. The dust and the noise and the hazard will be unbearable. You have to vacate. I'm devastated that this has happened to you.

SpringRat

Sound like you need someone to take you under their wing. A superpatron of yourself.

If you need help packing or moving, let me know and I'll be there. If a bunch of people helped, then the packing and moving could get knocked out in no time. Take the time to regroup. If the stuff is taken care of in storage, then you could be more flexible and find another place easier.

Fran, after seeing this I went and upped my Patron contribution. It isn't much, but maybe if enough people do the same it could make a difference. Clearly you have too much stuff for one person to move in that time frame. You need to figure out how to get some help, whether it means paying for it, or taking advantage of the good people here who have offered their resources and time to help you. Best of luck to you.

I have no advice - if I lived near by I'd offer to give you a hand shifting stuff. Just letting you know that I am thinking of you and I hope everything goes ok.

Hi Fran, been there, done that. Not only once. Not only with my personal stuff, been through this with several friends. My advice: Get rid of at least two thirds of that stuff. Having that much gear isn't fun, it's a burden. I am sorry, but I am pretty sure you won't be able to manage packing up an moving this much material in time, at least not without a nervous breakdown. And even if you did: You won't be able to find anything afterwards. And: Don't do this alone. You need friends to help you with this. I know, I know: You think you have to do this on your own because otherwise you won't be able to find anything in the future. As I already said: You won't be anyway. You have to make some tough decisions on what to keep and what not. Not sure if it's of any help: There's a lot of people out there being with you. You're not alone in this. I'd love to come over to give a hand, but being in Germany that's a little bit difficult. Anyway, I wish you all the best, I know how hard this is. Cheers: Holger

Holger Barske

Move to Canada Fran, you'd be more then welcome up here!

We send our thoughts and good wishes. Here's hoping the next place you land is as good as this one has been bad. (Kushner! Sheesh!)

Michael S Wilhelm

Fran you need help moving, I have some vacation days to use and would be more then happy to come down and help move. I have f150 truck and I would be willing to rent an enclosed uhaul. Between the 2 & being a psychically able person, I can move a lot. You need help email me at shanbos71@gmail.com

There is nothing to be done about real estate politics. Fran implied as much herself: if she makes a big fuss, she will lose even if she wins because she'll get blacklisted by the real estate community of Philly. What she needs is help and money. To get those, she needs more patrons, even if only for six months. To get more patrons, she needs exposure and she isn't going to get any more for quite a while as she goes radio silent for two months. What we NEED to do is 1) up our Patreon contributions if we can and 2) tell anyone who will listen in the maker community. Poke all the makers you watch, on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram. Poke all the big names you can (e.g., Adam Savage, Simone Giertz). #SaveFranLab

Fran, have you tried approaching the new landlords for assistance in moving? Since this is in their best interest, they may have access to labour or know of available storage. I hate the helpless feeling that comes along with this situation; your emotions are coming through and we all wish to help. Lastly, I'm about 7-8 hours away from Philly and can probably work out a few days off to help you move...

Rish

:-( I hope you can get all the help you need. Volunteers to help you move, and maybe a lawyer to keep the landlord from making your life more miserable. The asbestos SHOULD be a good argument against them demolishing the building around you, I would think (but IANAL).

Jac Goudsmit

Hi Fran. First, and you know this, you *are* a smart woman. Very smart. You just didn't have a wide enough field of view to see this coming. This sucks big time, but you will get through to the "other side" one day. I am near Allentown, so if you put a call out for people to help you move, I'll be there. I can imagine that finding a 1400 square foot replacement at any level of affordability would in fact be very difficult in this market. I wish you the best, and to once again have piece of mind.

Hey Fran, i feel for you. Hope you get sorted. Wish i was close to your place so i could give a helping hand. Take care.

You could consider selling some of your previous projects and miscellaneous items in order to finance the move and allow you to continue making new projects. Building new projects is something you enjoy doing. And it's something we enjoy watching. Wishing all the best TTFN.

Jim Norman

Damn... talk about adding insult to injury!

Walter Heukels

Hi Fran, It is trite I know, but 'I feel your pain'. Three years ago I was encouraged to sell a 3000 sq ft farmhouse that I had lived in for 40 yrs., pretty well filled with old radios, books, stuff from former roommates, inherited stuff too good to throw away, etc. I was given one month to vacate. Fortunately a couple of friends were able to spend several days helping. I filled 4 10 x 15 storage units, a 30 yd rolloff , and one grossly over loaded 26' Uhaul truck. Bottom line -- friends are valuable, and not everything needs to be saved - amassing tons of 'neat' possessions can really weigh you down from just enjoying life. At 68 I have begun to realize my remaining time for 'projects' is limited -- I can't take stuff with me and I needed to prioritize what is really important. It is hard, but have faith , YOU WILL TRIUMPH,

Gayln Hall

Hang in there Fran :-)

Graeme Gets

Just put up a sign: Prowlers will be shot on sight!

It makes me angry how the Trump's of the world stomp on everybody else in their endless greed. You are a rare gem and I sure hope you can survive this blatant abuse of rights!

William Alsing

That doesn't look so good. It's a pity that i can't help you. don't let the hopelessness take over. focus on the packaging. i'm sure there will be an opportunity for you. it will continue. also use the opportunity to separate yourself from things. often they mean balast as well as memories. head up, you can do it.

Wow !!! No wonder you can't sleep. It all sucks in Trump World. Some people aren't driven by the greed for money but by curiosity and creativity. It will get better - at least that's what I tell myself too. Your are a strong independent person. I'm hoping for your happiness - and mine too.

John N Nelson

That's an evil landlord, I'm thinking you'd need shipping containers, two at least and a handful of volunteers.

Fran, all the best from NE Scotland........you'll get sorted, it's just a bend in the road......or maybe that's a jump through a via to another layer!

Ian Johnston

Hi Fran. Hope you get everything sorted :/