I think weddings that have photo booths are awesome. Here's a few with the fam. (Instagram filter applied afterward, admittedly.)
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A few night photographs from this summer I never got around to putting up. Did these in upstate NY at a family get together right before coming back to Richmond.
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- Seneca Lake, NY
November 28, 2012 — Comments are off for this post.
Why I Am Thankful
There are many things I am thankful for in life. But what I'm most thankful for is my family.
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I haven't rented from a whole lot of places in my life, but Virginia Lee Properties has to be the worst. So here is an open letter for all to see how wonderful this company is.
Below that are the emails that led up to it as well. I will provide any updates as they occur.
Background: Our lease ends tomorrow. I'm in Chicago and had to send my key from here.
Dear Brittany & Virginia Lee Properties,
It's real shame that you guys at Virginia Lee Properties seem to be unable to have any sense of human understanding or consideration. I'm pretty sure we've been excellent tenants the past year (with the exception of 1 late fee because your office wasn't open during stated office hours). The apartment is in better shape than we received it in. Especially since all the other tenants in that building like to party, have band practice at 11pm, trash things, and smoke weed all day. It's sad when a place has to nickle and dime their tenants just so they can a make a little extra money. It comes as no surprise that when I look you up on the internet there is nothing but bad review after bad review.
It's strange that when we had a problems, it took days or weeks to be addressed (often times with a reminder), yet when you needed something from us, a notice was posted on our door almost immediately. Even funnier is that we had been told on two occasions that the apartment was going to be re-keyed, yet it never was. Which makes me wonder if it will actually be re-keyed at all.
There was also that time when there was a dead mouse under our oven and you told me to my face that it would be taken care of that day. Yet it was another 5 days before that was taken care of.
Oh and then there was that time when we called you because our heat still wasn't on when it dropped to 40 degrees in our apartment in November (I could see my breath inside, it was crazy!). You said it had already been turned on. It definitely had not, and even I know how to work a radiator. So we called you again two days later, and you said it had just been turned on (again it hadn't been, but luckily by that evening it magically had been). Weird how that works.
(Side note: Water was included in, and the heat was radiator heat. So, the longer they can keep the heat off and not heat the building water, the more money they save...is my guess.)
The list of problems goes on and on.
Now I'm sure you don't really care about any of this. And I'm sure you receive these types of emails on a regular basis. But what else is there to do but give you one more to read?
For your reference, here is the FedEx tracking number (468603815066782) so you know that the key is on its way, and that a $100 fee for it arriving 2 days late is ridiculous and unnecessary.
Claiming it has to be re-keyed for incoming tenants is silly since you and your folks came and went as you pleased. So I'm sure there is another key around that can hold you over for 2 days. Of course, this is all just policy, and not your fault. It's true, I sent it a little late. But when you put it all into perspective, 2 days is really not a big deal.
You can forward all detailed papers and security deposits to my new address a few blocks away at:
801 N. Davis
Apt. 2A
Richmond, VA 23220
Take care,
Nick
These are the emails that came before this.
1st Email:
TO: Brittany M Burton <valee1@verizon.net>
FROM:nick(at)nickmarx.com
SUBJECT: Key to be Delivered By FedEx
Hi Brittany,
My key to 203 N. Plum Street #5 is being delivered by FedEx to your office. It should arrive tomorrow, or the next day.
I have a tracking number for it, so if you would like that to confirm it has been sent then please let me know.
Thanks,
Nick
Response:
TO: nick(at)nickmarx.com
FROM: Brittany M Burton <valee1@verizon.net>
SUBJECT: Re: Key to be Delivered By FedEx
Nick,
Unfortunately the keys had to all be returned by 12pm today, so there will be a charge for the re-keying as we will have to re-key in order to provide the new tenants with keys. The cost of that is $100.00, it will be noted in your move-out sheet along with any other charges (if applicable). Do you have a forwarding address for me to pass on to the bookkeeper?
Brittany M Burton
Virginia Lee Properties
Virginia Lee Properties
As you can see, we decided to move somewhere else. I'm somewhat curious as to the retention rate of their tenants. Anyone else out there have similar experiences?
Update: They then charged us for a variety of other cleaning fees totaling around $550 or so, many of which were not legally covered in the lease agreement. I don't think they liked my review of them on this blog and the letter I sent. Since I published it before they did the walk through.
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Here's a collection of photographs I took with my analog Rolleiflex 3.5f. It's a pretty legendary german camera that I got a steal on last winter when I found it in an antique store in my hometown. Thinking I would buy it then sell it online for its true value, I just can't bring myself to do it. It takes amazingly sharp photographs. I had a lab process the film (since I don't have a darkroom) and then I scanned the negatives and corrected/stylized the color digitally in Adobe Lightroom.
Some of the photographs are of my parents and my nieces in Corning, NY. Others were taken in Richmond, VA.
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- Richmond, VA
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- Elenor
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- Elenor
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Here's a short video showing a product concept that I did with the hip and cool Olivia Abtahi. Essentially, it will sync your lights to your music playlist and give you your own light show. Perfect for dance parties. Check it out!
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We had a project a few weeks back where we had to create a new beverage and our team came up with some neat stuff. Here is the design of our bottle. I used Cinema 4D to mock them up. The tops have a removable piece of foil with a short URL that you can type into your mobile device. You can then stick the cap to the spot where you took the photo, thus leaving your Landmark for other to see. People passing by can then type in the short URL and see the fun types of photos people 'left' for others to see. Additionally, all the photos will be aggregated in to an interactive website for anyone to browse. Cool right?
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Tags: product design
Made this over the semester break. I forgot to post it here. So, here it is.
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December 7, 2011 — Comments are off for this post.
Home Depot Bag Concept
Been doing a lot of retail packaging design stuff lately. Here's a bag design concept I made for Home Depot. Hopefully more in this series will follow.
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A new box I redesigned for Amazon that would better display their use of recycled materials.
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November 17, 2011 — Comments are off for this post.
Selling Showers
Some rough comp print advertisements I made for a class. They look kind of crappy. But I like the concept.
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