Thursday, July 9, 2009

An update...and a day in the life

I described LWT to someone today as limping toward the finish line, but also said I was trying to keep my smile. It's a pretty accurate picture of where we are. Finish work is mostly done - painters gone, baseboard installed, most furniture ordered or in process of being ordered - and we're sitting in a holding pattern at the whims of PG&E. As you know, we got somewhat spanked for not having applied for service upgrade early enough. With a little luck and a little "it's good to know people who know people" help, we're currently scheduled to get electricity into the building on July 29. Crossing our fingers that we might get bumped a little earlier on their calendar.

After electricity gets pumped in, a long & linear process begins. In this order - at least as I understand it - get electrical from PG&E, test & get ready for final city electric inspection, get final electric inspection, get gas meter release from city, get new gas meter set from PG&E, test all equipment, get final health inspection, get all remaining final city inspections, die a little inside, finally tell staff we're clear to start practicing, pray staff hasn't already taken other jobs, check calendar & hope it's still Summer, pop out some grey hairs, figure out how to open a restaurant (factoring out construction which awkwardly already got figured out), open the doors.

You're saying, "Tony, so many things to get accomplished in a short period of time. Are you ambitious, optimistic, or out of touch with reality?" A mix of all 3? You're saying "Tony, you committed to a catered off-site picnic for 700 in late September, and a 100+ car show at the building in early September. What if construction runs WAY long?" Time will tell.

That's the update, now for a day in the life.

So I've blogged before that each day is vastly different, though now I add that in some ways they're painfully the same. Today is now exception. It's 1:30pm. Here's a rundown of the day so far.

1. Arrive at the bldg by 8 am. Comcast installation window 8 - noon.
2. No word by 10am, which is when granite for countertops gets delivered.
3. Back way too weak to help delivery driver unload granite. Someone comes by in the nick of time to help.
4. Get official word from comcast that even though we rescheduled from 7/17 to today, it never got entered onto their job calendar.
5. Leave the builder after 3 hours of finding odd work to accomplish at the building that doesn't require an internet connection.
6. Head to Peet's to soak up their wifi for a bit.
7. Enjoy a harsh iced latte (I hate peet's coffee, but their wifi is sweet in my mouf)
8. Pick up one of those new wraps at Jamba Juice. Greens & Grains or something. As previously tweeted - feel free to pass on ever ordering this. You're welcome.
9. Field random calls & get all sorts of work done: resolve comcast install date, tweet about how much comcast sucks, sort out biz card production drama, organize files, email PG&E with an idea to shave off a couple days on gas install lead-time, schedule another photo shoot for photos in the restaurant, invite web guy to lunch because I forgot how to update the website, update the blog (easy...though I never seem to do so). A very random, but productive early afternoon at Peet's. Apologies to the fans of my earlier blog entry about the random shit you experience at a coffee house in the afternoon. Nothing good today.

Up next...Head out for a 2pm meeting with table manufacturer. Pick color & sign order for them to get started. Homeward bound after that to try and continue the productivity.