Wow.
Today's the day. Nine long, painful months speckled with joy have lead up to tonight. In case you've been under a rock, The Phoenix is opening tonight at 4:00pm with Karl and I behind the bar. (Mostly Karl.)
I don't really know what to say now. I don't think I'm too often at a loss for words (some of my blog posts are a testament to that) but I'm not sure what to say at this point that hasn't been said before. So many people have to be thanked for making this possible for us: David, Red, Ray, Bradley, Vern, Paul, Lalo, Richie, Dwight, and George and probably more than a few others that I'm forgetting. Thank you all.
It's been an amazing ride. And one I'm not sure I'd want to get on again; but we'll see. Thank you for coming along with us; it has meant more to us than you might possibly know.
Showing posts with label Grand Opening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grand Opening. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
It's All on Us
I have an item on the schedule for tomorrow. When I made the schedule, I figured we'd be ready for it this weekend; the weekend before our opening day. It was "Panic." Well, as of last night, we were ahead of schedule; we had a panic last night with our water heater for the bar not working. But, a quick run to Lowe's solved the problem.
And, among the other items for this weekend was "Address Health Department concerns". That's something else we don't have to do. The Health Department inspector was satisfied that we had met all her requirements and signed off on a "Temporary Permit to Operate". And, combined with the earlier sign-off on our building inspection, we have finally cleared the last Magical Hoop™ to opening.
We.
Are.
Done.
Now, it's all on us to get the bar ready for Monday at 4:00pm when we fling the doors open and welcome the patient throngs of people at the door. (Ok, there will probably only be one or two at four pm...) And there's much to do. There's a lot of cleaning and putting up televisions and assorted A/V equipment and getting all that inventory sorted and properly tagged and probably a few more things I'm forgetting after today.
The tremendous feeling of unfathomable relief after so much consummate anguish is often overwhelming.
And, among the other items for this weekend was "Address Health Department concerns". That's something else we don't have to do. The Health Department inspector was satisfied that we had met all her requirements and signed off on a "Temporary Permit to Operate". And, combined with the earlier sign-off on our building inspection, we have finally cleared the last Magical Hoop™ to opening.
We.
Are.
Done.
Now, it's all on us to get the bar ready for Monday at 4:00pm when we fling the doors open and welcome the patient throngs of people at the door. (Ok, there will probably only be one or two at four pm...) And there's much to do. There's a lot of cleaning and putting up televisions and assorted A/V equipment and getting all that inventory sorted and properly tagged and probably a few more things I'm forgetting after today.
The tremendous feeling of unfathomable relief after so much consummate anguish is often overwhelming.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Finally Crossing our Fingers
It's been a long day.
BUT, we have our final building inspection scheduled for tomorrow. (Well, today now.) I expect to have a few corrections -- there almost always are -- but nothing show-stopping. And, depending on the corrections the inspector potentially wants, we may get signed off tomorrow!
We still have to get the Health Department's approval and I have a call in to them to get that scheduled hopefully for Friday.
Then, if that all goes well, we'll clean like mad over the weekend, fix whatever the Health Department needs done, get reinspected on Monday and throw open the doors at 4:00pm Monday!
Could this long process finally be *that* close to being over once and for all????
BUT, we have our final building inspection scheduled for tomorrow. (Well, today now.) I expect to have a few corrections -- there almost always are -- but nothing show-stopping. And, depending on the corrections the inspector potentially wants, we may get signed off tomorrow!
We still have to get the Health Department's approval and I have a call in to them to get that scheduled hopefully for Friday.
Then, if that all goes well, we'll clean like mad over the weekend, fix whatever the Health Department needs done, get reinspected on Monday and throw open the doors at 4:00pm Monday!
Could this long process finally be *that* close to being over once and for all????
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Coming Along
Things are coming along nicely. There have been a few additional surprise delays that have the potential to throw off our carefully constructed schedule. Mainly delays that could cause our inspections to take a day or two longer than expected. We're trying to get it right the first time now rather than doing what we think will pass and correct it later if asked.
The light fixutres are up and the A/C registers are in and the walls are mostly painted. It really is starting to look like a bar! And our LED pool table light looks quite nice!
The insurance adjuster has been out for the vandalism and I believe we're only waiting for a final determination which I expect to be favorable.
This weekend, we have friends coming by to help paint the rest of the place.
Next week, there's more clean up work to do and orders to place and inspectors to call and a bunch of small touches to finish up the job. And I think you'll find all the diamond plate you see on our sites will begin to make a little more sense. (It looks pretty darn cool if ya ask me!)
(And, ya know what? I kinda envy you guys (and gals) who will walk into the bar and get the impact of all these changes all at once. I've (obviously) been living with it for months and months so I've seen it change over time. We really think what we've done with the place will impress you. At least we hope it does.)
The light fixutres are up and the A/C registers are in and the walls are mostly painted. It really is starting to look like a bar! And our LED pool table light looks quite nice!
The insurance adjuster has been out for the vandalism and I believe we're only waiting for a final determination which I expect to be favorable.
This weekend, we have friends coming by to help paint the rest of the place.
Next week, there's more clean up work to do and orders to place and inspectors to call and a bunch of small touches to finish up the job. And I think you'll find all the diamond plate you see on our sites will begin to make a little more sense. (It looks pretty darn cool if ya ask me!)
(And, ya know what? I kinda envy you guys (and gals) who will walk into the bar and get the impact of all these changes all at once. I've (obviously) been living with it for months and months so I've seen it change over time. We really think what we've done with the place will impress you. At least we hope it does.)
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Amazing People
We know some truly amazing people.
We're less than two weeks away from our planned opening (and still on track) and more and more friends are popping out of the woodwork to help us!
There's a guy we know who is going beyond the call of duty to help us change the look of the bar itself to something that's going to be really, really cool. (We think.) And it'll make the background of our website make a little more sense, too.
There're others who are helping just do "whatever we need". Yesterday, our ceiling got painted by one such of these. Our fence has been strengthened. A toilet was fixed (it was broken by one of two of our contractors but everybody denies it was them. Patches have been made for stucco. There are many, many examples; these are just a couple that I can think of right now.
Frankly, we could not even think about meeting our June 20 deadline without these people.
Now, back to work. The electrical and A/C guys are at the bar today finishing their work and should be done by early afternoon. Our refrigeration guy is coming tomorrow and he'll be done with his stuff tomorrow. Then, we think we're ready for our final building inspection on Friday.
(We did have a vandalism "issue" again this past Thursday night/Friday morning and again Monday night/Tuesday morning. Some donkey--and by donkey, I mean jackass--broke into the back yard and destroyed the old walk-in refrigeration roof unit as it was waiting to be put onto the roof. It should be covered by insurance (adjuster arriving this morning to check into it) but it has caused a bit of a delay; and that delay shouldn't be too bad.)
We're less than two weeks away from our planned opening (and still on track) and more and more friends are popping out of the woodwork to help us!
There's a guy we know who is going beyond the call of duty to help us change the look of the bar itself to something that's going to be really, really cool. (We think.) And it'll make the background of our website make a little more sense, too.
There're others who are helping just do "whatever we need". Yesterday, our ceiling got painted by one such of these. Our fence has been strengthened. A toilet was fixed (it was broken by one of two of our contractors but everybody denies it was them. Patches have been made for stucco. There are many, many examples; these are just a couple that I can think of right now.
Frankly, we could not even think about meeting our June 20 deadline without these people.
Now, back to work. The electrical and A/C guys are at the bar today finishing their work and should be done by early afternoon. Our refrigeration guy is coming tomorrow and he'll be done with his stuff tomorrow. Then, we think we're ready for our final building inspection on Friday.
(We did have a vandalism "issue" again this past Thursday night/Friday morning and again Monday night/Tuesday morning. Some donkey--and by donkey, I mean jackass--broke into the back yard and destroyed the old walk-in refrigeration roof unit as it was waiting to be put onto the roof. It should be covered by insurance (adjuster arriving this morning to check into it) but it has caused a bit of a delay; and that delay shouldn't be too bad.)
Friday, June 3, 2011
Chugging Along
Wow....
I just updated the status page on our website. I was struck by how damn close we are to finishing up everything that's required of us. We're nearly done!
It's been an unusual time for both Karl and me. Periods of massive stress followed by periods of major relief. Whatta rollercoaster this has been!
I just updated the status page on our website. I was struck by how damn close we are to finishing up everything that's required of us. We're nearly done!
It's been an unusual time for both Karl and me. Periods of massive stress followed by periods of major relief. Whatta rollercoaster this has been!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Weekend Update
Opening day is three weeks and one day away and we've gotten everything done this weekend we were planning to get done! (Well, we had to adjust a few things because the schedule for yesterday was a little ambitious.)
Coming up next is finishing the stucco work and putting the siding up on the south end of the building and getting set up with vendors. We'll also continue planning our grand opening.
Coming up next is finishing the stucco work and putting the siding up on the south end of the building and getting set up with vendors. We'll also continue planning our grand opening.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Opening Day Fallout
Thank you all for the positive response to our opening date announcement(s) yesterday! For the first time in a while, I became excited about the bar.
It's really been a struggle at times to make this work out. On top of that, it's taken far longer than I had anticipated it would back in October when the discussions turned toward purchasing the building. It seems amazingly naive now but I first thought we'd be open by February! And we know how that worked out.
And, as it turns out, we'll be opening about three months after we got our building permit. Had things moved a little faster with engineering and The City, and we got the permit in November like I thought we might have (and we were told) we would have opened in February.
Which brings up another positive thing. As we get bids from contractors and the like, I've learned that my out-of-the-blue guesses on how much they'll be have been pretty darn close. That means we've been "Under Budget" since the beginning. (I'd still like to have a little more breathing room in that budget but what can ya do? Especially at this point...)
We're a tad behind on our contractor schedule right now (but by only about two or three days) but I still think we're on track. (We wouldn't have broadcast to the Interwebz the June 20 and 25 dates if we thought otherwise.) We came up with this schedule about two weeks ago when we were trying to find an opening day so there's bound to be a few little hiccups.
Regardless, Karl's at the bar today again with (I think) the electrician and (definitely) the AC dudes. I envy him that; one of the AC guys is kinda cute. He even seems alright with gay folks, too. He mentioned yesterday he saw our news story on ABC30 about the graffiti and laughed when I told him what it said and spelled it for him (F-A-G-E-T) he laughed. So, he's cool. Hopefully, we'll see him at the bar; regardless of whether or not he's straight. The world needs more Cool-With-The-Gay folks.
It's really been a struggle at times to make this work out. On top of that, it's taken far longer than I had anticipated it would back in October when the discussions turned toward purchasing the building. It seems amazingly naive now but I first thought we'd be open by February! And we know how that worked out.
And, as it turns out, we'll be opening about three months after we got our building permit. Had things moved a little faster with engineering and The City, and we got the permit in November like I thought we might have (and we were told) we would have opened in February.
Which brings up another positive thing. As we get bids from contractors and the like, I've learned that my out-of-the-blue guesses on how much they'll be have been pretty darn close. That means we've been "Under Budget" since the beginning. (I'd still like to have a little more breathing room in that budget but what can ya do? Especially at this point...)
We're a tad behind on our contractor schedule right now (but by only about two or three days) but I still think we're on track. (We wouldn't have broadcast to the Interwebz the June 20 and 25 dates if we thought otherwise.) We came up with this schedule about two weeks ago when we were trying to find an opening day so there's bound to be a few little hiccups.
Regardless, Karl's at the bar today again with (I think) the electrician and (definitely) the AC dudes. I envy him that; one of the AC guys is kinda cute. He even seems alright with gay folks, too. He mentioned yesterday he saw our news story on ABC30 about the graffiti and laughed when I told him what it said and spelled it for him (F-A-G-E-T) he laughed. So, he's cool. Hopefully, we'll see him at the bar; regardless of whether or not he's straight. The world needs more Cool-With-The-Gay folks.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Opening Day
We are planning on opening our doors on Monday, June 20 at 4:00pm.
That Saturday, June 25, we are planning a grand opening party complete with food, prizes, and other stuff! We'll post details as we get closer to the dates.
The next four weeks will be frantic, I'm sure. We got to get all the bridesmaids dresses made...
We'll see you on June 20 and the party on June 25!!!
That Saturday, June 25, we are planning a grand opening party complete with food, prizes, and other stuff! We'll post details as we get closer to the dates.
The next four weeks will be frantic, I'm sure. We got to get all the bridesmaids dresses made...
We'll see you on June 20 and the party on June 25!!!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
"What a Dump!"
This morning, I'm updating our Building Status page with updated info. (Why would I update it with outdated info??) I do it somewhat irregularly but mostly consistantly after certain items are completed. I made the list months ago when I still had this nice rosy idea of what the process would be like. Step 1 would be followed neatly by Step 2 and then closely by Step 3 and so on.
And, well, that's not quite the way it worked out and the previously nicely ordered list is now a jumbled mess. Kinda like the bar in this picture:
If I thought the Status Page would be used much beyond June XX (Oops! Almost accidently announced our expected open date!) I'd go back and reorganize it to make more sense now that opening day is only about X weeks away (Oops! Almost did it again; it's a number less than 6 but more than 1). After that time, the list becomes obsolete for evey purpose other than academics.
(Yes, I'm a tease....)
And, well, that's not quite the way it worked out and the previously nicely ordered list is now a jumbled mess. Kinda like the bar in this picture:
It almost looks like a bar!
If I thought the Status Page would be used much beyond June XX (Oops! Almost accidently announced our expected open date!) I'd go back and reorganize it to make more sense now that opening day is only about X weeks away (Oops! Almost did it again; it's a number less than 6 but more than 1). After that time, the list becomes obsolete for evey purpose other than academics.
(Yes, I'm a tease....)
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