Two months ago a real estate agent called me out of the blue. The owner
of the bar's parking lot was ridiculously behind on her taxes as well
as having other obligations and was finally ready to put the parking lot
up for sale. The owner wanted to give us the first chance and buying
it.
Since then, we've been working with the owner to purchase it. Today, escrow closed and the parking lot is now ours.
This is actually a very, very big deal for at least one very good reason.
If the bar ever burned down to the ground, we would be unable to rebuild
it on the current land. This is because of current building codes
requiring clearances between a building and the property line.
Currently, those clearances do not exist but we're "grandfathered" in.
If we had to rebuild from the ground up, we'd have to make the bar more
narrow and further back from the sidewalk and a bunch of other things
that aren't very awesome.
As a result of that possibility of looming disaster, our long term goals
have always included purchasing the lot and legally merging the two
properties into one. It may sound a little vulture-ish (and maybe it
is) but I was watching and waiting for the taxes to become so past due
that the lot was put up for a tax-lien auction. And that was going to
happen next year. But, not any more. The crappy vacant lot next door
is now ours. (Why do I keep buying dilapidated properties??? :) )
Now, with the acquisition of the parking lot, we can merge the
properties into one and avoid having that potential looming disaster
over us.
Don't expect too much to change with the parking lot in the short term.
We've priced getting it repaved and it runs from about $5,000 to put
what amounts to a Band-Aid on it and make it pretty to $17,000 and
$30,000+ to do it right. (Holy Crap!)
So, there it is. One of the "Big Things" we mentioned at the beginning of January.
Showing posts with label Bryan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bryan. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Friday, August 19, 2011
Why I'm Not a Sign Painter
You remember that awesome job I did of putting the address numbers on our front door?
Well, I've done and made it "better" I made a stencil of our logotype and (tried) to stencil it onto our front door. It's sort of a temporary solution until we get our sign finished. (The sign is lit up now, but there's still nothing on the one side of it and still says "The Den" on the other. It was supposed to have been ready for this weekend but when you come down for Bear Frenzy, you'll see that it clearly was not. Oh, well.)
Regardless, here's the "terrific" job I did on the stencil.
It's a nice idea but it really looks like crap up close.
At least it looks halfway decent from a distance:
Karl will be fixing my shitty stencil job later. For which we should all be glad.
Well, I've done and made it "better" I made a stencil of our logotype and (tried) to stencil it onto our front door. It's sort of a temporary solution until we get our sign finished. (The sign is lit up now, but there's still nothing on the one side of it and still says "The Den" on the other. It was supposed to have been ready for this weekend but when you come down for Bear Frenzy, you'll see that it clearly was not. Oh, well.)
Regardless, here's the "terrific" job I did on the stencil.
It's a nice idea but it really looks like crap up close.
At least it looks halfway decent from a distance:
Karl will be fixing my shitty stencil job later. For which we should all be glad.
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.)
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!
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 11, 2011
Babysitting
Yesterday, both Karl and I went babysitting. We spent the entire day at the bar babysitting Demo Guy's apparently mildly inept crew. We were there to make sure the final truss (that should have been installed an entire month ago today) was finally installed correctly and according to the engineered plans.
At first, I was very happy to see Demo Guy on the roof working with his crew to make sure the sign at the front of the bar was re-attached correctly to the roof (like it should have been done a month ago) to help ensure it doesn't fall off the building. (Karl had sort of secured it earlier; they just came back to fix their screw up in how the sign was handled during demolition.) I thought, "Yay! He's actually going to supervise his crew!"
There was a brief disagreement on how the strapping should be done to the final truss. (Demo Guy was still insisting he was doing and had done it correctly; I believe based on a much earlier conversation with the engineer and not at all on what was approved. For some strange reason, Karl and I believe that the installation should be done according to the approved plans I know! CRAZY!) Then Demo Guy said he had to go visit his dad in the hospital and left. I was a bit annoyed at him for leaving but, in the end, I'm glad he did.
His crew, which would have been unsupervised had we not been there, didn't quite know how to do some things and we were there to correct them and answer questions. As best we could, anyway. They didn't speak too much English and we don't speak good enough Spanish. Which is one of the problems I believe Demo Guy has; he can't communicate well enough with his employees to make sure the jobs get done right the first time. And I don't think it helps that these two who came by seem to me to be little more than two stooges with hammers; I just don't think they care all that much.
I also learned why you should both watch and not watch your contractor work. It's much like watching your food being prepared in a restaurant. These guys were using nail guns to nail in the strapping. I believe that the manufacturer of the straps may specifically forbid the use of nail guns for installation but I'm not certain; I do know that I read it somewhere, though. Nail guns can make things go faster but they can also cause problems. Like, perhaps, splitting a vertical truss member in a truss you're trying to install and then having to make a new one to replace the one you broke; it's likely that hand nailing the strapping would not split the two-by-four.
At about 2:30pm yesterday, Demo Guy's crew was done with this job. We think forever. We believe the installation will pass inspection which is scheduled for today and we can finally move on to other things. Like insulation and getting a damn roof on the place.
At first, I was very happy to see Demo Guy on the roof working with his crew to make sure the sign at the front of the bar was re-attached correctly to the roof (like it should have been done a month ago) to help ensure it doesn't fall off the building. (Karl had sort of secured it earlier; they just came back to fix their screw up in how the sign was handled during demolition.) I thought, "Yay! He's actually going to supervise his crew!"
There was a brief disagreement on how the strapping should be done to the final truss. (Demo Guy was still insisting he was doing and had done it correctly; I believe based on a much earlier conversation with the engineer and not at all on what was approved. For some strange reason, Karl and I believe that the installation should be done according to the approved plans I know! CRAZY!) Then Demo Guy said he had to go visit his dad in the hospital and left. I was a bit annoyed at him for leaving but, in the end, I'm glad he did.
His crew, which would have been unsupervised had we not been there, didn't quite know how to do some things and we were there to correct them and answer questions. As best we could, anyway. They didn't speak too much English and we don't speak good enough Spanish. Which is one of the problems I believe Demo Guy has; he can't communicate well enough with his employees to make sure the jobs get done right the first time. And I don't think it helps that these two who came by seem to me to be little more than two stooges with hammers; I just don't think they care all that much.
I also learned why you should both watch and not watch your contractor work. It's much like watching your food being prepared in a restaurant. These guys were using nail guns to nail in the strapping. I believe that the manufacturer of the straps may specifically forbid the use of nail guns for installation but I'm not certain; I do know that I read it somewhere, though. Nail guns can make things go faster but they can also cause problems. Like, perhaps, splitting a vertical truss member in a truss you're trying to install and then having to make a new one to replace the one you broke; it's likely that hand nailing the strapping would not split the two-by-four.
At about 2:30pm yesterday, Demo Guy's crew was done with this job. We think forever. We believe the installation will pass inspection which is scheduled for today and we can finally move on to other things. Like insulation and getting a damn roof on the place.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
What's Behind Curtain Number 1?
Turns out, more curtains...
The soda shop style bar stools at the bar are quaint but difficult to work on and are slowly deteriorating. I've called them a "Law Suit Waiting to Happen". (I don't drink that much and even I've had, shall we say, "trouble" with the bar stools.) So, they have to go.
First step: Get rid of them!
Second step is... Uh, I guess there is no second step.
We started getting rid of them on Monday. First, we had to remove the carpet and reveal some of the structure to see what the heck was going on under there. And it turns out it'll be fairly easy to remove. Under the carpet is some delightful vinyl flooring. I'm sure it matched beautifully with the pink and turquoise the building used to be painted.
We have some nice ideas for what to do with the area down there below the bar on the customer side and, for the most part, you'll have to wait to know what that is until later.
From this point in removing the bar stools, we decided it'd be easiest with electricity. There's some wood that'll need to be removed and that'll be easiest with a circular saw. Electricity should be available in about a week. Until then, here are some pictures to entertain yourself with.
The soda shop style bar stools at the bar are quaint but difficult to work on and are slowly deteriorating. I've called them a "Law Suit Waiting to Happen". (I don't drink that much and even I've had, shall we say, "trouble" with the bar stools.) So, they have to go.
First step: Get rid of them!
Second step is... Uh, I guess there is no second step.
We started getting rid of them on Monday. First, we had to remove the carpet and reveal some of the structure to see what the heck was going on under there. And it turns out it'll be fairly easy to remove. Under the carpet is some delightful vinyl flooring. I'm sure it matched beautifully with the pink and turquoise the building used to be painted.
My! What lovely vinyl floor covering!
We have some nice ideas for what to do with the area down there below the bar on the customer side and, for the most part, you'll have to wait to know what that is until later.
From this point in removing the bar stools, we decided it'd be easiest with electricity. There's some wood that'll need to be removed and that'll be easiest with a circular saw. Electricity should be available in about a week. Until then, here are some pictures to entertain yourself with.
Don't touch that! You don't know where it's been!
Bryan getting ripped.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Workin' on the Fence Line
We've begun the final work on putting in the rest of the replacement fence. Last week, we got the materials to complete the fence.
Then, on Monday this week (after our visit to City Hall), we dug the post holes and set the posts.
The pickets will be nailed up soon. The concrete hasn't quite set well enough just yet.
Karl has wood
I should probably help with the concrete rather than just taking pictures...
Here's what it looked like before we started doing anything.
(Someone really oughta paint this place.)
Then, on Monday this week (after our visit to City Hall), we dug the post holes and set the posts.
Dig, Bryan! DIG!!!
What? I'm diggin' here!
Karl beginning the Anvil Chorus.
No, he didn't miss. This was after he hit the metal thing with the other metal thing.
The pickets will be nailed up soon. The concrete hasn't quite set well enough just yet.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Not-So-Lovely Rain and Other Bullstuff
(It's a long one; better strap yourself in.)
As you know, we got our building permit on Monday, March 21. That week, it rained pretty heavily so construction couldn't begin immediately. We had been in contact with the Demo Guy (our demolition and construction contractor; not his real name) and he said he'd be ready to start on March 28.
Well, March 28 rolls around and he's not done with the previous job. He blamed it on the rain the previous week. Seems fairly reasonable. Said he would be able to start on Wednesday and that he wanted to meet with Karl on Tuesday to go over the job one final time before getting crews there.
Also on March 28, the A/C guy was going to come and remove the on-roof A/C unit for cleaning and storage during the demolition. He comes with a crane and removes the unit. And that took pretty much all day so it's probably good that Demo Guy wasn't ready to start on the 28th.
Demo Guy and Karl meet on Tuesday to go over the job and Demo Guy says he'd have his crew start on Thursday. On Wednesday, Karl spent a lot of the day at the bar doing "stuff". Fixing stucco problems, building fences where there weren't fences before and that sort of thing.
Thursday rolls around and Demo Guy still isn't ready to start and he'd start on Friday. We start to see a pattern.
That pattern is reinforced on Friday, April 1, as well. He's still not ready. But he will be most definitely, positively, absolutely be ready and start on Monday, April 4. Careful readers will note that's one week after he first said he'd be able to start.
Early Friday afternoon (April 1) Karl heads from home to the bar to do some work (I forget exactly what). Later that day, the truss company called and told us the trusses would be ready for delivery on Monday, April 4; the same day that Demo Guy was to finally begin work demolishing the roof. That seemed perfect to Karl and me but the Demo Guy wanted us to delay the delivery of the trusses until April 11. This said to both Karl and me that the demolition would take a week. (Considering the work, a week always did seem a little long; Demo Guy originally said the entire job would take two weeks. But I digress.)
Karl spent the weekend in Fresno doing various work on the bar. Monday morning rolls around and Karl heads to the bar in the early morning and meets Demo Guy and his crew. They start removing the roof and its trusses and, after a while, Karl leaves to let them do their work.
Later that day, Karl returns and finds the demolition complete. All of it. Trusses, old metal roof, old shingles, old sheathing all ripped off and put into a dumpster. The process that we thought would take a week took a single day. (A very long day, to be sure, but a day nonetheless.) This was a nice surprise! (But then why did Demo Guy want to wait a week to start putting up the trusses and why did he have us delay the delivery of the trusses a full week?)
The demolition broke a few things in the bar--glass counter top, a mirror, a speaker, drink rail, things like that--but that was nothing compared to the problems that were about to occur.
Since the bar was going to be without a roof for so long (upwards of two weeks) Karl wanted to sit at the bar over night to help prevent any vandalism that might occur if nobody was there to watch the place. So, Karl spends the night on Monday sitting in his car staring at the bar. Fun.
On Tuesday, we ask Demo Guy why he is leaving us without a roof for a week. Turns out Demo Guy was doing two jobs at the same time; ours and someone else's. I'm sure Demo Guy has his reasons for leaving us without a roof for a week but I don't know what they could possibly be. Looks to me that this guy seems to have a scheduling problem. It seems more logical to me to knock out one job before starting another. Is this guy so good that he's in this much demand? (Quite frankly, I doubt it; in my opinion, his attention to detail and concern for his clients seems a bit lacking.)
On Tuesday afternoon, we received the lovely "homo fagét" graffiti. And that was annoying and disturbing. I also see that there's a 30 to 70% chance of rain on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. No roof and rain do not mix. Demo Guy has his guys off on his other job and I have no roof. We get in touch with the truss folks and they can deliver the trusses Wednesday afternoon. Why Wednesday? We want to try to get Demo Guy to start work on Wednesday afternoon in preparation of the 70% chance of rain on Thursday and we figured he'd be concerned about his client's project being damaged by rain. It was too late on Tuesday to get a hold of Demo Guy so we have to wait until morning.
For various reasons, we couldn't get a hold of Demo Guy Wednesday morning to see if he could start that afternoon. When we finally contacted Demo Guy, he said his crew could not work on our roof on Wednesday but would be working on our roof at 7:00am Thursday and, unless there's a downpour, they'd continue working to get us a roof. And, even if there was a downpour, we were assured that the crew would resume work when it cleared up.
Wednesday night, it rains. The bar gets wet. All of the bar gets wet. And Demo Guy didn't even bother to try to protect the interior with tarps or anything and didn't even offer to come help put up any sort of protection. (To be fair, we didn't either but that's not the point. The point is he didn't even seem concerned for anything but the pool table.)
Well, on Thursday Demo Guy's crew shows up at the crack of dawn again and beings working. A couple hours later, there was a 45-minute downpour and the crew left. Since Karl had been spending his nights at the bar keeping tabs on the place, he couldn't stay at the bar during the day; he had to sleep at some time, right? Before the downpour and after Demo Guy's crew had installed one truss, he went and took a nap. Mid afternoon, he gets up and heads to the bar to see what progress had been made after the rain had stopped. There was no crew working. The work had stopped, no progress had been made despite having no rain during the afternoon.
We called Demo Guy and asked him where his crew was. He did not know and could not get a hold of them! That's right, he did *not* know where his crew was and could *not* get a hold of them. To say that we were furious is a gross, massive understatement.
Demo Guy assures us up and down that, despite not knowing where they are, his crew will be there at 7:00am Friday to continue working and that his crew didn't come back on Thursday afternoon because "every time they picked up a saw, they were getting shocked" because the equipment was so saturated. (I thought, "SO IS MY BAR!!") (I don't mean to say that I wish his crew to be placed at risk of electrical shock, mind you.)
We have serious doubts about whether or not Demo Guy can even try to make good on his word about showing up on Friday morning; his track record is not exactly stellar in that regard. But, we can do nothing--literally--but believe him. What else could we do? Hire another contractor to finish the job? The place still had no roof. I'm sure we could have hired another contractor to finish the job but the annoyance of doing that would be unfathomably stressful for both of us.
Friday comes around and Demo Guy's crew shows up. I guess he finally figured out how to get a hold of his employees. Karl goes and lays down for his daily rest. Later that afternoon the crew finishes with the trusses and sheathing. The construction is complete in one day.
Also, ABC 30 comes out and does their piece on the graffiti. The police show up and assure us that they do, in fact, care about the (legally defined) hate crime of the graffiti. Ultimately, Friday ended up being a pretty great day for the bar. We simply love the vaulted ceiling (pictures coming tomorrow of that) and are thrilled to finally be at this point in the process.
In the end, Demo Guy scheduled two weeks for a job that only took two and a half days. Why he couldn't have just had the whole thing done by Wednesday before the rain started is simply beyond my comprehension. EVERYTHING was ready for him and he chose to delay things. He is the one who had us delay delivery of the trusses. He is the one with the apparent scheduling problems that made him unable to start when he first said he could. He is the one who couldn't communicate with his employees at a crucial time.
In all, the bar survived. The rain didn't cause too much obvious damage; there could still be some moisture problems with the drywall in the future but we're taking some proactive steps to help slow--if not prevent--that. It could have been a lot worse if the floor hadn't been concrete. But the problems and delays this guy caused for us are reprehensible and wholly unprofessional.
As you know, we got our building permit on Monday, March 21. That week, it rained pretty heavily so construction couldn't begin immediately. We had been in contact with the Demo Guy (our demolition and construction contractor; not his real name) and he said he'd be ready to start on March 28.
Well, March 28 rolls around and he's not done with the previous job. He blamed it on the rain the previous week. Seems fairly reasonable. Said he would be able to start on Wednesday and that he wanted to meet with Karl on Tuesday to go over the job one final time before getting crews there.
Also on March 28, the A/C guy was going to come and remove the on-roof A/C unit for cleaning and storage during the demolition. He comes with a crane and removes the unit. And that took pretty much all day so it's probably good that Demo Guy wasn't ready to start on the 28th.
Demo Guy and Karl meet on Tuesday to go over the job and Demo Guy says he'd have his crew start on Thursday. On Wednesday, Karl spent a lot of the day at the bar doing "stuff". Fixing stucco problems, building fences where there weren't fences before and that sort of thing.
Thursday rolls around and Demo Guy still isn't ready to start and he'd start on Friday. We start to see a pattern.
That pattern is reinforced on Friday, April 1, as well. He's still not ready. But he will be most definitely, positively, absolutely be ready and start on Monday, April 4. Careful readers will note that's one week after he first said he'd be able to start.
Early Friday afternoon (April 1) Karl heads from home to the bar to do some work (I forget exactly what). Later that day, the truss company called and told us the trusses would be ready for delivery on Monday, April 4; the same day that Demo Guy was to finally begin work demolishing the roof. That seemed perfect to Karl and me but the Demo Guy wanted us to delay the delivery of the trusses until April 11. This said to both Karl and me that the demolition would take a week. (Considering the work, a week always did seem a little long; Demo Guy originally said the entire job would take two weeks. But I digress.)
Karl spent the weekend in Fresno doing various work on the bar. Monday morning rolls around and Karl heads to the bar in the early morning and meets Demo Guy and his crew. They start removing the roof and its trusses and, after a while, Karl leaves to let them do their work.
Later that day, Karl returns and finds the demolition complete. All of it. Trusses, old metal roof, old shingles, old sheathing all ripped off and put into a dumpster. The process that we thought would take a week took a single day. (A very long day, to be sure, but a day nonetheless.) This was a nice surprise! (But then why did Demo Guy want to wait a week to start putting up the trusses and why did he have us delay the delivery of the trusses a full week?)
The demolition broke a few things in the bar--glass counter top, a mirror, a speaker, drink rail, things like that--but that was nothing compared to the problems that were about to occur.
Since the bar was going to be without a roof for so long (upwards of two weeks) Karl wanted to sit at the bar over night to help prevent any vandalism that might occur if nobody was there to watch the place. So, Karl spends the night on Monday sitting in his car staring at the bar. Fun.
On Tuesday, we ask Demo Guy why he is leaving us without a roof for a week. Turns out Demo Guy was doing two jobs at the same time; ours and someone else's. I'm sure Demo Guy has his reasons for leaving us without a roof for a week but I don't know what they could possibly be. Looks to me that this guy seems to have a scheduling problem. It seems more logical to me to knock out one job before starting another. Is this guy so good that he's in this much demand? (Quite frankly, I doubt it; in my opinion, his attention to detail and concern for his clients seems a bit lacking.)
On Tuesday afternoon, we received the lovely "homo fagét" graffiti. And that was annoying and disturbing. I also see that there's a 30 to 70% chance of rain on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. No roof and rain do not mix. Demo Guy has his guys off on his other job and I have no roof. We get in touch with the truss folks and they can deliver the trusses Wednesday afternoon. Why Wednesday? We want to try to get Demo Guy to start work on Wednesday afternoon in preparation of the 70% chance of rain on Thursday and we figured he'd be concerned about his client's project being damaged by rain. It was too late on Tuesday to get a hold of Demo Guy so we have to wait until morning.
For various reasons, we couldn't get a hold of Demo Guy Wednesday morning to see if he could start that afternoon. When we finally contacted Demo Guy, he said his crew could not work on our roof on Wednesday but would be working on our roof at 7:00am Thursday and, unless there's a downpour, they'd continue working to get us a roof. And, even if there was a downpour, we were assured that the crew would resume work when it cleared up.
Wednesday night, it rains. The bar gets wet. All of the bar gets wet. And Demo Guy didn't even bother to try to protect the interior with tarps or anything and didn't even offer to come help put up any sort of protection. (To be fair, we didn't either but that's not the point. The point is he didn't even seem concerned for anything but the pool table.)
Well, on Thursday Demo Guy's crew shows up at the crack of dawn again and beings working. A couple hours later, there was a 45-minute downpour and the crew left. Since Karl had been spending his nights at the bar keeping tabs on the place, he couldn't stay at the bar during the day; he had to sleep at some time, right? Before the downpour and after Demo Guy's crew had installed one truss, he went and took a nap. Mid afternoon, he gets up and heads to the bar to see what progress had been made after the rain had stopped. There was no crew working. The work had stopped, no progress had been made despite having no rain during the afternoon.
We called Demo Guy and asked him where his crew was. He did not know and could not get a hold of them! That's right, he did *not* know where his crew was and could *not* get a hold of them. To say that we were furious is a gross, massive understatement.
Demo Guy assures us up and down that, despite not knowing where they are, his crew will be there at 7:00am Friday to continue working and that his crew didn't come back on Thursday afternoon because "every time they picked up a saw, they were getting shocked" because the equipment was so saturated. (I thought, "SO IS MY BAR!!") (I don't mean to say that I wish his crew to be placed at risk of electrical shock, mind you.)
We have serious doubts about whether or not Demo Guy can even try to make good on his word about showing up on Friday morning; his track record is not exactly stellar in that regard. But, we can do nothing--literally--but believe him. What else could we do? Hire another contractor to finish the job? The place still had no roof. I'm sure we could have hired another contractor to finish the job but the annoyance of doing that would be unfathomably stressful for both of us.
Friday comes around and Demo Guy's crew shows up. I guess he finally figured out how to get a hold of his employees. Karl goes and lays down for his daily rest. Later that afternoon the crew finishes with the trusses and sheathing. The construction is complete in one day.
Also, ABC 30 comes out and does their piece on the graffiti. The police show up and assure us that they do, in fact, care about the (legally defined) hate crime of the graffiti. Ultimately, Friday ended up being a pretty great day for the bar. We simply love the vaulted ceiling (pictures coming tomorrow of that) and are thrilled to finally be at this point in the process.
In the end, Demo Guy scheduled two weeks for a job that only took two and a half days. Why he couldn't have just had the whole thing done by Wednesday before the rain started is simply beyond my comprehension. EVERYTHING was ready for him and he chose to delay things. He is the one who had us delay delivery of the trusses. He is the one with the apparent scheduling problems that made him unable to start when he first said he could. He is the one who couldn't communicate with his employees at a crucial time.
In all, the bar survived. The rain didn't cause too much obvious damage; there could still be some moisture problems with the drywall in the future but we're taking some proactive steps to help slow--if not prevent--that. It could have been a lot worse if the floor hadn't been concrete. But the problems and delays this guy caused for us are reprehensible and wholly unprofessional.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
And Now the Screaming Starts
(No, not the 1973 gothic horror movie about a disembodied ambulatory hand that scared the crap outta me when I was about 10 or so..)
Ok. After a week off of completing paperwork and dealing with government and related "stuff", it's time for paperwork to start again. (Hence, the "Screaming" in the title.)
There's a whole stream of paperwork that needs to be filled out and sent to someone so they can send me back another bit of paperwork so I can then send them money. Then we gotta contact vendors and get set up with them. I might be jumping the gun just a bit but I wanna make sure when we're ready to open we're actually ready to open.
Ok. After a week off of completing paperwork and dealing with government and related "stuff", it's time for paperwork to start again. (Hence, the "Screaming" in the title.)
There's a whole stream of paperwork that needs to be filled out and sent to someone so they can send me back another bit of paperwork so I can then send them money. Then we gotta contact vendors and get set up with them. I might be jumping the gun just a bit but I wanna make sure when we're ready to open we're actually ready to open.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Everybody Wants us to Open
This seems a little weird to me.
Not only have both Karl and I heard from many folks in the gay community about The Phoenix being open, the business owners in the neighborhood also want us to open. I would never in my life have though that a bunch of small business owners in Fresno, California would actually want a gay bar to open up in their area. But that's exactly what's been going on. The guys across the street from the bar have been watching out for the place and chasing away, uh, we'll call these lovely ladies "undesireables". The owner of the store right next door has been helpful and friendly. I'm sure we'd get a similar reaction from others, too.
It's just weird. I'm happy for it, but it's weird.
Not only have both Karl and I heard from many folks in the gay community about The Phoenix being open, the business owners in the neighborhood also want us to open. I would never in my life have though that a bunch of small business owners in Fresno, California would actually want a gay bar to open up in their area. But that's exactly what's been going on. The guys across the street from the bar have been watching out for the place and chasing away, uh, we'll call these lovely ladies "undesireables". The owner of the store right next door has been helpful and friendly. I'm sure we'd get a similar reaction from others, too.
It's just weird. I'm happy for it, but it's weird.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Mobile Site Working as Intended
Well, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought it might.
The much, much lighter and faster version of our website is up and running on http://m.fresnophoenix.com/ . It took some unusual (to me, anyway) file location gymnastics but doing it this way was fairly easy. If not tedious.
Ok, it was very tedious. Very, very tedious.
It's not terribly pretty and there are still a few small things to add (like a map) but at least it's working for ya!
Ok, maybe having a map on your mobile device to find us isn't so small. I do have to investigate how to integrate it well with the map apps folks may already have. It would be nice for folks to use an app they're familiar with for directions on the go.
The much, much lighter and faster version of our website is up and running on http://m.fresnophoenix.com/ . It took some unusual (to me, anyway) file location gymnastics but doing it this way was fairly easy. If not tedious.
Ok, it was very tedious. Very, very tedious.
It's not terribly pretty and there are still a few small things to add (like a map) but at least it's working for ya!
Ok, maybe having a map on your mobile device to find us isn't so small. I do have to investigate how to integrate it well with the map apps folks may already have. It would be nice for folks to use an app they're familiar with for directions on the go.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I Sing The Paddy's Day Electric!
Ok, so my post title is a bit of a stretch.
But, Happy Saint Patrick's Day! (Explains the green text, eh?)
Good news on the electrical plans front. The redone drawings are ready to pick up and I'm about to head out to Fresno to pick them up and drag them to The City. It's just a requested-revision so I don't expect to have too much of a problem with them at the City. The initial submission took only about three days to get returned to us so I expect about the same with this.
We'll see what happens, though...
But, Happy Saint Patrick's Day! (Explains the green text, eh?)
Good news on the electrical plans front. The redone drawings are ready to pick up and I'm about to head out to Fresno to pick them up and drag them to The City. It's just a requested-revision so I don't expect to have too much of a problem with them at the City. The initial submission took only about three days to get returned to us so I expect about the same with this.
We'll see what happens, though...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Mobile Site Not Working as Intended
Well, crap.
I thought our mobile website was "working as intended" (and it is on some mobile devices and on certain browsers like Opera Mini) but with my new smartphone I got I see it is not working as intended at all.
Frankly, it looks like shit.
On top of that, it's too damn large. We use too much of your data plan to get show you things you'd like to know. So, I'm going through and redesigning the structure of the web site to be more phone phriendly. Should take about a week or two, I think. Maybe three...
I thought our mobile website was "working as intended" (and it is on some mobile devices and on certain browsers like Opera Mini) but with my new smartphone I got I see it is not working as intended at all.
Frankly, it looks like shit.
On top of that, it's too damn large. We use too much of your data plan to get show you things you'd like to know. So, I'm going through and redesigning the structure of the web site to be more phone phriendly. Should take about a week or two, I think. Maybe three...
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Phoenix: A New Evaporation Pond
Oh, I almost forgot.
Saturday evening, we ended up at the bar to clean up the pond that had formed the day before. We loaded up a bunch of spare towels, made hydrodynamic drawings of where the water will flow and at what rate, and how much erosion the moving water will create on the concrete floor.
But it was all for naught. When we opened the door to the bar we saw the water had all but vanished. Poof!
It's still a problem that we need to correct (where is the water coming from??) but that it vanishes within a day is a good thing. It also says to me that we do have a water problem in the bar and that those times in the past we've gone down expecting to see large puddles of water but didn't see anything just means that the water that had been there just went somewhere else.
Saturday evening, we ended up at the bar to clean up the pond that had formed the day before. We loaded up a bunch of spare towels, made hydrodynamic drawings of where the water will flow and at what rate, and how much erosion the moving water will create on the concrete floor.
But it was all for naught. When we opened the door to the bar we saw the water had all but vanished. Poof!
It's still a problem that we need to correct (where is the water coming from??) but that it vanishes within a day is a good thing. It also says to me that we do have a water problem in the bar and that those times in the past we've gone down expecting to see large puddles of water but didn't see anything just means that the water that had been there just went somewhere else.
Healthy Plans Day
Progress continues. Later today, we're heading to the Health Department to get their stamp of approval on our plans. Shouldn't take too long. I'm hoping to just have them look at them for about five minutes and then go *KA-CHUNK!* with their little stamp. But, they could require to hold them for up to two weeks.
Considering that they only thing they've asked for is either unbreakable bulbs or enclosed fixtures over the bar and semi-gloss paint on the ceiling in the bathrooms I think it'll go fast.
Hopefully, this Magical Hoop™ doesn't move too far from where it is today.
Considering that they only thing they've asked for is either unbreakable bulbs or enclosed fixtures over the bar and semi-gloss paint on the ceiling in the bathrooms I think it'll go fast.
Hopefully, this Magical Hoop™ doesn't move too far from where it is today.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Row, Row, Row Your Bar
Uh, oh.
Seems with yesterday's heavy downpour we have a water problem. It looks like water came in under the newly-installed side door and is now puddling in the back half of the bar. I didn't have time to clean it up yesterday so that'll have to be done later today. Yay. Cleaning up icy water in 40 degree weather and no electricity available to run any sort of wet-dry vacuum... My hands are cramping up just thinking about it.
Seems with yesterday's heavy downpour we have a water problem. It looks like water came in under the newly-installed side door and is now puddling in the back half of the bar. I didn't have time to clean it up yesterday so that'll have to be done later today. Yay. Cleaning up icy water in 40 degree weather and no electricity available to run any sort of wet-dry vacuum... My hands are cramping up just thinking about it.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Theme Nights! Get your theme nights!
We're asking for your opinions on theme nights for The Phoenix. Neither Karl nor I are really sure that they're necessary or if they're just a distraction.
We've added a survey to our web site to help make up our minds. Your responses are anonymous and voluntary. The survey is not scientific. (Though, you should know that since we use Google Analytics on our website, we may be able to get your IP address from the survey. I doubt it, though, since I didn't install the tracking code to the survey pages.)
Please, give the survey a once over, give us your opinion on the various themes we have in mind and whether or not you even care. The survey will be up through the end of March. Though, it may get extended.
We've added a survey to our web site to help make up our minds. Your responses are anonymous and voluntary. The survey is not scientific. (Though, you should know that since we use Google Analytics on our website, we may be able to get your IP address from the survey. I doubt it, though, since I didn't install the tracking code to the survey pages.)
Please, give the survey a once over, give us your opinion on the various themes we have in mind and whether or not you even care. The survey will be up through the end of March. Though, it may get extended.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Shrouded Meeting
The shroud of winter night was descending over the city like a drunken blanket sodden with sunlight and poked through by pins that would become the stars shining through. The silver Ford F-150 with the dented tailgate and evidence of various birds that have roosted on the sides of its bed stuck sickenly to the bed rails sat at the left turn lane in the center of Blackstone Avenue its left turn indicator light blinking like the on-again, off-again progress of the building project undertaken by the truck's driver.
On the north-west corner of the intersection, a young man in his early twenties stood. He wore a black fedora and a black suit and white spats over his black penny loafers. The light from the street light formed a pool of warm, unflattering amber light around him; his face hidden in the shadow of his fedora. From his gleaming brass saxophone he soulfully sent a haunting melody reminiscent of warmer, sultrier summer days in New York City lilting into the darkening streets of the city.
A gap opened up in the oncoming traffic and the driver inched his truck forward and stopped abruptly--the gap was moving slower and wasn't going to reach him in time. A bead of sweat formed at his hairline about an inch to the left of the midpoint between his right eye and right ear and then slowly, inexorably crept down his temple toward the beard at his jaw. It provided an unnecessarily refreshing cooling effect; it was winter after all.
The gap in traffic finally arrived and the driver gunned the accelerator and the truck, tires screeching a banshee cry like a drag queen who has just had her wig snatched off her head in the middle of her big, show-stopping number by a jealous underling with a mole the size of a dime on the left side of her nose, bolted across Blackstone and onto University Avenue.
Ahead, at the sad and lonely grey parking lot between the street and the railroad tracks that occasionally carry passengers on Amtrak to and fro going from and to the Amtrak station in Downtown Fresno and the occasional freight train going from and to places not quite understood the agent eagerly awaited to complete his task of passing the plans.
The truck barreled into the parking lot bouncing over the driveway access ramp like a giddy child on Christmas morning, turned left at the corner like a politician that has suddenly found herself in the middle of a scandal, and stopped next to the agents car with the broken windshield like a wild party at 2:00am.
The driver of the truck exited the vehicle into the chilly evening. He could faintly hear the saxophonist's lamentations in the distance.
The agent said conspiratorially, "I want to explain a few things to you."
"Okay."
The two men slinked to the rear of the truck. The tailgate was dropped and the agent spread the plans on the tailgate like a banquet on a budget. Explanations were given. "These are for your records," and "These are for the planning department," and "Take this to the Health Department," and "This is where they will sign off when you get your building permit."
The clandestine meeting concluded nearly as quickly as it had begun but not exactly, the plans were handed over to the driver of the truck, and the agent climbed back into his car and with a wave of his hand that said "See ya!" he fired up his engine and squealed off into the darkening night toward Blackstone Avenue where he turned right toward McKinley and disappeared out of sight but not quite out of mind and onto places unknown.
The other man opened the driver's side door to his truck, placed the plans and assorted paperwork onto the passenger seat, sighed a heavy sigh of unmitigated relief, and climbed back into the cab. He closed the door with an air of finality and fired up his own engine and drove away.
And, as the last plaintive notes echoed forth from the saxophone, the shroud of darkness swallowed the day bringing the night and covered the only evidence -- some tire tracks, a few faint footprints, some shed skin cells and maybe a dog hair or two -- that the two men were ever there.
On the north-west corner of the intersection, a young man in his early twenties stood. He wore a black fedora and a black suit and white spats over his black penny loafers. The light from the street light formed a pool of warm, unflattering amber light around him; his face hidden in the shadow of his fedora. From his gleaming brass saxophone he soulfully sent a haunting melody reminiscent of warmer, sultrier summer days in New York City lilting into the darkening streets of the city.
A gap opened up in the oncoming traffic and the driver inched his truck forward and stopped abruptly--the gap was moving slower and wasn't going to reach him in time. A bead of sweat formed at his hairline about an inch to the left of the midpoint between his right eye and right ear and then slowly, inexorably crept down his temple toward the beard at his jaw. It provided an unnecessarily refreshing cooling effect; it was winter after all.
The gap in traffic finally arrived and the driver gunned the accelerator and the truck, tires screeching a banshee cry like a drag queen who has just had her wig snatched off her head in the middle of her big, show-stopping number by a jealous underling with a mole the size of a dime on the left side of her nose, bolted across Blackstone and onto University Avenue.
Ahead, at the sad and lonely grey parking lot between the street and the railroad tracks that occasionally carry passengers on Amtrak to and fro going from and to the Amtrak station in Downtown Fresno and the occasional freight train going from and to places not quite understood the agent eagerly awaited to complete his task of passing the plans.
The truck barreled into the parking lot bouncing over the driveway access ramp like a giddy child on Christmas morning, turned left at the corner like a politician that has suddenly found herself in the middle of a scandal, and stopped next to the agents car with the broken windshield like a wild party at 2:00am.
The driver of the truck exited the vehicle into the chilly evening. He could faintly hear the saxophonist's lamentations in the distance.
The agent said conspiratorially, "I want to explain a few things to you."
"Okay."
The two men slinked to the rear of the truck. The tailgate was dropped and the agent spread the plans on the tailgate like a banquet on a budget. Explanations were given. "These are for your records," and "These are for the planning department," and "Take this to the Health Department," and "This is where they will sign off when you get your building permit."
The clandestine meeting concluded nearly as quickly as it had begun but not exactly, the plans were handed over to the driver of the truck, and the agent climbed back into his car and with a wave of his hand that said "See ya!" he fired up his engine and squealed off into the darkening night toward Blackstone Avenue where he turned right toward McKinley and disappeared out of sight but not quite out of mind and onto places unknown.
The other man opened the driver's side door to his truck, placed the plans and assorted paperwork onto the passenger seat, sighed a heavy sigh of unmitigated relief, and climbed back into the cab. He closed the door with an air of finality and fired up his own engine and drove away.
And, as the last plaintive notes echoed forth from the saxophone, the shroud of darkness swallowed the day bringing the night and covered the only evidence -- some tire tracks, a few faint footprints, some shed skin cells and maybe a dog hair or two -- that the two men were ever there.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Baby Steps
A guy was supposed to meet me at 3 in the afternoon at the bar to replace my truck's windshield. (It had been broken for close to 10 years, I think). Just before three, he called to say he was running late and would be at the bar in about 45 minutes. He didn't show up until quarter after four. Yay.
So while I waited for him to get there and while he was working on the truck I spent some time kinda cleaning up the place.
We wanted to save the drink hangers over the bar and not have them end up with the rest of the roof. In removing them it turns out that the easiest thing to do was to remove the wood panels and scalloped trim and the associated wires and other....stuff....that was up there. This is what it looks like after all that was removed. (Pictures from my crappy cell phone camera.)
I really don't think the tiny bits of work that gets done on days like yesterday really make that much of a difference. But at least it makes me feel like something is getting done while not actually doing anything.
So while I waited for him to get there and while he was working on the truck I spent some time kinda cleaning up the place.
We wanted to save the drink hangers over the bar and not have them end up with the rest of the roof. In removing them it turns out that the easiest thing to do was to remove the wood panels and scalloped trim and the associated wires and other....stuff....that was up there. This is what it looks like after all that was removed. (Pictures from my crappy cell phone camera.)
I really don't think the tiny bits of work that gets done on days like yesterday really make that much of a difference. But at least it makes me feel like something is getting done while not actually doing anything.
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