To Auction!

Later today, we should be bringing a bunch of stuff that we aren't going to use to the auction house.  Older equipment, older cash registers, older bar owners, that sort of thing.  (Ok, I'm not really going to set Karl out to auction; that'd be rude.)  (But he is older than I am.)  They'll (hopefully) be sold off and help make the check book fatter rather than it just getting skinnier and skinnier.

(I know it ain't much of an update.  But not a lot has been happening that's actual work.)

Construction Bids Galore

I feel like I am spending all my time with construction workers. I know that sounds like a fantasy, but after a while you get tired of it. And they all seem to want to do things their own way. (Just like a man.) I ask for the same things of three or four different companies so I can compare them later but no two are alike when they send me the bids.
One of our latest wanted to install 10 bright fluorescent light fixtures. That would be great if we were lighting a basketball court, but I prefer soft lighting. I want lighting that makes me look 10 years younger, if possible. (Not sure how much that would cost.)
But don't worry, I will spend as much time as it takes with dozens of construction workers. And I'll have a big bottle of aspirin, too.

Free Money Update

Late last week, I spoke with the Redevelopment Agency.  And they had good news for me.  (Though, not as good as I had hoped.)

Free money is, in fact, available to me.  But only up to $3,000 and only for storefront improvements such as paint, signage, awning, etc.  We might be able to squeeze in the doors in there but not certain.

Unfortunately, improving the exterior of the bar facing the street isn't exactly 100% necessary to open the bar.  And just getting the bar open is my major, primary, single-minded focus right now.  The guy I spoke with at the Agency was nice and had some good ideas on how to improve the front of the bar; but that part of the bar is kinda gonna get the scraps of the rebuilding fund.  If there's anything left at all.

Good news is, I don't need to improve the front of the bar to open and I can use that money from the Agency for improving it later.  It's not like it's going away next month.  So, this part will probably end up waiting until a couple months after we open.

Are You an Artist or Cartoonist?

Wanna make some money?

I may be good at putting things together in a visually appealing way and making inanimate stuff but I'm not so skilled at the creation of characters.  So, I want to see what y'all might have to offer.

If you (or someone you know) is an artist or cartoonist (or anything similar) and can create a mascot to use in ads, online, t-shirts, etc. I kinda wanna know.  (A logo is forthcoming so we don't need that.)  I'm looking for a style somewhere along the lines of the images below.  (Not specifically and only these styles, mind you.  These are from my clip-art collections.)

In general, muscular is better than soft.  Doesn't have to be a bear but we are primarily a bear bar.  A team mascot look or super hero look are nice places to start.  And we are open to non-human ideas.  (A dog?  Something else?  I'm not sure a phoenix or other bird would work for a mascot as it may contrast too much with a logo but we can see.)

I'd like to be able to ask the selected artist to "Put the mascot in a boat; happy and waving" or "Peeking out from behind a wall with just his head and a confused look" (or similar requests) and within a reasonable amount of time (two weeks?) receive said image with any requested revisions.  Such requests would be infrequent (maybe once a month).

I'd prefer to receive the image as a vector, but I'm sure we can make raster images like .jpg, .png, .tiff, etc. work as well.  I'm pretty darn certain we can even work with pencil and/or ink sketches on white paper; the darker the lines the better (not unlike a comic book).  Scratch board would work too, but who wants to send a scratch board through the mail?

If you're interested, send me (Bryan) a note on our Contact page or leave a comment on this blog post with a link to your portfolio.  (Free advertising for yourself!)  I will want to see samples of previous work (paid and/or published is nice but not necessary).  I'll also want to know whether or not you'd charge by the hour or by the piece and about what your rate would be for such a job.

You do *not* need to create me a mascot to be considered; that will come after being hired.  All I'm interested in now is seeing what you've done before and whether you can do again in the future.

This would be an ongoing paid gig.  Copyright ownership is negotiable.  Usage rights are negotiable as well.

Please share, pass along, and spread the word.

Ah! A day off!

Took yesterday (mostly) off.  Did a little bit of behind-the-scenes work on some software-type stuff for the bar that should help things behind the bar run smoothly.

But the rest of the day, I spent doing, well, mostly nothing.  Played some computer games.  Made soup.  Stuff like that.  (Exciting to know, isn't it?)

Regardless, today, we're meeting with more contractors for bids.  These are for electric work and A/C work.  After those two bids come in and (I think) one or two more, we'll be ready to make a decision on who to give the jobs to.  Hopefully, that means we'll be able to hit the ground running as soon as our building permit is issued.

Our Mobile Website Is Working!!

Mostly.  Kinda.

Just put the first iteration of our mobile-friendly website together yesterday!  There are still some issues with it but at least it works right on any mobile device that identifies itself as a "handheld" device to the .css file.  (Well, it should anyway.  At least the horizontal scrolling is has been minimized.)

There are still a few things to address (the forms are sometimes way too wide, for example) but, for the most part, it's good to go.  (I think.  I've only tested it on an iPhone simulator-like thing and on my Treo.)

I think it might be time to throw money at an iPhone.  Or maybe an Android...

Future Staff, Atmosphere, Etc.

Thanks go to everybody who has sent us suggestions through our Suggestion Box.  They really do help.

One of the things many people are concerned about is the atmosphere of The Phoenix and whether or not it will be similar to The Den.  The short answer is, "Yep.  It will be."

The long answer is:

We absolutely plan to maintain the same casual, friendly, relaxed, neighborhood bar feel that The Den had.  That formula worked well for The Den and I see no reason to change it.  We won't be turning it into the tiniest dance club with the biggest attitude and lowest ceiling in all of California. Sure, there will be some changes (a new vaulted ceiling, a new roof, a changed patio, better (I hope) lighting, etc.) but those changes are mostly cosmetic.

We have asked three bartenders from The Den to come on board for The Phoenix and they have agreed. (We'll probably eventually hire one or two more folks, too.)  Not to mention Karl who also was either behind the bar or getting rid of "undesireables".  So those folks who have expressed concern that the entire staff will change can rest easy.  In fact, the only guy currently invovled in The Phoenix that wasn't a bartender at The Den is me.  (I was The Den's webmaster for those who may not know.)

But, as time wears on and the delays from the City take their sweet time, these three guys may be forced to take other employment; it's just the nature of the situation.  I can't expect all three of them to just wait for us to get open as they sit at home twiddling their thumbs.  So I really want to make sure these guys (and everybody) are treated well and fairly.  I can do that best by opening quickly.  This seriously weighs on my mind.  Each delay means these guys sit on the sidelines longer and I don't like that.

On the plus side, it looks like we might (MIGHT!) begin demolition and construction by the end of January here.

Perturbed Plan Check Picture

That first time we went to the City to submit the plans, we had great joyous plans to take some delightful pictures of me handing over the plans to the City of Fresno for plan check and then the subsequent celebration.  But, we know how that went.  (grumble, grumble...)

So, as I was standing there at that counter those many days ago watching the Magical Hoop™ moving as I prepared to jump through it, Karl took this picture.  I've obsurced the guy's face mainly because I didn't get his permission to put this picture up and other reasons.

The Doors and City Hall

Yesterday I spent about half of my day meeting contractors. But as I was finishing with them Bryan called and I was off to City Hall. First to get the plans. The over view sheet consists of a lot of "do this and not this", "now do this", "now don't do this." Luckily we have engineers who can explain a lot of this to me. I was glad to find out that some of it was good news since it all sounded bad to me.

My next stop was at the water and garbage department. I had previously called them and found out what was needed. All that changed in person. For the first time I was told about a deposit. And it was a large one for a business. After much discussion, and patience, it was the clerk who kept pestering her supervisor until all we needed was escrow documents and a smile. Bryan and I will do that on Friday. My hat is off to that clerk.

My next stop was to order new doors. The firemen were not very careful with the old ones, ya know. To order them I felt like I needed a class in "doorway technology". Are they right swing, or left? In or out? Do they need kerf? What is your jamb size? And of course they have to be a custom size. They will be ready next week. I think they will make the place look better even before we get a new roof.

So Many Contractors, So Little Time

We both had a busy day yesterday.

I spent much of the day working on features for the website and replying to email sent to our Suggestion Box.  Late in the day, I got a very long form for the website completed.  I saved the form, previewed it in the web browser, made a change that should have been simple, saved it again, cleared away the somewhat familiar error message that hasn't been a problem before, and accidently over-wrote about 2 hours of work with no Undo feature.  That was frustrating.  I went for a walk and came back and re-did the work.

Meanwhile, Karl was meeting contractors for bids on electrical and insulation work.  As you may have seen from yesterday's mid-afternoon update, the plan check at the City was finished and ready to pick up.  Yep, it was earlier than I expected.

So, Karl had a sudden change of plans:  Drive to City Hall, give them even more money (Why didn't they charge us everything we needed to pay the first time?) and drive the plans back to the engineering firm so they can make the City-requested changes.  Despite the earlier statement from the City that no handicapped upgrades are needed, one of the changes is that we now need to do some accessibility upgrades.  (And the magical hoop moves once again.)

The amount of bureaucracy that is present in this process is staggering.  It's almost as if Fresno doesn't want anything to be done ever within its limits.  As I've said before, I don't mind jumping through hoops; just keep the hoops in the same place.

Plan Check Pick Up

Wow.  That's a surprise.

The City of Fresno just called and said that the plans have gone through Plan Check and are ready to be picked up.  (After we give them more money, of course.)

I wasn't expecting that phone call for at least another week or two.

Bears!

Stephen Colbert better watch out!

In going through some of the stuff at the bar last week, we found this.  Hurray!  (Looking at it now, I think he's holding the flag backwards.  Oops.)

Back to the Grind

Ok, City of Fresno.  It's January 3, 2011.  Your week's furlough (i.e., imposed delay of my project) is over.  Get my plans approved!

I expect the plan check to be complete in about 2 weeks.  Maybe a little longer.  We're busy getting bids for all the construction work we need to do and Karl can fill you in on that information (if he ever gets off the phone with what seems like every contractor in Fresno County).

Couple of things to do this week including calling the Redevelopment Agency to talk to them about the potential of matching funds for reconstruction.  If that works out, I don't think I can adequately convey how much help that would be.  But I'll try anyway.

Puttin' on the Patch

Braving the elements and risking falling to the floor, I climbed onto the roof of the bar this past week to patch the giant 4-foot square hole in the roof.  Sorta.  It's not a great patch and it certainly will not keep out all water but it'll help both Karl and me sleep better at night.  Especially during rain storms.  And here are some pictures!

Picking the perfect patch panel.

From the old stage.

Is that a rat!?

My new umbrella.  It's a tad unweildy.

"Put your shoulder to the ladder."

"Rise!  RISE!"

Does this make me a drag queen?

ACK! What's that behind me!?

One, poundy, poundy....

Two poundy poundy.

More than Two-poundy-poundy's later....

Nice work!  (Ok, not really.)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  We're taking the day off but here's a picture that some might find midly amusing.  This is a the billboard that was up during the fire and hasn't had anything done to it other than a brief paint job.  That's Fresno Mayor Ashely Swearingen. Poor Ashley.