New Business Cards and Signs

So a big thanks goes out to my pop for getting us dialed in with our logo, business cards, posters, etc. My parents have owned a printing business in South Florida for 30 years (!). Actually, Cyrick just brought that up to me, "Your parents have been in business for 30 years? That's HUGE!" I think the real story is being married AND owning a business together for 30+ years.

Not the best picture but the angle is shown as a watermark in the background. My dad's a class act, European size cards with an angel watermark on super nice card stock. Thanks DaD!

Here's a photo of the exterior with some our signage. I know, the posters are too small. Working on that this week.



-JK

The Hammer has Dropped

We have finally started construction! There's actually piles of rock and dirt all over our place. I even saw random fast food bags and cups strewn about, so you know it's a real construction site. They started trenching the plumbing lines last Thursday. Saw cutting the concrete, jack hammering, and then digging, all very exciting and manly stuff. I felt my testosterone jump a few levels when the guy let me use the jack hammer. Can't believe he has all his fillings. You feel the tingling in your arms hours after you stop.


Jack Hammer Guy and piles of dirt


Some of the plumbing trenches. The concrete is 4" thick so it's not too bad for the guys
to get through to the dirt.


This is what I call the "Honey Hole". That hole and thick pipe (not the gray one) is where
we tie into the sewer line. All the pipes have to be on a slope ending here.


Father son team of Great Wall Construction. Robert Chou and son Tommy. We decided last minute to use Great Wall as they are a smaller operation that can meet our budget and time frame. Robert is Cyrick's godfather, too, so we've known them for a while.

Still a ton of work to be done. Thank God for the good network of talented people we have to help on this project. JK

Still Pulling Teeth

For as much excitement as we have to start our build out, you'd think our prospective contractors would be clambering to take our money and get started. Not the case. It's like showing up to a party, ready to let loose, and everyone around you is pickin' their nose and watching paint dry. THE CLOCK IS TICKING! Hello McFly! Not to mention we've got bids coming in that have huge price differences. You'd be surprised how many prices you can get on the the same awning work. My heads raw from scratching. I'm glad we're paying our architect a "bidding fee" so he can shop this work around because that sure ain't happening. I apologize for the heavy sarcasm. It just seems like no one is taking ownership of the job we're paying to get done. Here we are spending our life everything on this dream and we're the ones spending our time following up making sure everyone is doing their job. Doesn't make sense.

Venting is over. Another week is done and another week closer to our target opening of October 16th. Many lessons are being learned each day and we're thankful for that. Our next project will so much more efficient. Get the first one out of the way, make the mistakes, and learn as much as we can, at least that's what we're telling ourselves. JK

Permits Secured. Construction Gets Closer.

Last week was a pretty hectic week, probably the most emotionally draining of all. In the back of my head I was hoping that things with the building department would go smoothly but that wasn't the case. Our architect--who we're paying a pile of money to--have some shenanigans going on that could jeopardize how the city views our business. Bottom line, we're currently not allowed to be a restaurant without jumping through some more hoops (equals more money). Our buildout should start as planned but we have a 3 month process starting today that will determine our final use. There's some grey area we're in right now that enabled us to get through the permitting process faster but ultimately the question still remains as to what we're legally allowed to do in our space.

Oh well, it'll all work out. Got to remain positive and keep the faith. Here's a picture of our Job Card. This is the horse that allows us to lift a hammer. JK