June 8th, 2009

Carolyn and I got a rude awakening last weekend. Typically we prepare the amount of food we will need for Friday and Saturday day based on what our history has shown us those days will be like and any large orders we received during the week (for the weekend).  Most of the time we’ve been spot on.  Occasionally, we not.  When we’re not it’s because individuals had other plans. 

This time we just plained missed it. Missed what you ask? Graduations that’s what. We got two large orders for graduation parties and didn’t catch on until Saturday when we got three more medium side orders for of all things, grad parties.  By that time, we realized that we didn’t have enough ribs to handle any more grad parties and get togethers. In fact we realized that we would be lucky to make it until 5:30pm (Saturday). 

Fortunately, we’ve been hit by enough short Saturdays 6 in two years) that we had enough ribs to make it until 6:30pm.  Also fortunately, we did learn from our mistakes and had plenty of chicken and links to make it.  We ran out of brisket and ribs at 6 30pm.

Lesson to be learned is “ There are some ‘special’ days that aren’t holidays. Pay attention and look out for them.” Lesson learned.

May 25th, 2009

I don’t know it is a good thing or not but our financial status concerning the house has not changed much. We’ve had to reduce some household expenditures but we consider those luxuries.  Actually, we’ve had to give up our dish network subscription. We got behind and decided it was not worth trying to catch it up and still keep it. Instead we going to let it go and catch it up.

I must say that those of you are aware of our situation have been very, very supportive. Thanks for that. I realize that one of the reasons you have kept coming is because the food is good and for that too, thanks.

I have gotten one piece of good news.  A couple of IT recuiters have requested my resume for a particular position in San Francisco. I have even had a preliminary interview. While it’s not something to get my hopes very high about, it is a step in a positive direction. If

On a side note not related to our financial condition but to at least my ability to keep my cool.  Carolyn and I have been together one hell of a long time, 38 years.  You know something people, I love the ***k out of her.  Yep, wouldn’t, couldn’t live without her.  What’s so bad about it is, I have to work around her daily and man I stay horny!  Not just because I watch her bend over and stuff like that but I have to watch her smoothly move around and doin’ her stuff.  Fellas, it’s a real turn on to watch your woman move around confidently.  I take a lot of cold showers!

April 27st, 2009

A few more customers saw the posting about the house and were curious as to the status.  Well the status hasn’t changed.  It has gotten any worse and it hasn’t gotten any better.  However, thanks to Brick Pig’s House customers, we, Carolyn and I are able to meet some of our responsibilities.  Gas, Electric, Water, etc are being paid.

I have had a few requests for my resume but thus far, they’ve been just requests.  Thank goodness I have patience because this looks like it’s going to ‘the long haul’ I’ve been through this before and hopefully, it won’t last 2.5 years before the economy turns around enough that I get picked up like last time in the mid-80s.

In any case. those of you who may be in the same position as Carolyn and I, feel free to read this and feel either you’re not alone, you’re not in as bad a shape or if he can hang, so can I.

FYI for those who are in the same or similar shape.  The most important thing you can do is explain your predicament to your creditors and be sure to let them know that you’re immediate needs, the things you NEED to ensure your mental and emotional stability, come first.  Don’t let them browbeat you into making a payment when you need the money to care for your needs. You will be surprised how much piece you can have when you know that you’ve been straight forward and honest.

March 21st, 2009

The entry made on February 3rd was not intended to be published. It was supposed to be a truly personal moment.  I had been writing it to get that weight off my shoulders so that I adjust my mental self to be better able to think more clearly.  However, I forgot that it was there and ended up publishing it. I became aware of my mistake when a customer asked about it. 

Well one customer knowing indicates me that others may also now know.  So here is more detail. Hopefully, from my expansion, you will come to understand that Carolyn and I are about more than our own financial progression. We are about our mental and physiological well being.  At this point, I have accomplished enough in my life to be very satisfied with it and Carolyn, even though she is taking our current situation much harder than I, is just as dedicated to finding happiness in life beyond the material. So here is what is happening.

Some good news and some bad news.  The good news first.  After discussing the taxes situation with the BOE (Board of Equalization), they have allowed us to pay the 2007and 2008 taxes over time. In addition, they are graciously allowing us to pay our 2009 taxes on a monthly basis.  That’s the good news. Crappy but good, I guess.

Now the bad news.  It’s a bit lengthy but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible.  In my professional life I was an IT contractor specializing in maintaining legacy Cobol systems and helping companies cross over from legacy systems to Unix or a software package like People Soft or SAP.  As many of you may already know I had retired in 2006 to help Carolyn open and run the restaurant. Because of some of the problems I wrote about, I came out of retirement and took another contract. Well that contract ended in October of 2008. You can problably figure out where this going if you remember anything about the financial system meltdown back in Sept.

Well, since virtually all of the businesses I would have normally been able to contract with have all but closed any outstanding projects, I have been unable to get another contract.  As a result, while the restaurant is holding its own, the house and household bills situation is essentially a patient just waiting to be unplugged.  The restuarant does not yet make enough money to support itself and all of the household financial needs.  So, Carolyn and I are now 5 months behind in our mortgage and any one in a smiliar position knows that means Carolyn and I will be loosing own home to foreclosure within the next month or two.

We don’t quite know how we’re going to make it without a place to live but that is the least of our worries. We are more concerned about making sure that the restaurant stays open.  We both love the restuarant and immensely enjoy making our customers happy with our food, our optimistic outlook and, believe it or not, our contribution to providing something people can enjoy without going broke.

Now you won’t see Carolyn or I whining about our situation.  You mayl hear us complain about how those people who brought this crisis down on our country.  We don’t like this situation and it really does pain us to be in it but we’ve been here before and like last time, we’ll make it. We’ll shed some weight but we’ll survive and we’ll come out the other side better for it.

Feb 3rd, 2009

Well folks, The Brick Pig’s House is very likely to be closing soon. We’re not closing because we’re tired or made enough money or selling the recipe or anything like that.  We’re closing because I needed to make a decision back in 2006 and 2007.  The decision was to not pay the state taxes. 

Our first fourteen months in business was very, very slow. Every penny was needed and used to keep The Brick Pig’s House open inlcuding the sales taxes for 2006 and 2007.  In 2008 I paid the 2006 state taxes and asked the state to allow me to pay the 2007 taxes in installments. They consented and I started making payments. It’s now 2009 and the 2008 state taxes are due and again, because I was paying the 2007 taxes, I am again not able to pay the 2008 state taxes in one lump sum. the state will not allow me to extend payments and so will revoke our seller’s permit.

Personally, I feel as though the government entities have no interest in us small businesses other than a cash cow and they uncaring attitude has directly led to this.  Those of you who have read these diary pages are aware of some of the problems I had getting open.  The extra costs, the delays and the city, country and state governments lacadaisical attitude has plagued me to no end.

July 4th, 2008

Wow again! Today was both a very rewarding day and a painful day.  It was a rewarding day because a lot of customers came back and even more came for the first time.  We sold out even though we were prepared to handle more customers than we every have.  It seem like customers were stocking up but Carolyn and I knew it was just the 4th.  It was a painful day because we had to turn customers away! First because the wait time was going to be just too long, a couple of customers waited almost 45 minutes. Second, we ran out of everything but links and we had only a few of them left. We handled enough food to feed over 150 people.  Third we are just plain tuckered out. This is a good thing!?! Yeah! It is! Thanks Yelp!

March 15th, 2008

Wow! Talk about being worn out.  We thought we worked hard on Super Bowl Sunday!  Today was even better (and in some regards worse).  We started the day with enough to feed about 50 people plus.  We were right in that respect but wrong is thinking we wouldn’t have that many orders.  We ended the day with 2 pieces of chicken and less that 1/2 of a brisket.  The really crazy thing about the day is that we expected a rush starting around 5:30pm. That’s when most of you usually come.  Well not today. the rush start two and a half hours earlier.  By 7:30pm we were so swamped we couldn’t handle any more orders and had to close our doors! We’re trully sorry about that. Two reasons. ! - we couldn’t make that money. Two we didn’t want to turn any one away.  This is the shape of things to come so we’d better get ready huh?

February 9th, 2008

Well, we made it through our first year. It’s been a wild ride folks. I don’t mind telling you that there were a good number of times when being closed down was a real possibility.  There were times when we made JUST enough money to pay the Brick Pig’s House bills. But, each time I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to keep things going, you guys came through for us. Thanks a bunch guys!

Perhaps the biggest, most pleasant surprise was Superbowl Sunday.  Man did you guys ever come through. In fact, it looks like that may have signaled a turn around. Not a great one but a turn around nonetheless. We had a pretty decent week following Super Bowl Sunday.

Now I promised Justin I’d let him know when we hit the profit numbers. That’s 25 customers a day folks. Sorry man, we’re not there yet but we’re getting closer. Our weekly average is up to about 17 a week. it’s still too early to tell if that’s a trend or not but it is encouraging.  If you, Hannah, Hana, Josh, Howard, Cedric, Rebecca, Andy, Alex, Shimbo, Robert and the other regulars keep coming and bringing friends and you new customers keep telling friends, we just may hit the magic number soon enough. 

In any case, Carolyn and I resolved our selves to the slow growth of our business. We intend to hang in there until we can’t.  We both figure that if we keep cooking good food and serving it with a smile and keep the price right, we’ll hit the numbers we need to hit.

August 27th, 2007

It’s Monday and I’ve a hard day at work. Man am I glad to get here to the Brick Pig’s House.  This is turning out to be my love. Probably because my honey, Carolyn is here.  but that’s not the only reason. You guys are a big reason I’m enjoy coming down here to.  You make me smile!  How’s that for kissin’ up!

In case you want to know, since we opened back in November of 06, we’ve over about 2800 customers. With about 30 percent being repeat customers,  you guys are making Carolyn, Dushaun (grumpy) and I one happy bunch.   Thanks you to those of you who like us enough to come back and thank you new folks who decided to take a chance on us.  I also want to thank all of you who took the time to write reviews on Chowhound, Yelp and the other sites. Those reviews keep us going. We said you’d get quality with a smile and a good price and you said you got quality, with a smile and a good price.  It’ll be a cold day down under (not Australia) when we change that formula.

Some day I’m gonna write down what goes on in the back when we’re fixin your food. You’d fall off your seat!  I catch so much heck it’s like a comedy show. You know how great chefs are supposed to also be very bitchy, Well, my little bundle of joy is also one little hell cat! Tying the bag closed is just one of her pet peeves.  The cornbread has to be handled just so, the corn and the beans have to be stirred, the container has to be put in the bag just so.  Man, the military can take lessons from her about organization. The brisket has to be cut just right!  Man I can’t get no satisfaction!

March 11th,  2007

Well, here it is Sunday and I’m down here working. This is about the only time I can get some of the paperwork done. 

We had our SECOND celeb-type come. This one wasn’t so recognizeable.  An ederly gentleman comes in and orders a Rib lunch (a rib sandwich) and stills down to eat.  After about 10 minutes he engages in a conversation with Amera and her guests, a small group of 3 who had come in to try our wares. A minute or so later I hear him singing what sounded like Jingle Bells.  To our surprise, he’s actually singing another song to the tune of Jingle Bells.  After he finishes that one, he does another one, only this one is more along the religious lines. But it’s to the same Jingle Bells tune. He and I talk (you know we, Carolyn and I, like to talk).

During the conversation we exchange names and for some reason his name, Harold L. Ellison rings a bell in my mind. I’ve heard that name before.

I ask what how did he hear about us and he tells me that he had heard about us from a friend and thought he’d give us a try.  Another Hat size for us guys.

I ask him what he does for a living and he tells me he write childrens stories and poetry. Still, I can’t put my finger on where I’ve heard that name before.

Anyway, the conversation continues and he tells me he has one of his childrens coloring books in his car.  He leaves and returns with the book and then I remember why that name sounds familar.  Carolyn and I have have three granddaughters (and a grandson on the way!). That’s why his name sounded familar! I must have seen it on one of the children’s books my granddaughers’ have.

Anyway to end this, after he leaves, I run to the office computer and Google his name. Sure enough Harold has written a few poems and childrens books.

Oh yeah. He also says our food is delicious and that we can expect yo see him again.

January 20th,  2007

I know this isn’t really a diary entry but heck, I had to put it some where.   By the way, Danny is a very likeable and funny guy.  He come’s in, I greet him and tell him Carolyn is in the back and to go back and say hi.  What’s he do! he goes in the back and starts “What’s in here?” meaning the first steam tray. “Rib’s” I tell him and show him. “Man they look good!”  he says “What’s this? He asked getting more excited and lifts the lid to the beef mild links.  “there beek links”  I answer. “Hmmm, these hot?”

“Yep.”

What’s this?

“Corn.”

“Looks” Good

Anyway, this went on until he saw the brisket. There only a very small end left and guess what. He want’s a taste. So Carolyn gives it to him.  His eyes light up cause it good and Carolyn’s head gets a little bigger.  “I’ll take some of that!” Danny says.  Can’t this is the last of it.” Carolyn tells him and adds “I’m cooking a nother one tomorrow.

“(Light Expletive) Okay, I’ll take some Chicken then.” Danny says. “You got some blackberry cobbler?”

“Aw Danny, I’m sorry but I just sold the last one!”  Carolyn answers and adds, “But I’m making a new fresh one tomorrow.

“I’m leaving in the morning, how come everything I want you’re making tomorrow.  You ain’t right.

“Oh Danny, I’m sorry.  If I’d known you were coming I would have saved you some.

“No problem.”

So we fix Danny a chicken and link combo, joked around a little more and he left, happy with the food but with a promise to be back and he expected to have some brisket and blackberry cobbler.

Now most of this is paraphrasing and recollection and a lot funnier that I presented but true.

I

 Yep.  This is Danny Glover, the Actor.  He has appeared in a number of movies among which are: The Color Purple, Bat 21, Flight of the Intruder, Lethal Weapon (with Mel Gibson) and most recently Dreamgirls.  Believe it or not, Danny is a family friend and one of Carolyn’s Aunt’s Godson.  He stopped by to wish us godspeed and good luck and to get some great food.

Between the gift of the electric heater and Danny Glover’s visit and a very decent day sales-wise, today has been was one great, big, very, exciting and happy surprise!  God I hope there are many more of these!

I going to find out for sure but a number of customers who have come in and seen the portrait of the young, black woman have asked if that is a portrait of the singer Jill Scott-Heron. I don’t know but when I talk to Kalim Quevedo next, I will besure to ask him.  Now that I’ve looked at it, it does look like her.

January 5, 2007

We’ve survived a month so far! What’s more, we came through with some nice kudos. We’ve had numerous good critiques written about us.  We gotten a five star rating from two of our customers and The Oakland Trib thought our food was delicious.

I say this with a certain amount of joy and relief since it appears that a Sushi joint that opened the same time we did may not have made it.  That’s sad to hear. Hopefully it’s only a temporary situation.

We’re still here and of that we’re glad. Now for those who haven’t started their own business, you need to understand that having your own business is an ‘on-the-edge’ venture.  From the day you decide open a business to the day you decide close, you will always be living on the edge. It’s nerve-wracking, scarey, stressful and a bunch of other words that I could use to scare you out of even thinking about it.  However, there is no bigger high than the high you get from learning new ways to do things you thought you knew how to do. The rush from successfully making though a day with a profit is a rush that lasts until the middle of the next day.

Carolyn and I worry every day about making ends meet and fret about the business failing.  Sometimes it gets pretty intense. Having lived through the business building experience from an earlier venture that was mildly succesful, I spend a long of time calming Carolyn down and explaining to her that the anxiety is normal.  In fact it’s what drives you to succeed.  Anyway. We both are very aware that failure means loosing everything we have but at the same time, we are also very aware that failure is tied directly to NOT doing what we have been doing for the last thirty plus years.  Namely, feeding the best food we can to those we care about.  The only difference is that now, the circle of those we care about has been expanded to include everyone who comes through the door.

December 23, 2006

We’ve been open a month now and although we’re barely making it, thanks to the customers who have been coming, some multiple times, we are confident that we’ll be here for a while. We are concerned that customers are wondering what we do though. A lot of customers have said that they don’t smell BBQ cooking. Well, there are a number of reasons for that.  The first reason is that since we’re not ‘packing them in’, we cook some items only when needed. The ribs we cook twice a day.  The chicken the same. the second reason has to do with city ordinances.  since we cook on an open grill we have to have two kick ass exahust systems that are so powerful all odors are sucked out of the building. We have been told that when we do cook, the smell has been smelled as far away as the 55th freeway exit.  Trouble is, since we don’t cook constantly at this time, there are only certain times you can smell our cooking.  So hang in there and keep coming. Soon enough, we’ll have enough customers coming that the grills will be on most, if not all day.

December 14, 2006

We’ve been open now for about 3 weeks and considering the time of the year the response has been much better than expected. Carolyn’s excited that perfect strangers are trully enjoying not only her food but her decorating skills. The lobby area is her idea you know. I came up with the Brick House theme but it was her idea to make it seem like a home. 

We watching the customer traffic closely.  We’ve been asked by a number of customers if we ever intend to have seating.  The answer is yes.  The caveat is when. We’re looking at sometime in January if the number of customers warrants it.  We will be adding either two tables or a counter area.  Which we not yet sure.  Stay tuned.

December 5,  2006

We have heard from a few folks that we have been reviewed on Chowhound.com.  From what the customers have told us, the review is straightforward and flattering.  This is wonderful news to Carolyn and I! Caroyn is very pleased.  Her number one concern is how our food is received. We read one of the reviews and Carolyn is very happy that her food is being applauded.  My concern is how the customers perceive us and from the review that we read, our service is also being commended. Now that we have been touted as having good food and providing good service, we’ll work hard to maintain both standards. 

November 29, 2006

This problem we’re having with AT&T taking 5 days to correct their directory assistance database is not at all acceptable.  It sounds like their are updating their database in a batch mode. A batch mode is when you take the days transactions and run them as a single unit at some appointed time. This is all well and good when you have time to do that type of processing. However, batch processing is, in relationship to ‘live’ action living about as antiquated as the dinosaur.  With such interactive data base systems as Oracle, SAP, Peoplesoft, MSSQL and a number of others, update can be applied immediately.  This is perhaps the singlemost advantage to have such high-powered systems.  Banks, Credit Card companies, Stock exchanges all make use of interactive processing and the use of such systems has proven themselves beyond reproach.

I spent the last half of my IT career helping to write programs and build systems using interactive processing and it has always boggled my mind when I saw management turn these systems in batch processing systems. 

This is not to say that there are times when batch processing is the best mode of processing.  Batch processing is appropriate when other immeditate transactions are not reliant on the information. an example would be volume orders.

November 29, 2006

Well the business has been going for 3 days now. We’re pleased about the results. Carolyn’s cooking skills are passing the tests and we are both surprised by the number of new faces that are coming. This is most definitely a sign that the word is getting out and that the word must be a good word.

When we built our business plan we made the decision to stock enough to feed 50 people a day for a week.  I’m glad we did.  Not because we have had that many but because it is helping keep the costs down.  Some items are going pretty fast (like the Brisket) while some are not (the Chicken Hot Links). But generally, our calculations and guesswork seems to be paying off. The need and benefit of a solid business plan is bearing fruit.  I am so glad I took the time to build it as accurately as I could.

November 24, 2006

If I said that our Grand Opening was a great day I would be understating it. It was a wonderful day!. It was a very, very busy day and despite the little glitches we ran into, the people, family, friends and strangers made it a very, very pleasing day. Both Carolyn and I are extremely pleased with the response from the people who came in.  I personally want to thank those who were victims of soem of our little glitches for patiently waiting while we fix them.

We had the first day jitters and although we disquised it well (I thought), some came through. Some customers had to wait a little longer than we wanted.  Our set up was not a organized as we thought. We’ve reviewed the process and streamlined it some.  We’ll keep working at it until we get it effecient.

Late in the day when we grew tired we mixed up a couple of orders but luckily and wisely we began double-checking our selves.

We got caught a few times with not enough hot food to make the order.  We cooked enough but didn’t have it out and so one or two customers had to wait while we heated the food. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

November 24, 2006

It’s been very, very aroundd The Brick Pig’s House since we’ve gotten the okay to open.  Carolyn and I have been getting the food ready, stocking shelves and finishing the little odds and ends work. We’ve also been out corraling vendors trying to get good prices on quality meats and produce. Fortunately we scoped out a lot of them back in July. 

One sticking point we’ve run into is getting Turkey and Chicken Links. The vendor we initially hooked up with said he could get them but when it came time to get them, he backed out.  It also seems that most of the vendors aren’t carrying them either. We found one who would provide Turkey Hot Links as a special order item with a three to four day delivery time. The price is a bit high though so we have to hold off for a minute while we hunt for other vendors.  So bear with us folks for a while.  We’ll find Hot and Mild Chicken and Turkey Links.  It’s just going to take some time.

Speaking of hunting for items, we’ve found that some of the most reliable and fastest service has come from some of the internet vendors. Companies like Plastic Container City, Amazon.com and a few others have been Johnny on the spot for us. I like doing business on the internet.

November 21, 2006

Well the trials are over and all the required government entities have given their permission for us to open.  Although there have been times when we were sure that the light at the end of the tunnel was a train, we are so relieved to know that it was only a man with a bright light signaling us to let us know that we were approaching the end of the tunnel.

Carolyn and I will be working feverishly to put the final touches on and in The Brick Pig’s House to make it both comfortable to be in and a great place to get BBQ!  If you see either of us working inside or outside or the door is open, stop in and say Hey!

November 15, 2006

The City completed the building inspection and although they have some changes for us to make, they have given their stamp of approval.  One more inspection to go and we’ll know exactly WHEN we can open.  The Health Department is all that remains. 

When you see the Grand Opening Sign and the balloons out front, you’ll know we’ve finally opened.  Of course I will be sending out emails to all of you have supplied an email address as soon as I know the exact date.

November 13, 2006

We passed the City’s Mechanical Inspection.  That leaves the City’s Building inspection and the Health Department inspection. The City will be here Wednesday to conduct what I hope will be their final inspection.  I’m still waiting for the Health Department to schedule their next inspection. 

I see that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting much brighter and it appears that the light doesn’t belong to a train. Keep your fingers crossed for us and tell the City and the Health Department to please, please pass us!

November 8,  2006

Well, Election day came and went.  Most of the elections went pretty much the way I thought they would go. My sense of politics is getting better.

The Health Department inspection also came and went and like election day, most of it went pretty much the way I expected it would go.  Some didn’t go my way.  But based on the way the inspections have been going I didn’t expect I’d get approval on the first pass. 

We have to change a few things.  I won’t go into all the details but all in all, the changes should be completed by Monday, if not sooner.  In all likelihood we should pass the second Health Department inspection and I’m pretty sure we’ll pass the last two City inspections.

It is beginning to look as though we trully will be able in about two weeks (from November 6th).  The long wait will finally be over.

I’m saying this with a bitter taste in my mouth. There is always the possibilty that after making all the required changes the City or the Health Department may still find something. Let’s hope and pray that they don’t.

November 4,  2006

Some good news! We’re almost ready! The City of Oakland has blessed our plumbing, finally! Of course we still have the Health Department’s inspection to pass.  That takes place this coming Tuesday. We fairly certain that we’ll pass that.  After that, the city will have to give us one more inspection.  As much as I’d like to say we’re ready open, I can’t.  A new problem has been discovered.  This time its the existing exhaust system.  When it was installed back in the early 90s, the installer didn’t allow the proper clearance for the exhaust vent.  The city is checking to see if it passed inspection back then. If it didn’t or was even inspected, we’ll have to move the vent before we can get the final sign off. Fortunately, that’s a single day’s work. The inspector will let us know Monday what we have to do to pass muster.

What does this mean? It means that should all go well and we get the latest problem fixed to the City’s satisfaction, we should be opening in about two weeks. A dear friend of mine has the perfect saying for a situation like this (giving an opening date).  He says, ”write it light.” 

By the way, anyone want to buy a remodeled 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with a very nice back yard, dishwasher, washer and dryer, central heating, new double paned windows and a nice work area?  Sorry we took down the garage to have grass. At the rate this project is moving, we’ll need to sell ours to make the bills. I’m retired in January (I was a Programmer/Analyst) and and we used the nest egg along with the startup capital to get this thing going. We hadn’t planned on this thing taking this long.  Since I’m no longer employed, I can’t get at the almost $100,000 equity I have left in the house.  Damn shame ain’t it!  The saving grace is that Carolyn and I have been ‘in a slipping down’ state before and just like then, we will not fall. 

I’m only half-serious about the house folks. But it’s an option that is now being given some thought.

October 19, 2006

Would you believe it!. Just when we thought we had the plumbing problems licked.  Bam!  We were connect the venting pipe for the rest room and we heard water running. When we tracked it down we found a pipe barely protuding through the foundation of the next door neighbor’s bathroom that was training into the ground. Apparently it had never been connected to the drainage system. Sooo back to the plumbing supply company to get the necessary connectors.  Man these old buildings are full of surprises!

Check out the pictures of what we’ve had to do to fix these problems.  These pictures are from BEFORE we found the new problem. The first picture is what the area looked like before we got started. The second picture shows the amount of work we ended up doing to fix the problem. The hole, by the way, is 7 feet long by 4 feet wide by almost 3 feet deep.  As you look at the open pit picture, the narrow pipe and the wide pipe extending left from the wide main drain are from the neighbor’s bathroom. The wide pipe extending from the main line with the bend to the left at the top of the picture is going to the our place. The new problem we found is between the narrow and wide pipes that connects our neighbor’s bathroom.

Lesson to be learned this time: Old buildings can potentially hide some costly problems. If you’re renovating an old building, if you can get hold of the plans for it, check out the plumbing. If you can, try to get a look at the plumbing.  It may take some work but it may save you a bunch on money!   Just fixing the new problem cost us $500..  

October 10, 2006

The City of Oakland has told us that even though we followed the approved plans for the plumbing, the plumbing was done incorrectly. It appears that the plumbing plans were wrong. The City Planning department does not check the plumbing or electricity drawings.  We now have redo the plumbing for 5 sinks, add a floor drain and upgrade some of the outside plumbing and upgrade the plumbing for the about-to-be handicapped accessible restroom that no handicapped person will be allowed to use. Over $1500 for parts and labor down the drain. 

The city is also equiring that the restroom be handicapped accessible. This is causing a lot of confusion since The Brick Pig’s House is a Take Out establishment and does not have a public restroom. However, we’ve been told that it’s a state requirement.

A couple lessons learned here.

1. Even if you have to pay for the review,get the city planning department to review ALL the drawings before getting started.  Since the City of Oakland does not review plumbing and electric drawings, you can run into a lot of problems if you follow the plans WITHOUT first getting assurance from the city that the drawings are correct.

2. Even though the city may have requiements, you also have to consider state and federal regs all.

3. Even though exceptions to some state and federal regs are allowed, local governments are free to modify and in some case replace portions of federal and state regs.  The Handicapped restroom requirement is a primt example. 

4. Once you start the inspection process, be sure to get the names and numbers of the inspectors and ask for them for any subsequent inspections.  

September 21, 2006

The City of Oakland has had their chance to look things over.  The results are mixed.  We have been given the A-Okay on the Electric and partial Okay on the building and mechanical.  The partials on the building and mechanical are because some parts had to stay open so that the welds and related stuff could be inspected. Since we’re putting in a gas grill, a hood with an exhaust removal system had to be also installed. The exhaust chute is in two parts and had to be welded in three places.  The inspector needed to verify that the welds were good welds. They were. Now we can enclose the exhaust chute in a ‘fire box’.  Once that is done, that will also be inspected.  We are in the process of doing that now.

September 18, 2006

The Fire Inspector came and ran tests to make sure that the fire prevention system works as it should. Well, things couldn’t have gone better.  All of the tests ran perfectly and she gave us the A-Okay. 

We have the City of Oakland coming out on Wednesday (9/20) to do their inspection. We don’t see any showstoppers that could keep us from opening.  Geez, I will be glad that this will finally be over.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Here’s a tip.  If you are planning on opening an eatery that has cooked food, you have to schedule a Fire Code inspection at the same time as the Building, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechancial inspections or as soon after them as possible. We didn’t know that until the Fire Inspector informed of us that.

September 5, 2006

The Fire Marshall has set aside September 12th as the inpection date.  Our contractor has been working hard to make sure that his end is done so that the inspection will go well.  The city inspector will be contacted immediately the inspection is done, provided we pass.  Keep you fingers crossed!

August 31, 2006

The insurance provider called me,  They are going to cancel our coverage.  The reason given is that we’re not open for business and that covering us is a ‘waste’ of coverage. In one way it makes sense. However, I want to keep the coverage because I have valuable equipment in the place that I want protected.  I’ll talk to them and ask them to reduce the coverage to just fire, theft and damage. Hopefully, they’ll go for that.  Lesson:  Either don’t get insurance until you actually open or get only what you need and then increase it after you open.

Aug. 28, 2006

The Ansul Fire Prevention system has finally been installed and a post-installation test has been successfully done. Now it remans for the company that installed the system to schedule a certification test with the Fire Marshal on site to witness the test. Should the system met with the Fire Marshal expectations, the system will be certified. The process of scheduling the test is being done now.  We’re at the mercy of the Fire Marshal here.  I have no idea when the test will be done.

After the certification has been given, the City Planning Department will do a final inspection to ensure that the renovations have been done according to the approved building plans. If all goes well, the city will say ‘Okay, close it up.” That means that the openings that have been created for the electrical and plumbing can be closed. That’s essentially the okay to open for business.  For us that means about a week to clean the place up and stock up. Of course, we don’t know when the inspection will take place.  We do know that we’ll make the call the same day the the Fire Marshall certifies the fire prevention system. The city will usually come out the next day.

Aug. 15, 2006

I’ve settled down folks. Carolyn is still a little bothered.  But we’re accepting the situation.  For all of you out there who are encouraging us to hang in there please accept our heartfelt Thanks. . It is doing wonders for our mental state. This whole ordeal will make one hilariously funny book!  Some day I may write about it.  Lesson:  There are two of them. 

1.) Make damn sure that all systems are working properly BEFORE you make any announcements to the public.

2.)  Even though the contractor says things will go fine, you want to see a test first.

Hopefully, you’ve noticed that we added the Mastercard and Visa logos to our web site. Yep, we will be accepting both their credit and debit cards. We’re also looking into accepting American Express. 

Right now, the general consensus is that most folks are using either Mastercard or Visa.   If you have and prefer to use American Express, let us know. The more of you who use it, the sooner we’ll accept it.   Sorry folks, but so far, it doesn’t look like we’ll accept any other cards.  Of course, time tells a story of change.

Just a bit of an about us, check the new information about Carolyn and I on the About us page. We’ve added a nice little tidbit about us we think you might like.

As an After thought, I added this diary page.  The purpose is to document the process and progress of getting the Brick Pig’s House open for business, running and hopefully, successful.  Perhaps the information here will help others avoid the pitfalls I’ve run into. Also it might be interesting reading to see how a restaurant works.