And now the stretch run has arrived. Most of my tile work is done. The tilers will come back after the painters are done to polish all of the tile and marble surfaces. The painters are about ¾ done. I will be happy to see them go. The mist from the paint spray gets everywhere. The interesting thing is that the spray turns to a fine powder in the dry warmth of the desert. I just take a broom and sweep it up, it’s everywhere. No amount of taping or covering with plastic seems to work. The dried powdery residue seems to find every corner of the restaurant. On the coast, this powder would fall and the moisture in the air would make it stick on whatever surface it finds. Every few days we clean up only to find paint powder someplace new. The kitchen is about 80% done. The refrigeration is going good. Once my water softener is installed I can begin to wash everything and be nearing the finish line with the kitchen.

Yesterday I had the health inspector come by to give us what’s called a pre-inspection. That went better than expected. He only had one page of “fix-its”. The inspector was pleasantly surprised with the condition and work that was already done. His normal report for a restaurant this size would have been 5 pages long.

The most important thing for me right now, is to stay in front of the time sensitive issues. Things such as chairs, tables, anything custom made will take 6-8 weeks to make and deliver. I make checklists but it’s difficult to stay on top of everything as things are happening fast and last minute changes can screw things up in a hurry. It seems like lately my checklists have been upstairs in my head. A very dangerous thing for someone who is convinced he has begun to lose his memory.

Lighting has been the area that has been the most frustrating as well as the most satisfying. The most daunting task on my upstairs checklist is choosing my chandeliers. I need six of them. Have you ever sat down in front of your computer and scrolled through pages and pages of chandeliers? IT SUCKS! First of all I don’t get chandeliers. There are thousands and thousands of chandeliers out there. And then they can cost thousands and thousands of dollars. All of which is definitely not in the budget. The rest of my lighting was relatively easy. My pendants over the bar will be champagne bottles and my 32 sconces will be back-lit wine barrel ends. Both of these items are being custom made by me at a cost that is both reasonable and in the budget. But as to those chandeliers I have decided after almost 12 weeks of searching to dump the whole chandelier idea and go with ceiling fans. There are also thousands and thousands of ceiling fans to choose from but the list is easier to thin out with my more commercial requirements.

And so the stretch run goes. Day by day, week by week I now find myself with the end line just a few weeks away. And then the fun begins…..

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 12:01 pm.
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