We are in limbo while we wait for counters to be built and equipment to arrive. So while we wait, we perform the tasks that are the least amount of fun -- made obvious by the fact that there was very little lighthearted banter going on; just a roomful of bad-tempered people hunched over their own little projects suddenly emitting exclamatory profanity, like there was a sudden Tourette's epidemic.
My biggest accomplishment this weekend was teaching myself the ins and outs of our computerized cash register and obsessing over whether we should at any point offer biscuits and sausage gravy in the morning breakfast service. You'd be surprised how easily your mind can get stuck on biscuits and sausage gravy at 3 a.m. It made me realize how much of a problem I'm going to have putting items on the menu that I don't personally like myself. I guarantee, kale will never cross the threshold of the Courthouse Corner Cafe.
Dirtman tore down, cleaned and put back together the expresso machine and two coffee grinders. After several phone calls and flooding the front service area, he wrangled our first cup of expresso out of the machine. It was...um...special*.
DG was online ordering the last few big ticket items and watching the cafe's bank balance dwindle. He could be heard whimpering as he shook his head nervously. In the afternoon, we left him waving distractedly and muttering. By the time we got back home he'd turned a very strange corner and was sending me bizarre e-mails with bad puns on "barristers" and "baristas."
The Twin Prodigy (DG's sons) got the most visible work done -- they cleaned and fixed all the ceiling fans and lights both inside and out of the building.
And they tried to drink the expresso.
Now, if we could only settle on a font for our logo...**
*In all fairness, Dirtman didn't have real expresso beans to work with, nor could he find the tamper for the grounds. He just wanted to get the machine clean and working.
**We're all waiting on DG, for whom this seems to be a matter requiring a significant amount of meditation and consideration.
3 comments:
Delightful read, Jeannie!
I know it's too early to consider, but perhaps you have already: artwork from local artists and artisans to adorn your cafe.
Like the logo.
We're actually in contact with a group of artists that used to run a store out of an old mining company store. I bought a few beautiful watercolors off one of their artists back when I had the money. And right down the road from us is a gift shop that offers local artwork for sale -- I haven't had the time to check them out, though it's mostly crafty stuff from what I hear -- not much to go on the walls.
I've got 2 or 3 tampers laying around that I want to unload - shall I mail them to you? If so, drop me an email with the address, please.
(my espresso machine is a semi-automatic, so no tamper required.)
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