Shelf Life ...

There haven't been a lot of pictures lately, so there will be a lot of pictures today.

This day was all about shelving, well, almost, because E! did a lot of cleaning (all for the health department).


Not a shelf, well, the door sill could count as one.


A little shelf for the hand soap.


Again, not a shelf, but the tables bases for the booth tables, which Jack and I will put together tomorrow (sorry, Julie, couldn't wait on this one).


Uh, a shelf again, though this one I installed a while back. It has yummy home-made preservatives on it (sorry, Jack, we still haven't cracked a single jar).


A spice shelf, rack, shelf, rack, d'oh!


Another shelf, rack, shelf, rack, uuuuuuuuuuuuuurgh!!!


A ... SHELF!!!


More shelves ... rack? Shelf and rack? Dangnabbit!!!


Definitely not a shelf. Maybe a hanger rack?


Dirk

Where Did The Day Go? ...

The nice thing about blogging is that it makes me think about what I actually did that day, because sometimes the day just passes by me. Let's see if I can recall what I did today.

I hung some spice shelves in the kitchen. Then I am drawing a blank. I ordered refrigerant lines for the ice maker. Another blank. I meant to do touch up painting in the back of the house (i.e. kitchen, wait station, and dish station; that's restaurant lingo, you'll get used to it ... ;-), but ended up cleaning the dish washer and sink, which still had construction dust and dirt on them. More blanks. I dump to gallons of bleach down the well, because we need to shock the well again before we open (actually it's less about the well, but the water lines that have been installed since we shocked the well last time). I painted part of the dish station floor with concrete sealer, and then we went shopping.

I apologize for yesterday's abrupt ending of the blog. I meant to write more about what is going on and why we are so bouncy in our plans and all that good stuff, but I barely managed to keep my eyes open, and simply published the post as is, put the computer aside and fell asleep.

More tomorrow, more excitement hopefully, more energy to tell you about the excitement.

Dirk

Now Hiring ...

Well, it had to happen some day: we started hiring people. We already had plenty of response to our job posting on Craig's List, but if you know someone who is looking for a position in the food service industry, point them our way (our contact information can be found on the left-hand side), or better yet point them to the Craig's List posting first, so they know what we are looking for, and we don't have to explain it a gazillion times.

If you read the job posting you may have learned some news, which I haven't shared with you yet: We are planning to open by Memorial Day weekend. Our first day open would be Saturday. We'd be open Saturday through Monday, and closed on Tuesday (we decided to make Tuesday the day we're closed instead of Monday, because too many holidays fall on a Monday, and we don't want to confuse people, by being open on some Mondays, and not on others). After that weekend, we'd be open for dinner and by reservation only for a week.

So, what's this all about? Let's face it, we have been working on Gunk Haus for two and a half years now, it's time we open up. We aren't exactly ready for this, but we're ready enough: At some point you just have to jump into the water, and start swimming.

We decided that Memorial Day weekend would be a great time to open up. The scary part is that we will simply swing open the doors and take any comers. As you may imagine this can be quite stressful, as there is the potential for being overrun. In order to make this a positive experience for everyone, the menu for that weekend will be rather limited to only a few items, so the work load on the kitchen staff is more predictable.

The beer list will also be limited, because I won't have the time to setup the draft system (installing the walk-in beer cooler, installing the beer lines, etc.).

OK, I am falling asleep, therefore a quick tour of what happened today. Jack stopped by and dropped off the metal sign for the south-east corner.


E! and I were cleaning, caulking, and a few other boring which I can't think of right now. Off to lalaland for the Dirkster.

Dirk

Thousand Piece Puzzle ...

Once again, dear readers, you have answered the call, and provided your input on another hot topic. Although I usually don't expect any new revelations, shoe-napkins aside, your answers provide us with a sentiment and level of tolerance regarding certain topics, and they influence our decisions, and we do not make these decisions lightly. We constantly have to weigh cost and benefit, and your answers help us tip the scale in one or the other direction.

Today was E!'s day to do dishes. In your household this may sound like punishment, at Gunk Haus it means fun (we love our dishwasher). We should have people pay us to work as dishwasher.

We are gearing up for the final (pre-opening) inspection by the health department this coming Monday, so there are a thousand little things to do.

I hooked up the coffeemaker and ice maker today. Both have a direct water connection, i.e. they are constantly supplied with water (as opposed to our espresso maker, which is a pour-over model). Because of that they have to have a back flow preventer inserted in the water feed, which keeps water from being siphoned back into the water pipes, and potentially contaminating them.

The problem with all this is that these are not common plumbing problems. As the connections of your toilet, faucet, or ice maker (in the fridge) are very common, you can go to your local hardware store, and buy the one piece that makes it happen.

Not in this case. I literally spent hours at Lowe's trying to come up with a solution, which doesn't use twenty or so parts to hook up the coffee maker or ice maker. Not only does each additional piece add cost, but it also adds a point of failure. Anyhow, I finally got it done today, and that's what matters.

Dirk

Paper Or Cloth ...

E! and I were sitting at the dinner table discussing what napkins to use, paper or cloth. So, my dear readers, what is your napkin preference, paper or cloth?

We went out and spent a lot of money, again. Mostly things to make the health department happy, and then things to connect the things that make the health department happy to the things that make us happy, like a refrigerator-sized ice maker.

One of the things that make me happy is our dishwasher. I spent about two hours today doing dishes, just the bare essentials (more glasses are on the bar) ... ;-)



Dirk

Award-Winning Gunk Haus Art ...

Last Friday our friend Greta dropped off a copy of a picture she had taken for a class at Dutchess Community College. It is an awesome shot of our dish station door. Needless to say, it was picked as number one out of 150 pictures. Thanks Greta ... :-)


Dirk

Bend It Like Beckham ...

Remember the other day, when I got a stainless steel shelf from our local metal scrapper, in exchange for a dinner. Well, yesterday Jack swung by and cut it in half for me - he does a lot of metal work, and bronze casting, so he has all the tools and experience.

Today I put the finishing touches on it, making a few short cuts, bending a lip ...


... and finally installing it in its final resting place between the dish sink and the dishwasher.


Dirk