Thanksgiving Week

Well, we have an appointment scheduled for today at 3:30pm to take a look at the drive through location with the Health Department. We will get their feedback on how many changes/upgrades will be required to operate there.
Tracy and I have been discussing the pros and cons of opening a second location so soon. I believe the drive through will capture a the commuter crowd on Pikes Peak Ave, but we are trying to go beyond the business model and determine how it will affect our family life, our stress levels, and the amount of spare time we have (our spare time has to be planned in advance, otherwise it gets eaten up by life's demands. It is critical that we set aside family time for our sakes and for the boys, especially).
Everything hinges on the Health Dept input. Once we determine if it is feasible, then we will have to think about it very seriously. Our shop is roughly at the break even point. If we can do some marketing and capture some of the commuters, increase our catering/delivery (especially to Premiere Global and Time Warner), increase our whole bean coffee sales via seminars and tastings, new and better signage, flyer distributions, print media advertising, etc, etc... If we can implement the above items and get our shop to the point of paying ourselves a decent salary, then we may not need the added stress and "time consumption" of a second location. I am the kind of person who just forges ahead and does things, and I will work half the night and only get a couple hours of sleep if necessary. Tracy keeps me grounded, and helps me to think about impacts to our lives beyond business... We are thinking, as well as praying, about this decision. We would appreciate your prayers as well, if you are so inclined...

We are going to be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, and we will be open on Friday (it will probably be DEAD...) Holidays around the shop are SO VERY SLOW...

A photography website where I participate has a forum thread going called "Tell us something odd about yourself." Wow, what a wide open field that leaves for me. I could fill volumes! This is what I listed, although it doesn't even begin to tap into the odd things about me!

Weird diversity of jobs...
So far in my life (I'm 42) I have done the following:
Electronics Technician
Nuclear Reactor Operator
US Navy Diver
Instructor, certifying others to operate nuclear plants
Barista at Starbucks
Account Manager for entertainment Youth Fund Raising
Retail Sales Rep for Software Etc
Top Secret position at Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base
System Certification Tech, Semiconductor Industry
Quality Assurance, Semiconductor Industry
Quality Assurance, Bio-pharmaceutical Industry
Certified Weld Inspector (CWI)
Industrial Scheduler, using Primavera Project Planner
Project Manager (construction) for Specialized Ultra High Purity Environments (multi million $$ projects)
Project Manager, Sustaining Projects for Intel Fab 23
Landlord (own several rental properties)
I also have a full industrial wood shop and do custom furniture design and fabrication on commission.

Oh, when I was 16 I was hand picked to be involved in a first of a kind Junior Achievement Company (Madison County JA, Anderson, Indiana). 10 of us wrote a curriculum for 6 week sessions to teach computer programming to the public. We sold out of three sessions, with 20 participants in each session (cost was $99 per person, per session). It was very successful, and Wall Street Journal and other national publications did articles about us. I was selected out of the 10 of us to go to a conference in Cincinnati and give a speech to 3500 people about our company and its successes!

I currently own a high end retail coffee shop (which I designed and completed the construction myself), as well as a Photography Studio (specializing in weddings and portraits).
I am teaching Photography lessons as well as Photoshop lessons out of my studio. I also do graphic design on the side (paid jobs).

I recently came back to work at Intel and I am taking care of their site water chemistry control (lots of samples of different systems, lab analysis for water quality and chemistry control agents, followed by trend analysis and chemistry/biocide injection rate modifications to maintain system parameters).

I recently interviewed for a position as a Project Engineer for a local Mechanical contractor (they are completing a major expansion at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs - about an 18 month project). I have a meeting with them Monday afternoon to review their offer letter.

The crazy thing is that I have never been to college, but I have excelled in all of these areas. I also have never had to look for a job. Due to networking and my Project Management experience, I typically receive several job offers a week.

Pretty crazy...

Gotta run,
JD