Final day of 2007

Wow, 2007 will go down in history as one of the most eventful years in my life! Tracy and I have really been "hopping" in 2007. Here is a quick recap:

We started the year having already signed our lease, and were in full Demo mode. I had completed six or so weeks of construction late in 2006, only to find out from Regional Bldg Dept that our proposed layout would not work. In order to utilize that much square footage for the cafe, we would have had to reconstruct the entire store front, adding very expensive UL listed fire doors with crash bars, as well as install double stall bathrooms for both men and women.

We completed the framing of walls in January 2007 and began working some business organization logistics. We continued construction in February, and even received our building permit on February 17th (after that, we were able to take down the coverings on all of the front windows). February had it's own challenges, including dealing with Colorado Springs Wastewater Division of the Utilities to resolve the grease trap issue, working with Regional to resolve the issue of previous fire damage in the building's electrical distribution system that was never repaired to code, and in dealing with Ethan breaking his leg!
March brought electrical and plumbing, as well as drywall and paint. Ryan and I began some extensive custom wood work, which is one of the major contributors of the 'character' of the shop! We also began advertising for hiring, expecting an early April opening.
April 2007 was a complete construction frenzy! I personally laid all of the hardwood flooring in the studio, kids room, and the cafe. Rob and Ryan laid way, way more slate tile than we had originally planned. I think it turned out to be one of the best decisions, and I kind of wish the entire cafe were slate tile. We also dealt with incorrect electrical wiring which blew up our brewer, and incorrect wiring for our espresso machine. We also wrapped up the drop ceiling (via contractor), finished the cabinet installs and custom woodwork, etc. We had experienced several delays for our expected open date, but I promised Tracy we would get open by her birthday. I spent the night of April 25th in the wood shop and at Nemo's wrapping up last minute priorities. It was an all-nighter, and I was completely exhausted from a very crazy several months of construction. But... at approximately 9:00am, we received our final blessing from the El Paso County Health Department and we opened for business on Tracy's birthday (I spent much of the day asleep in the kids' room)!! Woo Hoo!

We watched sales build quickly, and we were able to show profits of $14,500 in our first six months of operation. We paid our selves $6500 and spent the other $8000 on additional equipment purchases and upgrades. We learned very quickly that our shop is very slow around holidays, and November and December have been below average months for us, as compared to the first six months. We are looking forward to bouncing back in early '08.

Of our original hires (Michelle, Artie, Pam, Nicole, and Dion) we still have Artie and Michelle. Our new hires have been James, Robert, and Vanessa. Vanessa just finished her last week with us, and Tracy is currently interviewing for a replacement.

Our personal finances have suffered, having gone from Dec 2006 until October 2007 with basically no income. We were prepared to go a year or more without a personal income, but Ethan's broken leg cost us $4000, and we ended up with an empty rental house that costs $1000 per month for the payment and utilities. I went back to work in October 2007 at Intel, performing their site water chemistry control scope. Although it pays well and I enjoy what I am doing for them, it is a temporary position since they will be closing this plant in early 2008. My contract with them is currently through March 2008. As a result, I began a job search, looking for something in Construction Management or Project Controls, which is my career background. I thought it would take a few months to land a solid position, but I found a job with RK Mechanical almost immediately, as a Project Engineer on the Fort Carson expansion project. Our scope is all mechanical (HVAC and Controls, all plumbing and wastewater systems, as well as radiant heated flooring, hot water boilers and distribution, etc). We have five 4 story barracks to build, as well as three TEMF's (Tactical Equipment Maintenance Facilities). This construction is to accommodate additional troops being assigned to Ft Carson by 2011. They announced last week that another full brigade will be reassigned to Ft Carson by 2013, which will result in another $170 million in construction efforts! I may be busy there for awhile...
In the meantime, I am working the Project Engineer job during the day, spending a couple of hours with Tracy and the kids, then working the Intel scope at evening/night. I did not want to back out of my commitment to Intel, as I have many friends there from the last seven years. It would be very difficult for them to bring someone in to take over my scope for just three months. It is difficult, but I am getting enough sleep, and having two full incomes will help us to rebuild our personal finances! Although this is hard, I am very thankful to have both opportunities.

Another big part of 2007 has been my photography. I shot numerous senior photos and family portraits this year, and that income really helped (it was before I went back to work). The photography income bridged the gap and looking back on it, I realize it was a necessity, not just a nice to have 'side income'. I have pretty much stopped all photography efforts since I am working two jobs, plus working 10 or so hours at Nemo's a week. I am looking forward to resuming the photography work next year when the Intel scope is completed.

Tracy and I have also continued to volunteer at our church, but we are working in the nursery instead of teaching a Sunday School class. It is much easier to show up and hold crying babies than to prepare a lesson and crafts for 20-30 kids. We enjoyed teaching, but just don't have the time resources to do it well right now. So, Babies-R-Us for now...

Josh, Jonah, and Ethan have done well this year. They rarely have to spend time at the shop, and typically enjoy their time when they are there. Since we are so busy, it has made us take a very close look at our schedules, and to insure we are spending significant time with the boys. Almost all of our non-work time is spent with them, and I think we have more quality time as a family than before we opened the shop. Having fewer time resources makes us appreciate the time we do have, and we use our time much more wisely now...

Thoughts on 2008...
We will be doing some marketing and advertising for the first time ever in early 2008. We have had success so far, but we have not even begun to reach the 18,000 daytime workers that commute into the area (one mile radius of the shop).

I will continue to work two jobs until the end of March. I'll keep you posted on things after that (Intel may extend my contract, unless they are able to sell the site).

We will be joining the YMCA early in January. We don't have time right now to have the kids in basketball, soccer, baseball, football, judo, etc... Instead, we will be taking them swimming, playing racquetball, etc at the Y, and we will be starting BMX bike racing and mountain biking when weather clears in the Spring. Those are all activities that we can do on our own without regard to schedules.

We have not had a family vacation in a couple of years, and we want to make that a priority this year. Tracy's parents have wanted to take the boys to Disneyland, and we are looking at Memorial Day as a good time to head for Florida! It will be fun to see Orlando again. I lived there for a year in 1984-1985 when I was in the Navy's Nuclear Power Program.

Well, it is 1:50am and I need to finish my lab work here at Intel. I need to wrap things up and get home by 3:45 or so. That is when Tracy gets up to go to the shop...

Everybody have a safe New Year's celebration. Have fun, but don't get all crazy!
Take care,
JD

Here are a few of my favorite photos from 2007 (I literally have thousands more that I don't have time to go through... these are just a few favorites from the few I had time to edit and post). You can click on them to see a larger version. Use your 'BACK' button in your browser to return to this page.