A New Venture

This summer, Bobby and I decided to take our lives in a new direction. The last few months have been spent planning and training and getting our paperwork in order, and soon we will be hiring and looking to launch. We are excited to announce that we are opening a FirstLight HomeCare franchise!

FirstLight provides non-medical in home care to seniors, the chronically ill and disabled, new mothers and people recovering from recent surgery, including companion care, personal care, dementia care and respite care. It is a way to help people stay in their homes and out of nursing or rehab facilities while alleviating the burden on family members. This is a service we both believe in, and feel really good about being able to provide.

Our location will serve the areas of West LA, Santa Monica, Century City, Westwood, Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air and everywhere in between. If you know anyone with a kind and caring demeanor in the area looking for work, or anyone that might benefit from our services, please send them our way!

Heat Ultra Lounge

Bobby's been working on a number of projects at the new GardenWalk nearby. A couple of weeks ago we checked out Pop the Cork, and we spent this evening at the now open Heat Ultra Lounge.

An old high school friend of mine was finishing up her very last final, and wanted to go out on the town. I had mentioned the club last week, and she called the other day to see if we wanted to join her. So when Bobby came home from his time with Emma, we got dressed up and headed out.

Since a a few of her other friends came out, we had a sizable group, and had bottle service at one of the larger tables. The club looks really nice, and the sound was great. They played a healthy mix of music - some rap, hip hop, house, Michael Jackson, and even a little Pink Floyd. I only danced a little bit, so Bobby and I spent most of the evening watching the crowd and the go-go dancers.

It was a slower night, but it was still a really good time. We decided we should come back sometime. It's nice having a little more nightlife closer to home.

Some reviews of Heat Ultra Lounge: LA Times, OC Register

Manning the Brewery

Aaron and Patricia went up to Mammoth this weekend for a beer festival, so I agreed to take a half day at work to man the brewery for the growler fills.

It was a slow day. I think Aaron had told the regulars that they would be out, and some of the regulars even went up to the festival with him to pour beer. But after work it started to pick up, and people that came in to buy one style tasted others and wound up buying another growler so they could take home two styles.

Dad was there to help me out, and make some keg deliveries to local restaurants carrying Bootlegger's. One local place recently took Widmer off tap so they could add Bootlegger's Old World Hefe. That was pretty exciting.

It is nice to hear all the praise for Aaron's beers, and I'm glad to see business slowly ramping up.

Pop the Cork

Bobby has recently been doing a lot of work over at the new GardenWalk in Anaheim. One of the stores, a wine bar named Pop the Cork, opened last week, and he made a point of being their first customer.

Last night he needed to go down to GardenWalk to tell his employee what needed to be done that night, and we decided to go early and visit Pop the Cork so I could see it.

When we walked by, it looked as though the were closing up, and the door was already locked. It wasn't even 9:30 yet! Bobby knocked on the glass and waved at the owner, and they came and unlocked the door. The owner said it had been completely dead, so they had decided to close up early, but if we would like to come in they'd open back up.

I'm always amazed at how easily Bobby befriends people. I tend to avoid talking to people I don't know, unless we are introduced by a mutual friend, but he'll strike up a conversation with anybody. He's a natural at networking.

Some friends of the owner were there as well, and took the opportunity to join us as fellow customers. Soon a few other couples and groups came in, and while it stayed slow, I'm sure they made a few hundred dollars while we were there.

We tasted some really good wines. Bobby and I compared small tastings of Dow's 10 year old and 20 year old port side by side, and I very much enjoyed the Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui (a sparkling rosé), and the Reisling that Bobby tried. With chocolates, of course. The sommelier attending the bar was very friendly and gave us the lowdown on the process and testing one goes through to become a certified sommelier, which was very interesting.

After buying a Gewürztraminer to take home (I've never tried one before, but have wanted to since I learned how to say it), we met up with our employee so Bobby could go over what needed to be done. As we were walking around the job site, you could hear music of The Doors quite loudly next door at another of Bobby's jobs, Heat Ultra Lounge, which will be opening this weekend. They were utilizing the beautiful sound system while tying up some loose ends.

Bobby and I went in the back door and the owner encouraged him to show me around. It's a really beautiful club, and should be very popular. The sound system is amazing. Bobby already wants to go to the club when they open, and he's not even a club person. I suspect he just wants to be there for it's debut, and enjoy knowing that he helped build it.

Bottling Beer

After a little lunch thing at the nursing home with my mom's family today, we headed over to Aaron's brewery, Bootlegger's, to help with some bottling. His batch of Amber Ale was ready. It's actually an Altbier (will most likely be named simply Alt) and is my favorite of his beers so far. He's still waiting on the labels, they aren't ready yet, but it needed to be bottled up, and we were there to help.

I'd never bottled anything before, and was somewhat curious about the process. From what I understand, bottling machines are pretty expensive, so we would be doing it by hand. So for those of you who are curious, this is the process:

First we wash the bottles with water and sanitizer. There's this nifty little contraption that you press the inverted bottle onto so that it shoots water/sanitizer up into the bottle. Then you hang the bottle upside down so that it dries out. Once the bottles are dry, we put them onto the table and inserted this tube that is hooked up to the vat the beer is in. The tube has a special tip on it that allows beer through only when it is pressed down, so you insert the tube into the bottle, and press down until the bottle is full of beer (no foam, so you overflow it until there isn't any foam left). The next person uses this contraption that crimpes the bottlecap onto the bottle. Then dry off the bottle. If the labels were ready, this is when we'd put them on, but alas, not this time.

Unfortunately it's a rather slow process. It was hot too - 101° outside. We periodically just climbed into the cold storage room just to cool off. Bobby, Emma, and I helped for around three hours, but we still only got about 1/3 of the beer bottled. Aaron posted a message on Bootlegger's Twitter feed at 10:28 last night saying they'd just finished. Like I said, a slow process.

Flip Truck

Last night Bobby put together some fittings for his new employee, Rudy, to pick up and take to the job site. He put them on the side yard so he wouldn't have to wake up early, and Rudy could just come pick them up.

But at 6:20am or so, the phone rang. It was Rudy. He'd been hit by another car, and had flipped his truck. Luckily, he's was fine (and isn't at fault), but his truck was still upside-down.

This Meeting is Called to Order

So as you know, Bobby is starting a business. What you may not know, is that as an incorporated business, it is required to have board meetings at least annually. He's the sole stockholder, so legally he doesn't need anyone on the board aside from himself, but outside input can be helpful, so his brother Brian and I are on the board as well. The first board meeting was last year, and was more about ratifying the Articles of Incorporation and all that. Tonight we had our first real board meeting.


But earlier today we started wondering about what we actually needed to do in a board meeting. Here Brian and I both have business degrees, and Bobby is working on one, but all we know about boards is that they are responsible for governance. So what does that mean?


We did some research online, and wound up ordering some books, but the whole thing became a learning experience. (Actually, drawing up the Articles of Incorporation last year was a learning experience - I started to wonder what I did learn in college.) Luckily we are all smart people, so we just started talking about some of the issues facing the company, and spent some time going over financial statements together to find where the business was weak. After an hour and a half, I think we all felt like it was a good experience not just for the business, but for ourselves.


Bobby and I later decided we'd like to have these more often. When the books we ordered arrived, we'll read through them and plan ahead a bit better, but this felt like a good start. I kind of wish we had done more practical, hands-on exercises like this in school. It seems so essential to running a business...

So I Have This Idea...

I have a business idea, but I don't have the tools necessary to follow through with it. I don't have the technical knowledge to implement it, the capital to fund, market, and support it, or even a network of individuals with the technical and industry knowledge necessary. I just know that the opportunity exists, and that consumers and vendors would like the service on a number of levels. Of course, I can think of a segment of the business community that would not be so happy about it, but that's often the way change works.

I see businesses that offer a pieces of the puzzle, but I haven't found anywhere that they have been put together, and the full service would be much more useful than the individual pieces. I can see where ancillary services would be called for, and have already thought about where those services could be found.

Maybe I should write up a business plan, and think of things I can do to make it real...

Brewing Beer

My brother is starting a brewery, and after nearly a year of planning and building and inspections, they are up and running. Bobby, Emma and I stopped by to watch and help with one of the initial brews.

Setting Up

When I got into work today I was completely distracted by my need to set up my new Blackberry Curve.

Because I'd only been using Outlook to track my work calendar, and Google Calendar to track my personal stuff, I had some consolidating to do. And some clean up. I had to update some personal contacts' information to be current, add in some birthdays, delete any duplicate calendar entries related to the contacts, etc. Then I went through my GMail contacts to make sure they were all there.

And categorizing. Oi, I categorized tasks and contacts and calendar entries and notes. I added some personal tasks and tasks relating to Bobby's new business to my task list. It was all a very cleansing exercise. Like cleaning up your desk.

I installed the software and synced up my phone. I filtered the tasks so that only tasks marked Personal or for the new business would sync. This way I can use my blackberry for Personal and New Business management, and keep my work computer focused on work tasks. I still need to go through my old phone and make sure I have everyone's phone numbers. But it is so nice not having to scroll through 3-5 entries for every person...

My Christmas Present

My Christmas present finally arrived today. I don't know what it is about shiny new gadgets that is so exciting.

I've been so busy lately, and always on the go, that it was becoming a problem that I didn't have all of my contacts' information with me all the time. Bobby has hijacked my laptop because he's regularly off at job sites and needs it, so I really don't have a computer of my own outside of work.

This usually isn't a problem - all our media is on Bobby's desktop (since my little 40GB laptop couldn't handle it all anyway), and I use GMail, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets, so I'm fairly mobile as it is. The only downside was managing and not always having access to my contacts and calendar. What I needed was a smartphone.

I hate GMail's contacts. While there are definitely some improvements I could suggest for Outlook, I still prefer it to GMail's contacts. I was really hoping that Google would buy out Plaxo, or even just integrate Plaxo's service into GMail contacts. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen, especially if the rumors about Facebook acquiring Plaxo are true.

I had spent a decent amount of time deciding what kind of phone I wanted. The perfect phone just doesn't seem to exist. I like all the bells and whistles - 3G (or better!?), email/contact/calendar integration, GPS, Wi-Fi, full QWERTY keyboard, etc. I really like Bobby's phone, but it's kind of large and not very sexy. I love the touch screen, and that he can open attachments, but it's also pretty pricey. I really like the look of the Blackberry Curve, and everyone I know with a Blackberry seems pretty happy with it. Unfortunately, the Curve doesn't have 3G, so it's still on the slower EDGE network.

I was not interested in an iPhone. Sure, it's a pretty product, but of the two people I know that bought one, one has already given it away and purchased a Blackberry instead. The other likes it, but admitted that it really wouldn't be for business use, and mentioned some of the iPhone's drawbacks. Between not having 3G or copy/paste capabilities, and the fact that it's so proprietary, I just wasn't interested.

I decided that the Curve would be enough to fit my needs. I don't surf the web on my phone that much so I was comfortable with not having the 3G or Wi-Fi. Since we were going to be buying it outside of a contract I figured that worst case I could resell it on eBay and get something else.

I was glad to find that the battery had a slight charge to it when it arrived, because that meant that I didn't have to wait to switch my SIM card over and play with some of the functions. But the phone shipped to my house, and like I said, the computer that is really dedicated to me is at work, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to upload everything...

Setting Up

I didn't get to go to sleep when I got home today.

Bobby hired an employee... a real employee. This meant we had to set up Payroll. I'd purposely set up my appointment with the Intuit person for Wednesday afternoon - I figured that would be the easiest day in the world to take a half day. I had no idea that I'd be running on 2.5 hours of sleep.

The Payroll Setup was fairly simple except one thing - I had none of the information I needed. No W-4s for my employees (we converting buddies that have been doing work for us as subcontractors to employees), no SS info, I didn't even have addresses. In fact, Bobby hadn't even told me what he was paying them. I was starting to get really frustrated.

The girl walking me through it was trying to get me to hurry up - I only had an hour appointment, and we were wasting all this time looking stuff up. Finally I said that there was no way I was getting payroll done that day, and set up another appointment for Monday.

Jessica & Nathan Visit for Dinner

Jessica and Nathan were in town for Grandma Korky's 75th birthday party, so we had them over for dinner tonight.

The boys had been working all day - Bobby had recruited Dad and his buddy Murray to help install some underground pipe up in Big Bear. They'd finished up early so they then headed out to the job site in Woodland Hills to finish up some work there. It had been a productive day for them, but when they made it back it was clear they'd all worked very hard.

Mom and I came home with groceries right about the time the boys finished unloading the truck. My uncle Kevin and his family were already at the house to meet Jessica's baby Alora while they were in town.

We came in the house and the production began. At least that's what it felt like. It was already nearing 8 o'clock, and Mom and I were starting to get hungry. My kitchen is on the tiny side - it's actually more of a hallway with a stove and some cupboards. It's a little cramped with just two cooks, so with Mom, Nathan, and me, I was sure we'd be stepping on each other's toes. But we didn't! We were a bit like a well oiled machine - gracefully staying out of one another's way, using the minimum of space needed.

I started making my Red Pepper Cream Pasta (this time with Shitake Mushrooms - yum!), Mom started seasoning the New York Steaks with a combination of Olive Oil, White Truffle Oil (just a tad), Worcestershire Sauce, and Montreal Steak Seasoning. Nathan started on an appetizer of Seared Ahi Tuna with Cucumber, Avocado, and a special sauce he cooked up - though Ponzu Sauce would be good too. When the pasta sauce was simmering, I prepped the Asparagus, generously drizzling it with Olive Oil and Kosher Salt. Then I put Dad to work manning the grill.

Kevin wasn't originally going to stay for dinner, but he was intrigued by how good everything smelled. We finally convinced him to stay and have some with us. He had mentioned that he'd never cared for asparagus and hadn't eaten it since his childhood. We convinced him that when cooked right it can be very good - I don't like boiled asparagus either. He tried some, and while he couldn't decide if he liked it, he didn't dislike it. His son Stephan had some of the steak and loved it - said he couldn't stop eating it. And this from a boy that doesn't like steak. We cooks were pretty pleased with ourselves.

When dinner was over, I could see Bobby's, Dad's, and Murray's eyes start drooping. Between the business and school, Bobby had been working very long days for weeks now. In the last week he was coming home after I was in bed or just in time for bed, and waking up before me. He eventually said goodnight to everyone - that he would love to stay up and chat but he needed to take a shower and get to bed. A few minutes later I walked into the bedroom to get something, and found him still fully clothed and passed out on top of the bed. If he hadn't been dirty from working all day, I probably would have just tucked him in. Instead I started the shower for him and woke him back up.

I wish that I had some pictures from the evening - of the people, of the food - but I was just too hungry to bother, and by the time I'd thought of it, the food was gone and the people were starting to leave. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Smart(phone) Decisions

I finally caved last week and said we could go down to AT&T to get Bobby a smartphone. He'd been looking at the iPhone, and the Blackberry Curve. Then I told him about something I'd read in Fortune Magazine about the founder of Wikipedia.org. He uses an AT&T 8525 - bought it the same day the iPhone came out and mentioned he thinks he was the only one in the store not buying an iPhone. So then, of course, Bobby wants to look at the 8525, which is also the most expensive smartphone AT&T offers.

He eventually decided on that one. It has Windows Mobile, so you can open Word and Excel and PDF documents on it; it has Wi-Fi, a touch screen and a scroll wheel, and just about everything else, and is 3G. The iPhone only has two features over this phone - the visual voicemail, and the nature of the touchpad. But the iPhone lacks a number of more useful features that this phone does have.



Today he picked me up from work a little early so we could try to get the phone before picking Emma up, but both the shop in Norco and the shop in Mira Loma said they didn't have the phone in stock. When we walked into the second shop to ask, they guy answered with "Nah, no one carries them. They are too expensive to carry in store, so anywhere you go they'll have to order it." Hm... I'm guessing that's because this is Mira Loma. They'll have them in stock at the shop near South Coast, if they don't have it in Fullerton.

After we dropped Emma off at the end of the evening we headed to the AT&T store in Fullerton, and sure enough, they had the 8525. So we renewed the agreement on one of our lines so we could get the good price on the phone. Bobby then stayed up all night setting it up.

Hard Work

Bobby has been working what seems like constantly every day lately. Every night this week he was up late - 2am, 2:30am, 4am, etc. And all day. His current project, bidding on new projects, helping my borther and dad with the plans for the brewery....

This morning when I went to wake him up before heading out the door, he couldn't be dragged out of bed. He said he was considering dropping his Friday class - he just has too much on his plate right now. Today he finally finished the design for the project he is currently working on. The other day he received a call from the general contractor for his last job - they want him to do a couple more jobs for the same client. They like working with him, and that's always nice to hear.

Right now he's at his buddy's house - his buddy got a drum set, so Bobby brought his guitar set up over and they are jamming. I think it will be good for him to take a break. Hopefully he'll get to relax some this weekend too.

The Flood

Brian came over yesterday and he and Bobby went to bed at about midnight, then woke up at 4am and headed to the job site, so while I was barbecuing with my family, they were working. Just before 8pm Bobby calls, "Babe! I need you to get the shop vac and bring it to the job site now!"
"OK, what happened?"
"A flood, babe, just get down here."

I get our wussy-ass shop vac, put it in the Accord, and start out. About 5 minutes down the road, he calls back.
"I'm sorry I was short. Did you happen to bring the floodlights?"
Did you ask me to bring floodlights, I think to myself. "No"
"OK, I found a shop vac here that we are using, but I need you to turn around and get the floodlights and bring both down here."

So I turn around. When I finally get there, I walk over to the stairs and see a paper that reads "Century Transport, 2nd Flood" It was a typo, supposed to read "2nd Floor" Appropriate typo though.

Then Brian walks up. He is covered in black I-don't-know-what. (A little trivia for y'all: the water that comes out of fire sprinklers when they go off is not the nice clean water you see come out in the movies. It is greasy and black and disgusting, and will ruin your clothes or whatever they happen to spray on.) Bobby said that Brian looked better than right after it happened. Then he'd looked like he'd just struck oil. A sprinkler had broken and started dumping huge amounts of water that then leaked down to the first floor onto the first job. Bobby was so stressed out - worried that he was going to have to pay for damage. They tried cleaning the walls, but it just rubbed the texture off so they stopped.

So Bobby asks me to go to Home Depot and pick up a bunch of janitorial supplies and a good shop vac. $450 and over an hour later, I return. Just before I left to pick up dinner (they were clearly going to be there awhile cleaning up), they turned the system back on. Bobby called Brian, who was in the other room) to asked what he wanted to eat, and Brian answered with, "The firetrucks are here." Turning on the system had triggered a silent alarm, but when Brian walked up to the truck covered in blackness and said, "We had a sprinkler bust," they just nodded and drove off.

After I ate with them I went back home while they stayed to clean up. They didn't make it home until about 3:30 in the morning. Luckily Gma's bathroom is attached to the garage, so when they did get home they didn't even have to walk through the house to get to the shower. But then Brian plugged his phone in inside the truck, and closed the door that self locks - locking his phone and the keys in the truck that is not running but is on to charge the phone.

Right about then Bobby finds out that Brian and his wife had plans to see a movie that night - didn't expect to be out working that late. Bobby felt really bad, didn't know he'd been spoiling any plans. But having Brian there was really helpful.

Busy Afternoon

Near the end of the work day, Bobby called. Could I leave early, drive to Stanton to pick up an order before they close at 5pm, then drive it down to the job site in Huntington Beach? He and his brother were going to finish up most of the install. So I left early (even though I'm about a day behind), and did just that. When I got there, Bobby said his car wouldn't start. He'd been listening to the radio and working, and suddenly it had just cut out.

Luckily, I always carry jumper cables. So we hook it up and... nothing. Still won't start.

I'll call AAA, have the car taken to the dealer, go with it and leave my car for Bobby while they work. Then I'll just have Mom pick me up.
So I look at my phone, and I have a missed call from Mom. I call AAA first, then call her back. I tell her I was going to call her, and noticed that she had called, then explain the situation and ask if she can come get me.

"Um... " (long pause)..."yeah."
Then she tells me why she called.
Gma's legs have been swelling for awhile now. Apparently people with her type of cancer often wind up dying of kidney failure, and her kidneys were operating at about 15%, so the doc had recently taken her off some drugs for her heart that have adverse effects on kidneys. The thinking was that her weak kidneys were allowing excess fluid to accumulate in her body. We were told to limit her fluid and sodium intake.

This morning Gma had complained that she was so swollen that it took her 45 minutes to find a pair of pants that would fit her. So my mom called the doctor's office, and asked what to do. The doc wasn't in, so they said to just go to the emergency room. When they got there, they got her an oxygen mask, and checked her in, but she wasn't actually seen for another 4 hours - they had two different 5-year-old children come in, both of which barely lived (one had been choking on a peice of food and was still choking when they got to the hospital; they wound up having to cut his throat open to get it out), so they were a little preoccupied. Gma was patient.

Once she finally saw the doctor, Mom explained her diagnosis and the situation. When the doctor left, the nurse asked Mom if she had a medical degree. She'd spent so much time trying to understand everything the doctor has been telling her so that she could relate it to her family, that she sounds like a doctor. The doctors wanted to keep her at the hospital for a few days. So yes, she could pick me up, but she was going right back to the hospital later.

(In making calls to the family to give the update, Mom talked to Rachel, and later said it seemed to dawn on Rachel why Mom had previously said it was too much responsibility for her. I think she realized then that she really wasn't ready for that, and really it was just that her pride was hurt.)

Back at the job site, Brian shows up and they are talking about the car, trying to see if they can figure out what is wrong. Bobby pulls out the owner's manual, "No way!" They tried jumping the car again, this time reading the directions, and... it works! Bobby joked that he felt like less of a man for having to read the directions.

I call AAA back to cancel the tow, and call Mom to let her know. Then I go to get some food for all of us, when Bobby calls again. They've cut a hole in a pipe and now they need to drain the system. They bust a pipe, can I drive home, pick up the hose and bring it back? Ugh. OK. Seemed like I did a lot of driving that day due to some poor planning.

Working on a Holiday

For the Memorial Day holiday, Bobby went to install his first job, and I went in to work.

Bobby had hired one pipe fitter, and his dad and brother, and my dad and brother all volunteered to help out. Bobby got there at 5am, and everyone else arrived at 6am, and they worked until about 4pm. It was a learning experience for everyone, and after 4 more trips to Home Depot and another $200 in tools and supplies, they had most of it done. Bobby realized that he needs a lot more (and better) tools (although his understanding was that the fitter was bringing his own set of tools, which was not the case), and as the day went on everyone got better at what they were doing.

We also realized that Bobby needs more than a small pickup, he needs a full size truck, so we are planning to sell my car, I'm going to buy his car, and he's going to buy a full size truck. So if you know anyone that wants to buy a red 2005 Honda Civic LX with side airbags, brand new front brakes, and 33K miles on it, send them my way. Blue Book is about $12K. Great car, we just need a four-door vehicle.

It turned out to be a perfect day for me to go in to work. When I got in, the phone system was down, and Caleb was emailing JoAnn, not knowing what to do - he had a conference call and he couldn't get in to the conference line. So I reboot the phone system. Then I was able to get a lot done because no one was bothering me all day.