Setting Up Shop and The Missing Question

I am getting a new site up and rolling. It's another restaurant for the same group I worked with this summer. As opposed to last summer's project, which was decidedly on the fly, this one has a high degree of organization. That's going to be necessary because we've got a fast schedule. I did all of the space layout yesterday and found only a few dimension busts, unfortunately the big one involves an accessible corridor and women's bathroom, which brings ADA issues into the whole thing. It appears that the architect misplaced a room on CAD and cantilevered a bathroom over a 2 foot slab drop. Hopefully I can figure it out.

Biggest danger of this project is its proximity to a certain high end bike shop and all of its pricey and attractive wares. So far they've only stung me for a pair of gloves (Specialized Deflect, which so far are proving their mettle quite nicely), but the danger lurks.

Rest weeks are certainly enjoyable and all, but I think I prefer the rigidity of the work blocks. This week has been a pretty endless stream of social events, culminating this weekend with a visit from my parents. Normally we don't eat big dinners or have any booze during the week but that's not been the story of this week. Between my increased size from gym work throughout the last couple of months (my chest now pokes outward a fraction instead of inward, and I've got a set of thunder thighs like Picaboo Street) and the extra food, I kind of feel like a "before" picture. The workout chart looks particularly vicious over the next few weeks so I'll just enjoy it while it's here. It will go away quickly.

If Mike ever runs it, an upcoming 10 Questions is probably my favorite yet. Jay's was fantastic. Having spent a lot of time with him working on Lost River Classic over the past year, it's easy to take some of his insights and history for granted. It sort of just gets filed in "stuff I know about Jay." Reading the volume of comments brings it forward that this is stuff that not a lot of people have ever heard before. I did forget to edit in one question, which might have been my favorite one. Of course the loss was in bringing it from gmail into the word doc where I edited everything, and now it's lost to gmail. Hopefully Jay has it. It was pretty funny. By way of defense against charges of blatant carelessness and idiocy, keep in mind that the raw document from which the final interview as published was whittled was over 16 pages. It was easy to lose track. But props to Jay for putting all of the effort and thought that he did onto his answers. I'll still avoid gravel roads, though.

So anyhow the next one on tap is with one of my favorite riders and people in MABRA. A good dude if ever there was one and proof that good things can happen to good people. Part of the process of these things, which has made me a better interviewer (in my humble opinion) is completely avoiding autobiographical content. That's what wikipedia's for. One of my favorite writers is Studs Terkel, whose format (removing the interviewer's voice and questions to create a monologue answer on behalf of the interviewee) I'd hoped to steal. When you read his interviews ("Working" being the archetype of his style), they have a fluidity and strength of voice that makes the subject's take on things resonate. Having not read any of "Working" in probably five years now, there are still passages that are totally vivid. Also, I like to stay in the background. Alas, this plan was vetoed.

One of the ones I'd planned is going to die on the vine. I thought it would be pithy and topical but it's kind of falling apart and I think the shtick has run its course. I fully expect to be pilloried for this, but what can you do? I'd rather fail on my genuine instincts than reach out for something that isn't there, especially when I'm doing this pretty well entirely because it's fun and I own (most of) the process.

Enough of this, it's been mostly mental calisthenics before I bombard the architect with a zillion different things which have to be precisely worded so that he can figure out precisely what I'm asking with no interpretation errors, and then another project I'm working on.

Oh, yeah, the market took it up the pooper that last couple of days, huh? If you ask me there's more of that in store, the underlying fundamentals aren't strong and an economy which is so dependent on consumer spending can't spring back before the consumer has. Not out of the woods yet.