February 22, 2004. It was a beautiful week weather wise. Warm, mostly sunny, no precipitation! But business was less this week then last week with less than favorable weather. I did about 20 percent less gross income. Probably half that 20 percent might have been because of the chickens. I called around this last Monday for chicken orders but many didn't  sound enthusiastic so I didn't smoke any this week. However they had wonderful comments about the previous chickens. But I have a different thought about serving the chickens fresh. My desire was to provide fresh chickens with crisp skin. It seems like the skin will stay crisp for a very short time after they are done cooking. In other words they must go directly from the oven, or smoker in this case,  to the table.

 Of the 16 halves I cooked last week I sold 13 that same day. I had 3 left over one of which I ate 1 and the other 2 I sold. I reheated them in the microwave in a Glad container that is a bit under 1 gallon adding about 3 tablespoons of water and placing the lid on loosely for 4 minutes then fastened the lid tightly and let it sit in the steam for 1 minute. Packed it in the foam container and sent it off with the customer. One of those customers was my friend Tommy. He said it was still warm when he got home, about 15 minutes later, and it was wonderfully tasty and juicy. The skin was not crisp but is was soft and not rubbery which can occur when smoked to slow. As I may have mentioned before...I bring the smoker to 350*F then put the half birds in skin side down and turn the control to 275*F. It takes quite awhile for the insulated smoker to return to 275*F, but the smoker is in the smoke mode until the temperature goes below the set temp of 275*F. One hour later I turn the control back up to 350*F for 40-45 more minutes. Then I make sure they are done by seeing if I can shake hands easily with a leg, if so I then take a half out and check it with a thermometer for 180*F in the thigh. When I started and stayed at 275*F for the entire cooking time the skin would come out rubbery! Also I will dust with a bit of paprika along with the Butt Rub to give it a darker appearance. There is paprika in the Butt Rub but there is also a lot of salt so I think more paprika  is necessary.

I have been waiting to perfect the chicken and try it on a select few customers before I introduce it to the public. I feel I have accomplished this a week ago but felt like you feel when you are properly prepared for a test but still nervous about taking it. So I bit the bullet and today after closing I changed the lighted arrow sign by the road to "ATKINS FRIENDLY - HALF CHICKEN $3.75" The my hours under that. I had been running the Rib Plate and Sandwich with Chips with their prices and "WE HAVE FANTABULOUS BRUNSWICK STEW".

About the stew...a bout 2 weeks ago or so, I mentioned about putting my bbq sauce in the stew. I think I am going to take it out! For one thing it uses a lot of sauce which means I have to make the sauce more often. It has changed its color from a Heinz 57 color to more towards brown. But mainly the reason is because when I have given samples I get comments like "good" "pretty good", not what I was getting like "hmmmm, this is wonderful, or delicious, very very good"! It tends to be just a bit sweet now and I think that has to be removed. I really have to depend on those that can tell me what they think. If you recall I tested it with both samples on friends. This gets so frustrating that I can not taste or smell anything. I have nasal polyps. Had them once removed about 2 years ago but they returned enough to block my smell sensors within 3 months. That is a whole other issue that is going on now with my medications from the Veterans Administration. Seems like they are cutting back because of funds...I can not get enough medication anymore and my polyps are growing again. They will eventually have to be removed again because of this lack of medication. 

February 16, 2004. Sunday wasn't such a bad day business wise despite the terrible weather. It rained cats and dogs through early afternoon. Didn't have to many customers but the few were buying for the family. Sold all the fresh ribs I smoked. One of the rib customers was the one that the Sunday before mentioned about buying for her church. She bought 2 racks for some church people. She stated that she will probably want a larger quantity for next Sunday, which is the monthly church meal. She is supposed to call me early Wednesday to let me know the quantity I need to be prepared for. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The weeks end came out good...it is again the recent weekly improvement and just short by $61 from the best week since opening. If I do as good or better this week then I'll feel pretty certain things are getting better for sure. Everyday I think no one will come, that it has all been a fluke or there won't be anymore new customer and the old ones go somewhere else. I am still swaying back and forth trying to be optimist. I'm just playing with my own emotions perhaps afraid to admit there may be success yet to come. It has been nearly 6 month already, hard to believe so much time has already gone by. Many say it has taken them a year or 2 before showing profits. Not sure how they calculate that but I think I am going to have to agree. Right now it is survival! The bank account appears like it might be growing just a wee bit. It better because I have nothing else to sell or any other way to raise anymore funds, at least that I am aware of right now. I have always been a survivor and when it looks like the end is nearing and there is no way out something always happens to turn things around.  And thank goodness it is always legal! Again, right now, it seems like I am surviving on the very edge and maybe, right now, there may be some light at the end of this tunnel! Seems like I have said that a few times not long ago!

February 14, 2004 after closing. Had a flurry of people after 5...two real nice orders, one from a rest home for 5 of the faculty. Total today $152. I'm content!

February 14, 2004 about 3:45 PM. Still a touch of rain, not extremely cold, a light breeze, and it hasn't been a total bust. Actually more people showed then I thought would. It has been scattered throughout the day. Even sold ribs to 2 different customers. Mostly sandwiches today! Doubt I do as well as yesterday...oops here come a customer...okay back, there went a sandwich, chips and a small stew. It all adds up!

Rain and snow still in the forecast for tomorrow.

February 14, 2004. Well yesterday was a Friday the 13th. I didn't have anything really bad happen but it surely wasn't a great day for my business. Did $95 which was a disappointment especially after that great Thursday. The day was beautiful, there were 2 customers that were even wearing shorts, but with a long sleeve shirt! Oh well I suppose you just never know from one day to the other when it comes to small businesses. I think it may have something to do with what is in the air. When I was about 11 or 12 I wanted my hair to grow wild. I didn't want anymore haircuts, I wanted to look like I was a man that lived with the animals in the mountains. I really remember thinking all that. Then what did we see happening everywhere...long hair on men, well actually make that kids and very young men. It was then we started to see Elvis and the Beatles...but it wasn't that I wanted to look like them, it had nothing to do with them it was what I perceived as a wild mountain man look. My point here is why did Elvis, the Beatles, etc. grow their hair long? Because it was in the air! It was just something for some reason that we all were getting a similar message or signal! I feel, like many of my peers, that we started long hair, Rock and Roll, and just dressing and changing our appearances from all those conservative things are parents were about. And just because it was in the air! Kind of like red ants...they climb on you and then all at once they are signaled to bite! Enough of this!

Today it is raining and now a days I have no idea what to expect so I will prepare to open with vigor! It started raining about 5 AM and is supposed to stop this morning then start again this afternoon and continue through tomorrow with snow likely tomorrow, according to the NWS. We have had only flurries and very light ones at that so far this year, everybody around this region wants it to snow already! We like our little bit of snow in the south, usually it is gone in a day or so and we know that any snow that lays down means no school or work, it's a holiday and we don't have to pretend to be sick and stay in bed all day, we can go out and play in the snow and drive in it so we can make a nuisance of our selves, get stuck, and put new dents in our vehicles. 

It is Saturday and is my usual day of celebration...I'll make my run to the grocery store and pick up a few items to make myself a special breakfast. Nothing very elaborate, something like eggs, fried potatoes, onion, and bell pepper and some Kielbasa. As many do I'll douse my eggs with Tabasco and dip my very lightly toasted and buttered bread in the yoke. All of this done on one of those portable electric grills in the "Q". Hmmm...time to get outa here and get breakfast going...my mouth is salivating! 

February 12, 2004, evening. Wow! No! Make that WOWIE ZOWIE! $174.84 today!!! That is the best Thursday ever. Of the 16 half chickens I cooked I sold 13. I just ate one for myself. Pretty darn good but next time about 5-10 minutes less cooking time. I was supposed to take them out at 55 after and I took them out on top of the hour. Should have done what I planned. What happened was I did the hand shake about 10 minutes before they were supposed to be done and thought they were a long way away. Amazing how quickly they changed their characteristics.

Also I smoked 3 racks of ribs. That one lady that has been telling her friends about my ribs had ordered a half rack but then she called through my window and said I better make that 2 half racks...her father called her cell phone and requested a half rack. Sold another half earlier to the lady that wouldn't let the above lady have a taste last week! Whew this is getting weird.

Mike from St. Louis and the BBQ forum called me about closing time. I later realized it was time to close. He just called to congratulate me on doing a good job. I was very up at that moment because of, besides knowing a did a pretty good day, but also because all but one of the reserved chickens sold. Sorry Mike if I sounded like I was high on something. I was...high on life!

A bit later this evening! Panic! Do I have enough pork butts cooked for tomorrow? Forgot all about that. Looking in the fridge and the freezer, maybe, maybe not. I'll never sleep tonight unless I cook some more. It only took about 20 minutes to get 4 butts washed and rubbed. Got the methods down pretty good for getting the meats prepared for the oven. They're in the oven right now and could be done as early as 9 AM but I think I'll keep the 225*f temp down longer than usual and plan on them being done about noon or so.

February 12, 2004. Yesterday I made a Sam's and Milton's run. Picked up 4 packs of 2 chickens each and went back to the 3 potato potato salad from Milton's food distribution. Had to many requests and disappointments when I didn't have their potato salad. I called around Monday to see about doing a chicken day again this Thursday. Six halves are sold for sure. Last night I had a return message from a person I left a message for on their answer machine. She wanted 5 halves. Had to tell her last night that I think I was only going to have 2 halves left! As I was getting the chickens cut up into halves this morning I realized that I was going to have 16 halves not 8! Man sometimes that "gray matter" really kicks in! Called the lady this morning and she still wants 5 halves. Plus 3 more for Tommy's brother of whom I spoke to this morning. Fourteen halves sold! I am thinking if this turns out okay then soon I'll advertise "Chicken Thursday" on my lighted arrow sign. It takes about 2 hours and a half plus, or so, to do 8 chickens from the time I take the birds out of the fridge until they come out of the smoker. 

Yesterday my landlord, Doug, came by to hang out while he waited for Ken to come by with his truck and back hoe to look for an underground water leak next door. It is a detail shop and his water bill usually is about $400/mo. Lately they have been $900! It was determined that the leak is after the city meter. After Ken had done whatever he did and was getting ready to leave for the day, Doug asked Ken what the price of gravel is now-a-days and how much for him to haul it. Doug told Ken to get a load of "57" gravel and put it where Captain Pete needs it! What a pleasant surprise...I had no idea. So now I have gravel everywhere. I was getting a bit concerned where the heavy trash truck would come into the driveway, he was creating a mud hole. I noticed some people would back out and turn around to go back out the driveway they came in because of the mud. Another nice feature is now I don't track mud into my RV. Ken even put gravel between the 2 trailers so now when I water or dump the RV I won't get muddy anymore. It really is a great improvement. I told Doug that that was really my responsibility and his response was perhaps so but it improves his property too! Thank you very much Doug, you're the best! It was he that encouraged me many months ago to hang in there.

Today started out like last Thursday...rain, but today it ended during the late morning although it still looks very yucky and is quite cool. Glad I sold the chickens, just hope they all come for them!

February 10, 2004. As you can see  my co-author, JOe Loewy, has made some changes to the web site. Now the front page should load very quickly and also any other page should too. We hope you'll be happy with these changes. Any input would be appreciated. There'll be things here and there that I'll discover and fix, edit, add, or delete.

Last week turned out rather nicely. Sunday's weather was ok but I only had 3 customers! That is disappointing but those customers grossed my income for Sunday a bit over $60. One customer bought a whole rack of ribs. Then another friend of the "rib" lady, from the Hampton Inn, bought 2 whole racks. That was all I had smoked! It was 5 PM when she bought me out so I wasn't to concerned had I needed to tell someone I was out. But no one else after that anyway. This last lady said that her church has a Sunday dinner every 4th Sunday and that she is going to suggest my ribs! That would be killer!

A day or 2 ago I suggested to Tommy that we market my bbq sauce. I have thought about that for years. I suggested I make it and he can it. We'll figure a fair percentage for out labor. I would invest in the sauce and he would be in charge of canning and shipping. The canning costs would be his and he could keep all the handling and shipping profits. First thing he suggested is that I find someone to do the canning...in other words he wasn't interested. That evening I received an email from my brother-in-law who lives in Hollywood Hills, California. He asked if I would be interested to have my bbq sauce bottled and we would market it. Quite coincidental! About 4 years ago JOe and I found the bottler in Tiger, GA, a small town of about 350, north of me some 25 miles deep in mountain country. I had heard about this bottler, Hillside Orchard Farms, for years but never could find them. They are on the old US highway 441. I had forgotten the whole process and costs so I took a ride up there today.

For an initial fee of $350 plus the cost of your ingredients they will make 15+ gallons of your sauce. You get to fine tune the recipe to get the taste you want. The man that does this I am told has a talent for knowing what is in a sauce, jam, etc., by taste and can easily duplicate nearly anything eatable. That is kind of scary! I will bring some original sauce and JOe with me. Remember I can not smell or taste due to nasal polyps. Hope to get those removed again soon. Then there is an additional cost of about $2 per bottle and if you want they will sit down with you and design and print a simple one color label which costs $1 extra per case. So for about $700-800 you wind up with about 160 twelve ounce bottles, or 6 cases plus if you choose that size bottle. They have an assortment of some 2 or 3 dozen different bottles from 5 ounces to 1 gallon in plastic and glass, mostly glass. After all this there is zero obligation, however, if you decide to make more then the minimum is 1 "pot". A pot is 80 gallons and that would cost about $900-1200 out the door. They also can provide a much better label from a company they use. They said if I ordered a hundred labels it would cost about $400 but it would be about $500 for 10,000 which could be multicolor and a glossy finish.

February 7, 2004. The lady that bought the ribs I wrote about came back again today. She asked if they were fresh and I had to tell her they were yesterdays. She told she could tell a difference but she bought a half rack anyway. Then about 2 hours later she brought a friend that also bought a half rack. Had a man today buy 2 full rack and some other stuff. Mostly on Saturdays I have noticed larger orders to take home. I ran out of ribs by 5 PM! Had a few people ask if I had any chickens that they had heard how good they were. I told them that I am trying to figure how to offer the chickens but fresh not day old or reheated. Thinking about that right now perhaps I should have one day a week for chickens. They only take 1 hour 45 minutes to cook so I can do more than one cook a day. However how many chickens do I buy? I'll have to think on this more. 

Today was really a blast...the weather was overcast, windy and never above 40*F and people came out to buy my food anyway. And...I collected $200! Now if Sunday will be at least like last Sunday then I'll know good things are really happening. If it gets good now what is going to happen when the weather gets good and/or I have the drive through? Gads I might have to hire someone, I might have to do delivery...! I better slow down here a bit and not get to excided at least not just yet. Still haven't done any advertising, not sure I want to. If I do I might have to work to hard! Terrible thought, work, eh?

Tomorrows weather will be better. Supposed to be sunny, mid 40's with the winds at 10 mph and getting lighter to variable. But no Super Bowl!

February 6, 2004, evening. About 4 PM the sun started to break through and a business picked up a bit. There were a few during the rain. Did better today than I expected...$75! Probably about at least half what I would have expected had the weather been nice or I had a drive through window. It really was raining hard for a couple of hours just before it quit.

February 6, 2004. The weatherman was correct...it is 8:40 AM and it is raining cats and dogs. Again, I ain't expecting much of a day. I am out of chickens but do plan to do some ribs...maybe I can sell them over the phone! Butts have been smoking since 9:20 last night and are at 182*F now. I'll pull them out at 195*F, probably noonish!

Well let's see how this very soggy day goes.

February 5, 2004, evening! What a yucky weather day. Drizzle all day long from early morning and heavier rain towards closing. For lunch I had the order for the birthday party, that was $30! A few people now and again even in this weather. I needed to smoke the last 4 chickens because they were going to expire tomorrow. I cut them in halves and as they were cooking I made a phone call to Tommy's brother Jerry, at his place of work the North East Veterinary Hospital and informed him I had 8 chicken halves ready at 4 PM. He called me back a short time later telling me he had 3 separate orders. One was a 1/2 chicken and 2 orders of 2 halves each! I asked him if he wanted any for a commission, he stated he liked the white meat. When the pick up person came I told her there was a half for Jerry and that he only likes white meat so you may be able to talk him out of the dark meat. Also before that right at 4:30 was a return lady customer asking for a half also from the N.E.V.H. She didn't order with Jerry but heard about it and stopped on her way home. When I gave it to her she opened it and looked and drooled then tasted with her finger. She was totally impressed. She mentioned how crisp the skin was and its great taste and how juicy it was. That's what makes a cooks day! Then one of Crayton's mechanic stopped and bought the last chicken. By the way I had a chicken I cooked the other day out of the reefer. I put it in a large container with a bit of water and heated it on high in the microwave for 4 minutes with the cover loose. Took it out closed the lid tightly and let it sit for 1 minute. I thought it was real good.

Last Thursday I think was $85 which was about double any other Thursday since October, today I did $123.00! And it was terrible weather. I need that drive through something awful. I am beginning to think that I have a good or maybe even a very good product. I was thinking about that today while I picking the chicken off of the bones after boiling them for the stew. You know I pick out all the fat, skin, fat, veins, cartilage, etc. I probably am giving a damn good product. I have always been a 110 percent person with whatever I do, whether I like what I am doing or not. Maybe that'll pay off here. Maybe it is paying off! Today, despite the weather, was really a fun day!

February 5, 2004. Arrrrg! Rain today and tomorrow with up to 3 inches of rain in the forecast and a flood watch. Oh well my thoughts are if those that don't want to get out of their cars and get wet for bbq will be that more hungry for it this weekend or next week! I hope! 

Remember my problem with the RV sewage? Yesterday I bought one of those garden hose quick disconnect adapter kits. With some of the adapters you can make it  hook up 2 male ends together. So with that all set up I attached one end to the water hose and the other to the RV sewage drain adapter with the optional adapter attached to that that allows a garden hose to let the gray water continually drain onto the ground or an RV site dump. Dumping gray water on the ground  is legal in some states even in camp grounds. So now I had a way to force water back into the holding tank. There is also a valve on this garden hose adapter. So I turned on the water and opened the valve for a few seconds. You gotta make sure you close the waste valve to keep the water from going back into the hose and contaminating it before you turn the water valve off. I really need someone to watch the toilet so I don't put back to much water and have a real mess. I injected the water a few times after checking the toilet each time. I then unhooked the adapters and put back on the waste hose and let her rip! It didn't flow a whole lot but it is flowing some. Looking into the toilet I can now see water and loose waste whereas before it was dry waste. (Isn't this a lovely subject? Hope you aren't eating right now!) I put double the chemicals in and whenever I could I would add more water to the tank through the toilet. Well I can see some light at the end of this tunnel. What I think the whole problem has been is the waste valve leaks. The previous owner warned me about that and showed me the brand new valve he bought and gave me for replacement. I think what has happened is the tank was never fully emptied and the leak let the tank slowly drain of liquid and the solids dried! This is why I now feel I must keep water in it. More on this later today.

February 3, 2004. Have a few things to tell, some good and some perhaps interesting. But right now there is a stretch limo waiting to take a bunch of us to Tommy's father birthday at a rather exclusive steak house. Be back in a few hours!

A few hours later! Well that was fun...it was Tommy's father's 85th birthday. He had the stretch limo pick him up for his party. He knew he was going to the "Beef Baron" for his birthday but had no idea a limo would take him to 30 family members and friends waiting for his arrival! He really loved the evening as did everyone else.

Today I received a phone call from someone that found "Cap'n Pete's Olde Tyme Southern BBQ" in the yellow pages. But I was closed! Oh well...so now I guess I am supposed to believe that extra cost per month for a commercial phone line pays off in the yellow pages, which I have no choice about except I can get a better ad for more money.

Also today I went to the bank to see what I was going to have to do about the $3289 note that will come due in a week or so. I have dreaded this day and have put it off as long as I can. It has been like facing your parents when at ten years old you made an important promise and kept putting it off and knew you were going to feel like the whole world was going to come down on you when you had to tell them or they found out. Because I have been trucking for years, and like most successful owner operators, I have paid cash for everything, which means I lost my previous credit record due to no activity. Well just about everything...it took me about 7 months to save for the $40,000 down payment on my custom built Kenworth truck you see pictured above. Tommy co-signed for the bank note and I was really feeling badly these past months knowing there was no way I could pay off that loan which came all due in one payment. The bank officer has eaten at my bbq and much of his family has also, this probably helped his attitude from the get go! I offered the bbq trailer as collateral and he accepted. But then I thought there would be another problem with that because I never applied for a title since it never went on the road. I thought it was going to be one of those 6 week waiting games for Texas to send  something to GA so I could receive a title. Not a problem...as long as he could ID a serial number, which was on the bill's of sales. To have made it more complicated the previous owner didn't apply either, so what I had in my possession were 2 separate bill's of sale. Thank goodness for small town banks and small town people, especially southerners!!!  And this time I made it an installment note. I had to write a check of $139 for the previous interest. I didn't have to pay the $150 bank loan fee but it was added onto the loan along with another $150 bank loan fee!

The week was pretty good. Not the best since opening though but getting closer. The best week I think was $560 and that was when we first opened. The weather was good and Tommy had called nearly everyone he knew and all his family. This last week was $470. And...the other good thing is I only need to buy a few things that shouldn't be more than about $30. I have all the meat I need for the week. If I don't that means I'll do better than last week and will have to make a run to Sam's Club and Milton's.

I tried 1/2 chickens for the Super Bowl weekend and sold 8. Tommy previously ordered 8 halves for Sunday. I smoked 8 halves hoping to sell them by 3 PM then smoke his. I sold none on Sunday so I brought all the smoked ones to Tommy's Super Bowl party along with beans, potato salad and coleslaw that was left over. I also had him buy the makings for the ABT's, Atomic Buffalo Turd's, which are cored jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese or colby/jack cheese and bacon on top then baked or smoked at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Actually they can be stuffed with anything. If you don't want them hot then make sure you get all the seeds and the membrane out. They were great and the party was great. Don't think I am fully prepared to hold or reheat chickens yet. A forum member explained how to hold chickens for up to 5 days! I need to ask him a few more questions about it. It does require a small amount of Sprite, steam for 30 minutes, cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate. When needed microwave for 4-5 minutes, let stand for 1 minute then serve! I'll have to play with that for awhile. What is nice about chickens though is the short time for smoking...less then 2 hours.

Sold a lot more ribs then any other week so far. Seems like the word of mouth about my ribs has gotten into the black community, which is quite small...I think that is a huge compliment! One black lady from the Hampton Inn said she was drooling watching another employee eating my ribs. She said they looked so wonderful and went on to explain how she waited for her to be offered a rib but that the other women wouldn't give her even a taste because she was enjoying them so much. Also she said she was hoping the other employee would drop one and she would have grabbed it right off the floor! She came for  half rack but while telling me her story decided to get a full rack because she knew she would have to share hers with her father. LOL!

I think I am gonna  make it!

Something off the subject of business and bbq but perhaps interesting. Stacey, a very good friend that is 37 years old, several years ago, after working on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, went for a test ride. His front wheel came off at highway speed and he rammed his head into a tree. It didn't seem like he would ever get his mind back in shape ever again. But he has totally recovered. Last Thursday he was at the bbq sitting having a long visit telling me about his long lost  love that he was going to drive some 750 miles Friday morning and help her move back to this area. I helped him with routing and places to stop for fuel and food. Preached to him about taking his time, not to drive over 5 mph over the speed limit, just keep it steady, and walk around a bit after fueling. About 8 hours out from home on the way back he experienced his left arm going numb and just his finger tips tingling. He then felt chest pains and indigestion. He continued to drive while these pains would subside and return, the numbness come and go. When he arrived home he and his girlfriend, who was driving another vehicle, decided to take him to the hospital. At the hospital they told him he was having a heart attack! They summoned the ambulance to take him to Gainesville, GA where there is a hospital that is better equipped. They found a blockage in a major artery. Cleared it with the balloon thing and his pain went away and  is now doing just fine and in good spirits. He'll probably be released this Friday. You don't have to read back, I will repeat, he is 37 years old. Lives a pretty clean life. He likes to drink some beers now and again and smoke a little pot and has never been heavy into any drugs previously. He is slender and active! Go figure! I told him someone must be watching him and probably trying to tell him something!