March 31, 2004. Here it is Wednesday and I have opened after my weekend. Thought about opening Monday and/or Tuesday but it does cost about $50 a day just for utilities and that would be more than I might expect to make on the off days. There is plenty of supplies and food for the week. All I can do now is take it day by day. By tomorrow my monthly bills will be about $600. The one bill that must be paid no later than tomorrow is $125 for the food service license. A decision yet to be made, if I have that much cash by tomorrow, will be to pay it or not. 

I am already making other plans and will probably put the concession trailer on eBay within the next few days if not today.                 

March 29, 2004. Total weeks take was about a mere $180! Today I have $96 in the bank after all debits. Phone is $94 due today, that is going to wait. Due on Thursday, the 1st, is the rent and the health dept permit. I have plenty of food so I will open at least  Wednesday and hope for the best. I'm going to pinch this out to the very end if that is where I am headed!

I received an email from a couple I believe from WA state with a bbq restaurant. They said that March is their worst month and May coming back like gang busters. I wish it is going to be that here, and it very may well be, but their weather pattern is so different so I have little confidence about the future at this time. Someone suggested that everyone is working in the garden now that the weather has warmed. And some others with businesses also admit several slow weeks. The answer is...you gotta have sufficient capital to carry you though the lean times!

March 27, 2004, 0732. Made a mistake balancing my check book. Instead of in the red $5.02 I am in the black $4.14. What a relief, eh? Now with yesterdays take of $46 and today's take it'll be like in heaven. And I still have enough meatloaf left, that was reduced at Sam's Club, I smoked for myself  for 2 more days. I rarely eat what I sell...kinda burned out on that! Except for the ribs but their to expensive for myself, however I usually steal the last smallest rib when possible that may be left over from making rib plates.

I'll try to write tonight about today's take. I think I am over being depressed because I think I have accepted the inevitable and am just waiting and still trying but not with as much vigor. It's just difficult to stir up much enthusiasm anymore.

One more simple and a no cost idea...I'll change the lighted arrow sign this morning and announce the ribs again! Maybe it'll arouse some appetites!

March 26, 2004. Yesterday brought in $52 and today $46...what the heck has happened? Friday was always over $100! Had to take the small stuck away cash pot and yesterdays income to make sure the bank balance will be happy. I left out 1 check so if it and the state tax clear tomorrow I'll be $5.02 over drawn! I'll cover that in the morning although the state tax check usually takes about 2 weeks to clear and I sent it in on the 19th. This is cutting things right down to the wire in the bank but then the rent is due, the phone bill, and the food permit by the 1st! It looks tough to have the $515 for that, but if next week will be right then I can do it, up to that point! Pray for me, please.

Today the Environmental Health Inspector made her official visit. Hadn't seen her since the day before I opened in September. She parked out of the way and I never saw her coming so when I heard this very unexpected knock on the rear door I surely wasn't expecting her smiley face. Man was I nervous for a few minutes but I was as ready as I have been since day 1. Actually it is amazing that all the time I am doing any cleaning or notice something health wise I have always have thoughts about Maria! Thinking if she'd approve and going that little bit more to make sure she did just incase she showed up. Well I hadn't thought about her much today until she showed up. Everything was as it has always been so if I was doing it wrong I hadn't known it. Maria is probably one of the nicest county inspectors I know, she is extremely helpful and would rather help and make it right then have to write you up. I have known her for many years in a business capacity and she, then as now, is still the same kind person. Actually I have found all the inspectors of this county to be very kind, I mean very kind, and helpful...very helpful. I have mentioned that before about hers and the Building and Planning Departments. She looked around, with no white gloves, looked in my steam table, here and there, and seemed quite satisfied. She mentioned that even the outside in the back was quite orderly. It wasn't as I usually have it because of a few minor things I didn't do from the wiring repair. Things I would notice and no one else probably wouldn't unless they were being critical with white gloves. She said she had eaten after I asked. I did manage to get her to taste just about everything, I forgot to let her taste the pork! She really loved the bbq beans, that recipe came from The BBQ Forum, the 3 potato salad that I buy from Milton's, the Brunswick Stew, a lot, and especially my bbq sauce! She really, really, really, like my bbq sauce and told me she is a sauce person with shelves in her house that is full of all kinds. She wanted to know how to buy it. She said it was different then all she has tasted. I think she meant for that kind of sauce, that with a ketchup base. But she really raved about it and in a sheepish way asked what was in it knowing that I wouldn't give her the recipe. As I went on telling her the ingredients I would hit one and she would say "that's what it is", then I'd say some other and she'd say again "that's what I'm tasting", she did that on at least 3 of the many ingredients. I told her to watch right here on my web page. So you folks that are willing to buy my sauce untried, we now have another live witness! Oh yeah! She gave me a 100% on the inspection so now you all can come by at not worry about getting sick!

March 25, 2004, 0815. Finished electrical project and had everything up and running by 7:45 AM. Everything was on plus I turned on the steam tables so now was the time to check the voltages on each side. The good side was at 118.9 VAC and the usual 115 VAC side was at 118.2 VAC! This leads me to believe that something was wrong with the under ground wiring from day one! Don't know where to throw the blame, I'll just forget it and it'll now be a bit of conversation now and again.

Have the outside almost cleaned up. Have already back filled the trench and put up most of the tools. I'll go do that now then take a shower!

We're expecting mid 70's for the next week and little if no rain.

 March 24, 2004. Called the power company to make sure I wasn't over looking anything. I knew it wasn't anything of theirs but if I call in that I have a line out they'll send someone to check it out. When the service man came he made some suggestions and that is what I did today. I bought 1 1/2" pvc conduit and ran that just under ground a bit then under the trailer. I almost got done but by about 6 PM I was wore out exhausted and many pains in the back, arms, hands, etc. I had to remove the skirting then pull some of the cable through sections of the conduit and bends to make it come together at both ends. I stopped at the point where there is a pigtail inside the power company utility pole. I just need to hook up that side for that much to be done. On the other end by the trailer power box I am at it with a 90* bend from the ground pointed towards the box with a very long pigtail. I'll have to cut the old conduit and remove the old cable. There is not another entry of the correct size. I didn't think I could finish it all by dark...I was really moving very slowly but 6 PM. Tomorrow morning I'll turn the power off at the main utility pole and hook that up. Then take a hack saw and cut the trailer box conduit as low to the ground as I can. Pull the old wires out and replace with the new and finish it all off. Even though I was totally exhausted I managed to replace all the skirting, that is that 110 percent pushing myself coming out.

I am really looking forward to see what the voltage is going to be on each leg. Remember I mentioned that I noticed a low voltage from the get go on this leg when the wiring was initially installed before opening the business.

While doing the shallow 17 foot trench I stopped when I got slightly light headed and checked my heart rate and blood pressure. My blood pressure was up there but always in the safe zone. When my head got light feeling my heart rate was 160! If I recall you subtract your age from 200 and that should be the maximum sustained heart rate for exercising. To avoid a high rate I could only work for about 10 minutes then rest about 15. I think it is very obvious that I am terribly out of shape, but I already knew that!

So I was closed today and hopefully I'll be open tomorrow. I think I will. If I don't make any income tomorrow I'll have to take 3/4 of a hidden cash pot I have kept almost from day one for emergency change those 100 dollar bills and extra ones. I spent $111 on this wiring project today. One other not so go of a sign today...no one called for any orders!

One other thing...the power company guy explained he couldn't help me, which we knew, but that I better get going because I need to be open asap because I have the best barbeque around! That was nice to hear from a local. I gave him a pound of cold stew! I do appreciate all the emails I am getting from you all trying to encourage me to hang in there. It helps but it has really been tough. Wouldn't it be really neat if 10 years from now I could look back at this and have several restaurants and just kick back and watch. That thought seems impossible right now!

 Try to let you all know tomorrow evening how the wiring turned out and how the business day turns out too.

Man am I sore all over! But mentally I am up quite a bit. Probably just being physically busy helps the mind relax. I used to be such a hands on person, never thought to pay someone to do anything! If I knew someone else could do it then I knew I could! It's age, darn it, I can't stop it! Oh well! But I'll tell you one thing of advice that I have learned...when you're in good shape at youth, stay that way no matter what! I didn't.

March 23, 2004. Night time, 10pm. Went into the Q just to check something and found the refrigerator, the coke machine, and the ice machine off. After some checking I found one of the 220 VAC legs dead between the circuit breaker of the incoming at the meter to the main box outside the Q! I put my meter from ground to the bare wire at the bottom of the circuit breaker at the meter and get the 120 VAC but from there to the next circuit breaker box is nothing on the one side right where it comes into the box before the circuit breakers. I checked to see if the wire had burned at the screw where it fastens to that buss. Put my meter right on the wire and nothing. This is the line that runs under ground! I'll check it in the day light tomorrow. In the mean time I have put an extension cord to the refrigerator. I sure hope I am looking over something and with a clear fresh mind and daylight will find a minor problem. If the problem is under ground...well we'll see. 

March 23, 2004. It's Tuesday and I will open tomorrow but it must do fairly good this week or I will be out of funds. I am on my way to Sam's and Milton's to spend a total of $225 of $270 that is left in the bank. The difference leaves me what I must use for other things like food for myself, which I am also out of. Looks like I keep just skimming by but I feel like I am living in poverty, working so hard and living in poverty! I am about to have a 60th birthday in April, I think I have made a mistake at this time in my life opening a new business involving the food service, especially with out any previous experience in that area. It looks like I can still make it like I have been doing, and that is doing without much of anything for myself except food. After a while that wears on a person. If I were 35 or 40 it wouldn't and didn't bother me...I always knew things would work out. I still know that I can make things work out but it is wearing me down, I don't have what I used to, I want to take a rest, I just want to stop thinking for a while. I am really at the point of wanting to give up but because it has become a habit I will continue another week. Also owing and paying bills late bothers me a lot. I see other people that don't worry about their bills...I just can't do that. I am fairly certain I got that from my father, he was real bad about that. I know that is a good attribute but it tears away at my stomach! I am sorry that I must write with such sadness but that is who I am right now, on a down.

I have been receiving a few emails but haven't felt like responding right now...I apologize and will try to get back to you all. There have been many suggestions and all have been good ones, that is, if I had any money for them. There have been suggestions that don't require money but rather energy, I don't seem to be able to get any together anymore.

Even if I had the money I still need customers! Remember I had raised over $4000 cash to survive this last winter. Where did it go? Four thousand dollars...where did it go and did it do any good? That reminds me of a saying about boats, "a boat it is a hole in the water that one pours money into!" also "the happiest days of a person that owns a boat is the day he buys it and the day he sells it"! 

March 20, 2004. Today was a big $50 and change! Where has everyone gone? Total this week about $270! That's not good, I need about $250 for meat and staples for next week. I could open Wednesday with what I have but I don't think I might have enough meat for Thursday unless it is another week like this one. I believe this is the worst week and the nicest weather! Now I have to make decisions about what to do next...like when to close the doors so I have a least lunch money left, do I put the trailer up for sale now? Where will I go and what will I do next?

 Maybe I just don't have a good product and everyone has tried my food and there is no one else left!

March 19, 2004. Wednesday I took in $102, yesterday $62, today $65...I think I am beginning to sink or have been and now know it! So why am I not depressed? Or am I but it just hasn't hit home yet?

March 16, 2004. Tommy took a trip to the eastern North Carolina, Carolina Beach, to visit his son and 1 year old grandson. With him he took, at his son's request, a few pounds of pork, a rack of ribs and of course bbq sauce. While there a friend of his son's was visiting one day and loved the pork and went crazy for the sauce. Found out she is a caterer and wants a case of my sauce and 20 pounds of the pulled pork. Tommy told her that the 12 ounce jars will probably be $4.50 or $5! She didn't care. Tommy knows that they'll probably be more like $4, maybe $4.50. So I now have an order for sauce! There are very few bbq restaurants in the area that aren't the typical eastern NC sauce which is mainly apple cider vinegar, like 7/8ths a gallon of a gallon container plus herbs and seasoning. There are people that bbq  in their back yards and sell to the restaurants along with the sauce already in the meat. Don't get me wrong it is good, I like it a lot but I like the sweet sauce much better. You have to be careful when you are about to bite into one of their sandwiches though...if you inhale as you bite you'll cough from the vinegar! LOL! Almost all the smokers I saw while in that area, when I was living on my boat, were built from used oil heating tanks turned on their flat sides and cut in half horizontally then hinged,  fitted with expanded steel for the fire grate and grill and twin chrome truck exhaust stacks. They use charcoal briquettes, there is little hardwood in that area. When the whole pig is done they cut it open and chop everything together using the skin as a chopping block and serving platter while still on the grill, sauce it and serve! 

I am still in the planning stages of setting up a bbq sauce page for this web site. My idea was if my brother-in-law didn't come through with the funds for the first run of the sauce was to try to take your orders for future delivery. When I got enough to do the first run I would then be able to send out the sauce. However if I never got enough for the necessary $700 and couldn't come up with the rest I would  return everybody's money. Don't now if there are enough people that read this page that would want to buy the sauce. Anyway I'll work on the web site and try to get that page ready by the time we have the first run in hand. If I sold the first run 12 ounce bottles for $4 plus about $1.50 handling plus shipping I would break even. I would yield about 160 bottles which would be the 15 gallons from that batch. Each batch thereafter would be in multiples of 80 gallons at a cost of $900-1200 each. Doing the math that would be a profit of about $2200-2500 if I were to do it all in 12 ounce bottles. I would do many gallon jugs as well to sell and for my use so the profit would be less but still pretty good. Not sure how much to charge for the gallons yet.

Bought what I needed for this week and have $167 left! That's good if I can do decent this week. Actually if I paid all the out standing bills I would be about $700 in the red. Hmmm...that isn't sounding so bad anymore, I'm catching up! 

Supposed to have warm sunny weather with a 30 percent rain chance Thursday.

Last week was the original Brunswick Stew recipe and I almost sold out of the 5 gallons I made. Taking the trial bbq sauce out of the recipe was the right thing to do.

March 13, 2004. Total deposit this week is $432, $158 of that goes to the power company Monday! Arrrrrg! I can tell that sales were way down by how many buns I have left. I will say that the stew went pretty fast though. Only have about a half gallon left. Still have the other half of the chuck roll for the stew, 6 uncooked pork butts, 3 uncooked and 3 cooked racks of ribs left so I won't need to spend a whole lot this week. I will need to buy chicken. I have decided to create a smoked chicken plate. It'll be a quarter chicken, 2 sides, a pickle spear, 1 piece of bbq bread, and a mint! Probably sell it for $4.95, not positive yet on the price until I look at my spreadsheets.

Have been asking customers if they would be interested to buy my bbq sauce bottled. Getting positive responses but I have learned that that doesn't always mean much. Like with being open on Sundays.  Sure Sunday is a great day to be open, that is if I had indoors accommodations. 

March 12, 2004. Thursday was almost exactly the same as Wednesday, $123! Today is supposed to be a good or best day of the week although I have noticed that every once in a while it isn't...today didn't start out good at all, it was pretty much an "isn't" day. By closing time I grossed $66. I was just getting ready to put the lock on the last front window panel as a women drove up. I told her I'd be glad to serve her. She told me she had been wanting to stop several times but I hadn't been open. She spent $40 and change! Right behind her was another person for a pork plate. So the day at least turned out worth while but still disappointing. I thought I was going to have a $600 week. I just can't get there. Next week is supposed to be in the 60's and low 70's and no rain reported yet the days I am open. Maybe...just maybe I'll break $600 for the week. It's a goal!

Received an email from my brother-in-law saying that the bottling thing is still on. When I get it all together I'll make the sale of my bbq sauce available here.

Speaking of sauce, there was a gentleman today that says he like to smoke and grill a lot. He mentioned to me that he liked my bbq a lot. I asked him how he rated it on a 1 to 10 basis. He gave me a 7. I asked who is a 10. He said a popular bbq place in Toccoa, GA, which is about a 30 minute drive, rates more than me but still not a 10. He couldn't name a 10. I asked why his bbq was better than mine. He said it was the sauce, that my sauce was really great but his was a notch better. I know who he is talking about. That guy has been there for some 18 years. The conversation made me feel nice!

March 10, 2004. This was the first Wednesday open for many months. I was rather surprised...took in $122. That was worth 4 Sundays or so. I finally realized that people want to eat out after church but they want to sit down in comfort and relax. Even if it was a beautiful day I think inside is really the answer unless of course it was a perfect warm day with no wind but that hasn't happened on a Sunday all winter.

 I was concerned about having enough buns for Wednesday so I called the bread man Tuesday morning. He said he didn't have enough bbq bread but probably had enough buns. I didn't need the bbq bread so we agreed that I'd call him early afternoon to see where he stood to see if he was going to stop by in the afternoon. I called his cell phone and it seemed like he answered but I heard nothing. I called him again late afternoon and he said that he couldn't hear me but knew it was me on his caller ID. So why didn't he call me back then? He never made it to me and never had a good excuse. He probably forgot like he had done several times in the past. He is a young guy and it just bothers me why he forgets so much. I don't think he is into drugs but you never know. His bread delivery is his own business so you'd think he'd be more conscientious. Maybe he has to much on his mind! So now I have got to train him to come on Tuesdays again instead of Thursdays...there is no deliveries on Wednesdays. I drove the few blocks to the bread store and picked up 3 packs of 8 buns but never did need them. Sold mostly stew and chicken for the day. Had one couple, my LP gas man and his wife, sit down at the table and eat one 16 ounce stew each and shared a large potato salad then bought two more 16 ounce stews to go.

I went back to my original stew recipe without the bbq sauce. But it seemed so dry I had to add about two cups of water plus per gallon. I finally figured why...I added more onion, dehydrated onion! I have noticed that when I put up my bbq sauce for a long period of time it thickens because of the same reason, the dehydrated onions. I asked the bottling company about that and he said the onions will continue to absorb moisture for quite a while. I thought it took only about ten minutes to hydrate anything which I recall from dehydrated foods I used when I used to back pack into the wilderness!

Well here we go again making more stew, bbq sauce, pulled pork, etc. more often that I have gotten used to. I sure hope this is going to be worth my time. Yesterday I did some ribs, chicken, and put a load of butts in the smoker that are cooking right now. When I shut down and went home I hit the sack about 8:30, not a whole lot earlier than usual anymore. I am going to be 60 next month and am thinking I may have gotten myself into something deeper than I can now handle. I have been thinking this more and more lately. Perhaps if I saw some money in the bank I could spend on myself might give me a better look on things. Right now despite the fact things are improving I am rather depressed. That is why I haven't written very often lately! If someone offered me $40,000 for my concession trailer today I would probably take it.

March 06, 2004. Did better on Thursday then yesterday and today, which was unusual, but did $501 gross which means things are coming back and probably better. I decided to not open on Sundays anymore and to open back on Wednesday again. Have already changed the lighted arrow sign. My hours were 11-6, I'll change that to 11:30-6:30. Still have not heard from my brother-in-law about the bottling of my sauce. So I will continue on a path on my own if I don't hear from him this weekend. I had received a few emails telling me that some of you all want to buy my sauce. That's great but wait until I create the sauce page and explain how I will do this.

Chickens have been doing good with return customers, even for the reheated ones.

The bank account is in the black by $12 at this moment. Made a $175 deposit Thursday and still have yesterday and today's deposit that'll I'll get in the bank by Monday morning. I do have some ribs and butts for next week and made 2 weeks of bbq sauce and at least 1 weeks of stew yesterday and still have the beef for another batch of stew. I'm still squeaking by!

March 01, 2004.  Well dang it you just can not figure a pattern...this last week was less than expected. So that is 2 weeks now that my income has gone down!

I bought 8 chickens last week and was expecting to cook 4 of those Thursday. At 11:30 AM I had already sold half of what I cooked, 4 halves to one customer. By 1 PM I had a only 2 halves left so I cooked up the rest. They were all gone but 1, that I ate, that day. So it was a good chicken day which made that Thursday pretty good overall. And to top it off that was the day that it had snowed about 3 inches the night before and snowed lightly all day. The roads were good by noon. Of course all the schools were closed all the way to and including Atlanta. Friday the snow was just about gone and if I recall it was a fairly nice day. I cooked up more chickens that I had bought for this week, I wound up cooking 8 more whole birds cut in halves. So This week I cooked 32 halves of chicken, ate 2 and Sunday I had 3 left. I ate one of those today. You think I am eating all my profits? Not really...I gotta eat anyway and those half chickens cost me $1.415, pretty cheap meal and a half. Besides they still taste good to me, best that I can taste.

The rib ladies have disappeared all last week and one showed up this Saturday for a half rack. Go figure! If there is any kind of a pattern it seems like there is a 2 week cycle. One week is good and the next week not as good. There may be a cycle on top of those 2 weeks making up a 4 week cycle. I doubt I am right but if I am the only thing I can think of is pay days, some every 2 weeks and some once a month, maybe!

Things are going to be real tight this week or so. I don't have all the money I need for all the bills at this time. The phone was paid today, I have enough for the rent, but not enough for the bank note due the 5th unless I don't buy food and supplies! First priority of course is the food. I would usually buy some supplies about now as a cushion but I can wait and make another run for supplies after I make some income, that is if I need the supplies. I am pretty sure I am okay with staples, cups, etc. I need to buy meat. I have enough frozen ribs for through Friday almost for sure. I say almost...have to say it that way because there doesn't seem to be anything for sure. I'll need a case of butts, an 8 pack will do. And the killer is I need a chuck roll for the stew. That puppy usually weighs from around 18 pounds and up. I always request a small one because half of it I'll freeze and not need for up to 2 weeks as history has had it. I am waiting for that to change, hopefully very soon, the history, that is! I am afraid to ask how much the beef is now. Even pork has been going up. Pork butts have increased over 20 cents per pound in the last few weeks. Anyway I see how I can probably make the bills, however I may have to pay a late fee on the bank note.

The weather is going to be real warm this whole week with a chance of some rain. The lows are finally out of the 20's and 30's, for now. I believe the hard prolonged part of winter has ended here. I've been waiting for warm weather to complete the sewerage problem in the RV. Remember I wrote that I finally got the holding take cleared and drained. I still have not replaced the valves.

Haven't heard anything in quite a while from my brother-in-law about bottling my bbq sauce. I have figured another way to get it kicked off and sell the first initial batch if he doesn't get on the ball very soon. I know he has a very busy life but I need to find ways of income. I really don't have a lot of confidence that bbq sauce can make a lot of money, but you never know. There seems to be a thousand bbq sauces already out there. The marketing I think is what sells bbq sauce. Look at Kraft, probably the worst excuse for bbq sauce but probably a big seller. Bbq pros know that most people in the country do not know what real bbq really is. Try Sonny's falling off the bone ribs! Wrong...if you like "Sonny's BBQ", they are a chain I think just in the south east,  then you don't know what real bbq is, plain and simple. First of all if you buy ribs that are falling off the bone that have been cooked over a real wood fire or smoked then they have been either been overcooked or reheated to long or to many times! Think about that! How about "Bobby Rubino's"...remember they advertise that they are "a place for ribs", they say nothing about bbq! I think they par boil their ribs, yuck, then charbroil them. There are folks that will buy Kraft bbq sauce as a base. Go to Sam's and try Cattlemen's bbq sauce as a base next time, you'll be that much more ahead for a good taste. Those are probably the places with a decent bbq sauce. People that think bbq sauce makes the bbq are also miss informed. So to sum this up...my bbq sauce is great but my bbq is even better. If you enjoy ribs without sauce then you have found a properly bbq-ed rib. Then who will buy my bbq sauce? Hopefully the majority of people that think bbq sauce is what makes bbq! My friend Tommy loves my sauce so much he uses it like you might use catsup, on hotdogs, hamburgers, even on plain bread!

When I have perfected my idea about marketing my bbq sauce I'll feel you all in. Hopefully you all will try a bottle too. I might be depending on that to get it kicked off. I'll tell you this much, it'll have a linked page of its own on my web site where it can be viewed and even purchased. Well I just let one of the cats out of the bag!