Daily Blog, so it begins...

Around midnight...
Kerri: Where are you going?
Me: I'm going to blog
Kerri: Your blogs are too long, come to bed! Why do you have to blog tonight?
Me: I want to start blogging everyday, at least every "work-day"
Kerri: That's too much to do everyday, your blogs are too long!

Today we made our second attempt to deliver the "black cabinet." This is the before -

and this is the after -

A Manhattan Beach couple needed a cabinet to fit a corner of their master bedroom, but couldn't find the perfect size cabinet and for the right price. They already had this cabinet that was part of their daughter's baby crib furniture set which fit perfectly in the corner, but didn't match the rest of the black furniture in the bedroom. Unfortunately, we had to spray lacquer and deliver this cabinet twice.  On our first delivery attempt, the cabinet had white over-spray from a different project which we thought can be easily wiped off after the accident happened. Juan and I desperately wiped and wiped at a Panda Express parking lot on PCH, but the spots wouldn't come off.  I had no choice but to abort the delivery, make that dreadful call to the owners to confess what had happened and why I had to cancel at such last minute.  This was last Wednesday.  I was so upset and embarrassed that I drove out of that parking lot like a pigeon from hell, then abruptly turned right into Round Table's "all you can eat lunch buffet" and buried my sorrows with one pizza slice after another. I fled right before the crowds of retired seniors started fighting over the slices with jalapenos. They did not care if the jalapenos were paired with pineapple or sausage. They just wanted their jalapenos.  I don't blame them. I sought after the same slices myself.

By Friday morning, the cabinet is beautiful again (thanks to the finishers, Nelson and Rudy, for a quick turn-around). We couldn't afford another over-spray incident because the white project was still in progress so Juan picked up the cabinet first thing in the morning (thank you Juan!), but now the owners couldn't receive it that day. We had no choice but to store the cabinet in the foyer of our condo over the weekend. Kerri was not happy with the smell of fresh spray lacquer, but I think she was even more worried about Cameron (18 months) being around it. These are the sacrifices a cabinet maker's family makes.

So today, Monday, we said our farewells to the "black cabinet" and delivered her safely. She was returned to her corner to serve her storage duties.  She is no longer part of a baby's crib set, but instead all grown up and now part of the master bedroom set.

The rest of the day, Juan and I scrambled up and down the 405 fwy to get our next job going- getting samples approved/picking up materials, etc. I had to call on Larry too to get materials out his way which worked out perfectly.

This is the nice view from our new client's office (Olympic Blvd/405 fwy 10th floor)-

The new client's name is Gary. He's done some woodworking too.  He recently restored an old boat just to show his kids that he can do more than just sit behind a desk with a nice view and run his own business. Naturally, game recognizes game, so he gave us a deposit!