Italian Made

What a stride hit today. When we left CA last year, we had worked out a deal where we would get a one-group espresso machine (a "Conti Bar") along with the deluxe automatic one we purchased from a previous coffee shop owner. We hit some snags in trying to get it as we had to arrange for the shipping. Surprise! - a few hundred denari to have it toted across 3 time zones. OK. Let's bite the bullet and we'll take it out of the crate, hook up the water and fire it up.

Doh! Water spraying out like a fountain. Let's open it up and see what we can find. "I think it's got a few parts missing." A phone call to the left coast to hook up with Fabrice Moshetti (espresso coffee expert extraordinaire) and after much guidance and a few more hundred bucks in parts (solenoid valve, spray nozzle, collar gasket, head gasket, filter, o-ring), Jeff actually learned his way around an espresso machine and got it going.

Now - to learn how to create a fantastic-tasting espresso/latte. First attempt was OK, but too thin and not enough crema. Our family barista (Gaby - down there to my left in the grad picture) informed that my grind was too coarse.

The stride is not only getting the machine going, but doing coffee shop work. It feels right.

Back to CA

We just returned from Jordan's Graduation in CA. Couldn't wish that long trip on anyone. Talk about jet lag. Teena never could sleep on a plane.


Jordan now has BSGSP, a Bachelor of Science in Game and Simulation Programming. Up until just a few days before graduation he had no place to live and we were teetering with anxiety, even called some friends in Benicia to see if they could be a temp residence if nothing worked out. But as always, God came through at the last minute exceedingly above all we ask or think. God provided a friend in Redwood City who is in the military and has an efficiency apartment. So the afternoon of graduation we moved Jordan into Eric's apartment (that's Eric looking like Secret Service). Jordan planned to stay the weekend with friends in Vallejo which is near Benicia so we were en route back in that direction in our borrowed car and had just split off from him to take Gaby back to her place when he called us to tell us he had a literal blow out (not a grad party). This car is Nissan that was donated to him and it was working fine until the past month when suddenly two major things went wrong. He had to sink $1500 into it to replace the catalytic converter and then 3 days later transmission. And the tires were retreads. Evidently a tread separated. He was fine and we drove back to where he was on the busy 880 freeway south of Oakland He sat there as cars whizzed by until AAA could put the car on a tow bed, get to a safe location and change the tire. Then he had to pay another $300+ for new tires. All he needs now is a job :). He is interviewing today for a game testing position with Namco (creators of Pac Man) after posting his resume on Craigslist yesterday. Please pray for him because he only has a small window before his reserve funds run out and his loan payments begin.

We are proud of him. He's grown into a very independent young man and his faith in God remains strong. I joked with him that people would die for a job where they play games all day. He promptly informed me that it probably wouldn't be that glamorous and that he would most likely be testing the same thing over and over ad nauseam. Anyway, that's the latest on Jordan. Latest on coffee shop. Still waiting on BB&T bank. Called and rattled their cage yesterday. This is a real test of patience.

Update Bonanza

We got the message and are pleased to know that folks are actually keeping up with this. We DO encourage you to sign up for updates in the box to the left of the latest blog entry (this one until the next one comes) or at the website http://www.javajourney.org/ top right.

We will follow this with our current progress on a space (different than the one mentioned before), a loan, our equipment and new coffee supplier - plus other stuff.

Thanks for your patience and above all your interest.

PS: I think Ben was 15 when Adam was born. ;-D

Innocent, But "Savvy"

In 2 places, Jesus makes reference to a special type of wisdom. It's what translators do with the Geek word - er I mean Greek word "phronimos." Sometimes the word is translated as "wise" - but that's confusing since "wise" is also rendered when the Greek "sophos" is used.

There are 2 places where the word "shrewd" is used. One is Matthew 10:16, where Jesus says:

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

The other place is in a parable about a fired worker who lies to former accounts to win their favor. It's found in Luke 16. Jesus' very perplexing conclusion is:

"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light."

Here we go - like I love to do when I teach - - (I'm having serious withdrawals not having the opportunities now) I tear into both words. Sophos means "expert knowledge" - Phronimos means "practical knowledge." Anyone who knows me is acquainted on how I jump all over the opportunity to shuffle function high above form. Here's another chance.

Let's call the unnecessarily highly-paid engineer the sophos-user. He draws out and designs something that is supposed to fit or work effectively out in the field. Let's call the contractor or more appropriately his highly underpaid day-to-day seasoned foreman the phronimos-user. He takes his Saws-all, drill and screws left over from another project and ("There's your problem right there") gets the thing working correctly.

I like the phronimos version better.

I think the translators did only "OK" with using "shrewd." There's a much better word in our current vernacular that is more functional. It's the word "savvy." Let's try it:

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as savvy as snakes and as innocent as doves."

That's better. A snake is savvy. That's how it survives. It knows where to go or be in order to stay alive.

"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted savvy. For the people of this world are more savvy in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light."

Teena and Jeff are learning how to be more savvy. We wrote up a business plan in order to apply for a loan from a bank. Our small business consultant knows that we want to do ministry and that we want the coffee shop to be a major hook. But when he saw all the references to how we are going to go about ministry - blah, blah blah, he realized that the bankers probably won't get it. They think like snakes - survival, where to go and be.

So we've now revised our business plan since the people of this world are more savvy in dealing with their own kind day to day than are the people of the light. But we're maintaining a pure and innocent approach.

Sinai Road Atlas

We're still making progress and finding timely streams of water and morsels of manna along the way. We're in good company as Israel did not have the crow-flight ability in their adventures. We still have our butts perpendicular with the ground as one foot is being placed in front of the other. And from time to time we catch ourselves bellyaching - only to wind up with providence running out of our nostrils.

Pictured with this post is the space we're currently looking at. It is less than a mile north of Starbucks and another individual coffee shop, but on the busiest road in the area. We're confident that there's enough traffic to share and that the coffee shop presence is still a ways off from a saturation point. Besides, both the aforementioned have their own limitations and we believe we have something unique to offer the culture around here. This place is about 1450 sq. ft. upstairs and has an equally sized basement. If we figure in the entire sq footage by potential, the price comes to be a little less than $7 per. But we're only going to start out with the main level. Still - under $14 is not bad. We've visited there now about 6 times. The last 2 were with contractors. Seems consistent from both of them that we've skipped a step (Gee, how could that happen being the novices we are?). We will have to contact a few of referred architects.

All this looms. That's the word. It's bigger than we are and what we have. But we really, REALLY believe that God is much bigger than this and much more. All we need is the strength, persistence, faith, patience and the intercessory power that comes from prayer. We're certainly in much more conversation that we have been our entire lives. And we depend on your help.

Thank you for all of your support.

We wish that we could...

Staples is very clever with the "easy button" hook. But we've discovered that there is no such button that can be conveniently pushed when pursuing a dream that has business and ministry intergrated with limited resources.

We looked at the newly available property on "127 Hwy" (as we heart of America folks would say). It has great potential, but needs plenty of elbow grease to get it in shape. No build-out and perhaps a month free of setting up.

Yikes! Could we afford to not "work" and live off of some of the reserve intended to fund this while we sweat it out cleaning and setting up? Will we be able to put forth a convincing business plan to secure a substantial loan? Will others help us?

Since we cannot push the four white letters on red background to streamline the whole process, I guess we'll just have to resort to - ah - that thing called prayer which necessitates faith.

Join us, will you? - with prayer and help. We need both big time.

Thanks!

The Consultant, The Conti One Group & Coffee Shop Storefronts

We spent Monday with John Bunn a consultant from Elizabethton, TN. John owns and manages The Coffee Company and also does his own roasting. He's in his 12th year of business and has helped launch several other coffee shops. He understands coffee and ministry (until recently was also serving as the minister of music at First Bapt Church in Elizabethton.)

We took John on a whirlwind tour of our top remaining potential locations. And when all was said and done we narrowed it down to two before he left. The one on Grace Chapel road had already been ruled out on Friday. We'd discussed rezoning it with the local city planning person. He said it could possibly be approved for rezoning from residential to commercial but to increase the likelihood of that happening, we'd have to keep the natives happy by blocking off the current entryway on the residential street and get permission from the convenience store next door which faces Grace Chapel road to use their parking lot as an entrance to our lot. Well, the door slammed on that one when the owner of the convenience store said, "No..." leaving out the obvious "over my dead body" which he could have easily added.

The second of these four locations is a house on an acre and half of land that is stratigecally placed on N second street off of hwy 321. Prime piece of land on a busy street that crosses 321 and takes commuters into Hickory. Potential for a drive through, but it is the land that is the selling point and not the house. And after calculating cost of paving the front yard and adding pavement for drive through plus additional updates to very dated house with small rooms, it was just too much work and too expensive to sink money into.

So that left three standing. We looked at another nicely refurbished home zoned commercial in downtown area. Jeff had been very keen on this property but John broke the spell. He said he felt it would be too small for what we want to do with ministry. Then we jetted over to 127 to take one last gander at the one store front we had liked all along but hadn't put in the forefront of our options because of concerns about parking. It has about two spaces in front.

We had a nice surprise. That store front is still available but the one two doors down is now available. It has an upstairs and downstairs with a garage. It has the square footage we want AND it is easier to access and has additional parking. Both are very reasonable. So we shifted our focus from store A to store B on that one.

The final place that took us by surprise that John liked was on 321, a former Nature's Supermarket. Teena kept bringing this one up to Jeff but he said, "Woman, are you nuts? That doesn't inspire me at all." But on closer look with John he changed his mind. Who said women are fickle?

It has ample parking and one side inside is already walled in and is about the space we need. The rest is vacant.It also has the potential for a drive through which is a big plus. But after going inside with a realtor today and getting all excited because the price sounded right and the location looked good, he burst our bubble by telling us that he was sure that MDI, the owners would not sub-divide. We certainly don't need 7100 sq feet or to pay $4200 in rent per month. So, unless they change their mind or we find someone to go in on the space with us, that one looks like a pipe dream.

So, the last location standing is the surprise new availability on 127. It is a high traffic area and there are several coffee shops along that route. Seems like everyone gravitates to that location. John felt that an added plus was the fact that the shop sits between a caterer and a restaurant and they are both busy which will draw people in. We might benefit from this and may even be able to work out some collaborative work with them. Who knows?

Other news -- Just had a single group espresso machine, a Conti, shipped to us from CA so now we can practice making our specialty drinks.

Next big news. We meet with the Computel folks in Charlotte on Friday, a group that recycles computers and works with charitable organizations. We hope they will be able to help us with a computer recycling fundraiser to raise additional funds. It could be a substantial amount.

COFFEE SHOP NAMING CONTEST

In order to reach a broader scope of people other than just coffee drinkers we are rethinking the Java Journey name. (We'll carry tea, cold drinks, perhaps sandwiches and even some gifts.) We don't want to mislead people so that they think we only serve coffee.

We invite you to send us your name suggestions. You can send as many as you like. If your name is chosen, you will win a coffee mug and free bag of coffee. All you have to do is send us suggestions for a name for our shop. Though we are a Christian coffee shop, we don't plan to be blatantly Christian in name. Send your suggestions to teena@javajourney.org. Be sure to send you name and mailing address along with your suggestions.

Bits & Pieces -- Inching Slowly Forward

Moving forward on the business plan -- Last Friday we met with the Small Business Development Center here in Hickory. The meeting covered what we are doing. We talked about the many places we've checked on for location. They were impressed at our progress and research. (Guess we must be doing something right.) And the one place on 127 (next to Ace Hardware) remains a question mark. The price is right, size is right, location is great. But we've got concerns about limited parking in front. Will this be an issue? We believe that we can work around it since our heavy traffic in and out will be in the morning before the other stores next to ours open their doors. One of the guys at SBDC said he drove by that and another location we'd looked at nearly every day along the same routeand he'd scope it out as well and give us feedback.

The pros at SBDC took our copy of the business plan we've managed to come up with thus far, are going to look it over, and then meet again once they are ready.

Location, location, location -- In the mean time we continue to look at locations. There are quite a few. But there was another one that stood out to us yesterday. It is a charming refinished home in the downtown area on 4th Ave currently used as a real estate office. Beautifully refinished with hardwood floors, fireplaces large front rooms . Possible side area that can be converted to drive through. If we do this, then the traffic will have to come in the back way. Upstairs, partial attic, with some work might be reworked to be a usable room, but the stairs are very narrow. Stairs could be reworked, but could be expensive.

Here's where Teena and Jeff disagree. There is ample parking in back and the property's driveway adjoins another business driveway nextdoor, making for a wider entrance and exit along the side. It is wide enough for coming and going. However, there is absolutely no parking in front. No street parking allowed and a small spot of grass in the front that could possibly (we need to look further) be paved for a couple of spaces. But people might have to back out onto a busy road.

Jeff says no problem. Teena disagrees. The house is for sale or lease so that's a nice option. We also don't know what type of traffic there would be after business hours.

Fundraising -- When we first started our Java Journey Teena set up Escrip a fundraising program that has not worked all that well. Though they claim to be nationwide, the bulk of the stores you can shop at is on the west coast, so we've not earned much from this program. To help us pay for start up costs and operations Teena has been researching alternate fundraising options. She saw potential in the volumes of used electronic items people have laying around and has managed to set up a recycle program for collecting used ink jet cartridges, cell phones, ipods, palm pilots, and more. We've just signed up with Kopec. This program is nationwide and people can collect anywhere. If you would like to help us out by collecting yourself or getting other groups and businesses involved, please email Teena at smartwords@embarqmail.com. It's as easy as putting a box out with flyers. She is also checking into recycling cars and computers. So keep us in mind for those. We'll update our website regarding this soon.