Teach a man to fish......

He might not want to be a cab driver anymore.

Omar got a huge bass and had a great time.

The work continues apace

A slow fucking pace.

Now we had two Mexicans working for us earlier in the week doing the rough painting. Putting on the primer and various scut work. Omar told me he had extra special Mexicans to do the wallpaper.  I asked them what made them so special. Did they sneak into the country in the trunk of a Cadillac instead of a Chevy? No. They were supposed to be expert wallpaper dudes.

Imagine my surprise when he showed up Saturday morning with a couple of brothers from Bed Stuy. Fair enough. I talked with them and they seemed to know their stuff. So they went to work.

They did the side wall and of course we had a problem. They were supposed to have enough to do the back wall but there was not enough. The dude did a great job matching up the repeat but we ended up with just one roll left. Not enough to do the back wall. So we decided to do the front portion which has a lot less wall space.

So he had to match the repeat on a lot of hard to reach places. They had to come back on Sunday and the one dude worked until ten at night. They got overtime which I was glad to pay but I let Omar handle it. I was going to give him another tip but Omar said no way. It is pretty funny how he doesn't like to tip.

His partner is already freaking out since they seriously underbid the job. I am not going to screw them and I will make it right so they make a reasonable wage. Still half of what it would have cost me with the other guy so it is a bargin. But it lets me teach him how to run a business. He kept forgeting stuff we talked about because he didn't write anything down. I told him he had to write out the whole job and then do the estimate. Then when I put on extra's he would have to adjust the price. He has no idea how to run a business. This is his maiden voyage as a contractor.

When you are a virgin you are going to get fucked. Just sayn'

The back store story continues......

We are in the midst of an intensive renovation of the back store. As you might remember the original contractor gave me a crazy estimate and I had to drop him. Omar and his merry band of Bengali cab drivers stepped in. They are trying to set up a construction company so I agreed to let them do the store.

His buddy Sam is the electrician. He ran all new wires and set up new boxes, switches and fixtures. He seemed to know what he was doing and did a hell of  better job that the other guy who did the box in the cellar.

I bet he could fix your computer or help you with your Dell questions too! He took direction well and when the wife changed her mind he just did it without an argument.

I had to serve as the general contractor on this job just like I did on the front store. Not that I know jack shit about construction but I know how to ask questions and get information and make decisions.
I just ask logical questions and translate Lisa's wish list into something that is possible. Also I can control the quality of the materials. When you hire a contractor he just uses any old shit. I got the best of what we needed. For example I went to my friend Vinnie's True Value Hardware to get top of the line Benjamin Moore Paints and Primers. We got them all tinted gray which is the color scheme of the store. Of course I got ripped off because the guy oversold me so I have to go to Vinnie to have it out with him. I know he will make it right. They mixed it up now with some new fangled computer bullshit. I remember when they did it by hand and shook up the can and then stirred it for  a half hour to mix it.

When you are running a job you have to get workers. I have the Bengla Desh guys working for me but when they have shit work to do like sanding and spakling you know what they do. They get Mexicans.

Now the problem with Mexicans is they yes you to death and then do what ever the fuck they want unless you stand over them. So I had the Bengali's arguing in their language and then arguing with the Mexicans and everybody yelling at the top of their lungs in different languages. It was the United Nations of Fuckwads.

I made Omar the straw boss on the job. He handles the hiring and working with the crew. I set the task for the day. Then we head to Home Depot or True Value and get the supplies. He handles the day to day and I stop by periodicly to check the progress or answer any questions.

Omar is very happy at getting the job and is working very hard to make it perfect. This way he can use it as a showplace to send people when he is bidding for jobs. We make a good team

It is just pretty exhausting. This is the first chance I had to sit all day.

It is all good. We are getting it done.

Remembrance of Things Pabst

I haven't been feeling well with all of the stress and worry about the store and the Japan order so we decided to go to the doctors today. The only problem is that he is not in his local office at Atlantic Avenue this Friday because it is the 4th of July. Plus he is going on vacation for three weeks so I had to go to his main office on Flatbush Avenue which is all the way on the other side of Brooklyn new Kings Highway off of Avenue U.

I called my faithful Bengali companion to drive us there first thing in the morning. Luckily everything was fine and I just have to take more water pills. Since we got up so early and have been working so hard we decided to give ourselves a treat. We each got to pick an activity that would make us happy.

Lisa picked the make up counter at Macy's so she could replenish all of her perfume, eyeliner and mascara needs. She had a lot of fun buying stuff and handing out cards to the chubby sales girls.

Then we turned to my pick. That was lunch at the best roast beef place in NYC. Brennan and Carr's on Nostrand Avenue.

They have a small menu but everything on it is great. The best thing of all is the roast beef sandwich. It is a pile of rare roast beef covered in melted American cheese on a soft Kaiser Roll. What makes it particularly good is that they dip it in the Au Jus drippings. The entire sandwich. It is just perfection.

The sandwich is just soft and delectable and wonderful. The melted all-American cheese gives it that cheese steak feel but without the onions. It is simply the best roast beef sandwich in NYC.

They used to have great hand rolled mozzarella sticks that were crusty with batter and as thick as a hot dog. Alas they went to the regular commercial ones but they were still tasty.

There wasn't a lot of them so we got a couple for the table. Of course in honor of Tony Soprano's last meal we had to order something else for the table.

On of the funny things that happened was Omar told me "Jim these people all give me funny looks when I come and sit with youse guys. These dirty yuppies all look at me funny."

You see he mistook my "dirty hippies rants" for "dirty yuppie rants" and now he goes off on them all the time. He hates the hipsters more then I do. But he loves all the food I take him to eat.

I told him "Well they don't understand how we can have a friend who looks like you. You see they are full of a lot of talk but in real life they hang out with lily white people." I had to give him a strategy. "Just tell them you are our adopted son. Tell them to think of me as Madonna."

Because I am a material girl. So Papa don't preach. I want to vogue with my sandwich and my onion rings.

I had to call out my Minions.

I had to call out for reinforcements on Tuesday to get ready for the work to be done on the store. Omar had to call Hassan to come help carry the furniture and use his cab to move some of his pieces. It's pretty funny that I use cabs instead of rental trucks to move stuff but that is how we roll.

I have a whole platoon of Bengali workers who will come at a moments notice to help me out. Of course that means that south Brooklyn is missing a bunch of car service drivers but hey waddayagonnado?

My needs come first.

They took the table apart so we could paint the two halves so they can be affixed to the wall as decoration and as a selling platform. To think I didn't have to pay a high priced consultant to come up with that idea.

Remembrance of Things Pabst

You can never go back. We say that all the time and it is so true.

This past Tuesday we went into the city to buy bras and panties and camisoles to fill up the new lingerie store. We made a useful contact with a sales rep who has a lot of good lines. We took our new girl who is going to be running the store since she is very knowledgeable and was a great help. Lisa needs someone to bounce things off of besides me because my comments are always the same. "How much does that cost?" It was an intensive four hours while Omar waited for us in the car.

Now I have Omar wait because we were supposed to hit a bunch of places and I can't around the way I used to. It is hard for me especially in the heat so I would rather pay for him to drive us then get sick. But we spent so much time there that we were done at around seven. So I decided to treat everyone to dinner. Of course we decided to go to one of our favorite joints that I have mentioned many times: Incognito.

So we get there and of course we are greeted by our friend the chef who brings us to our table. But something is off. It is very hot. The doors are closed but the a/c is not blasting like it usually is when we were there last year. The wait staff is completely different. The French girl and the Italian guy are gone and all the wait staff is Mexican dudes. This joint has an open kitchen where you can see them work behind a window. When I went up to go to the john I noticed that the sous chef wasn't there anymore and it was all Mexicans all the time.

I go outside where the chef is smoking and ask him to turn up the a/c. This after asking the waiter a couple of times. He comes in and makes a big production of turning it up. I say thank you and sit back down. Now we are ordering a lot of good stuff. It is Omar's first time in a big time Manhattan bistro. He has been thinking of opening his own joint and I am advising him. I told him it is important to go out and check out other places. Steal the good ideas. But notice the mistakes so you don't make them. The air conditioning is a case in point.

I order the appetizers for the table. A big pizza and meatballs all around. With garlic bread. Drinks of course. Well not for me and Omar. He is a Muslim and I am a heart patient. But Lisa and the new girl enjoyed some very nice cocktails. Then we ordered the main courses. Or at least I suggested what they should get and they were very happy.

That is when I saw that things were going downhill. Lisa and I ordered the filet mignon. This is what it looked like:

Notice that they butterflied it and did not give a full piece of filet mignon where you could identify the cut. That is a no-no. It tasted good but it is not how it should be presented. It was obviously not a full serving and not prepared properly. Now if I give him the benefit of the doubt than it is the full 6oz piece but his kitchen could not prepare it to order as a whole piece so they had to cut it up to make it medium/medium. That is not done correctly. Also they put the Bearnaise sauce on the bottom of the plate instead of on the side to mask the smaller portion. All in all not what it was supposed to be.

Omar and the new girl got steak pom frites which was also butterflied which is very weird for a rib eye steak. Not the way to do it. I didn't make a big deal out of it because I didn't want Omar to get the wrong idea. I just told him the proper way to do it if he had it in his joint. I don't think it will matter because the cuisine of his country is mostly fish so it will have that and a lot of curry.

When you put it all together this is the sign of trouble in a restaurant. No a/c because he is cutting costs. Changes in the staffing so it is only low talent staffers who are obviously illegals. The kitchen has only helpers and no real talent. The owner outside smoking cigarettes and looking worried.. The food being short changed and not prepared correctly. All in all it is time to stop going there. It's a shame. It was fun while it lasted. I don't think it will be around in August when are next in the city for the show at the Javits. We will have to find another place to go.

Heres the poop

I had a messed up day today. My computer picked up a nasty virus and I didn't have time to give it any Nyquil or anything because I had a bunch of meetings in the city and I was out all day.

But I did work on Evan's problem and I think I have a reasonable solution. My driver Omar can pick up the stuff and truck it down to Evan in Pennsy. I am in touch with him regarding the details. Once we figure that out anyone who wants to contribute can send whatever directly to him to pay the bill. I will report back when I have more exact details and everyone can decide what they want to accordingly.

Omar and Hassan are very trustworthy. I know it seems crazy that I am getting two Muslim terrorist to truck down the frills and bags and bows for a big fat homo but hey that's the kind of open minded ultra-conservative Shite  Catholic that I am.

I just don't want them to stop for an abortion or get gay married when they are down there. Just sayn'