While we’ve used the last six months to source equipment from all over the Houston area and deliver it ourselves, many of the larger items such as ovens would have to come from a restaurant supplier. That day finally arrived this past Monday when I took delivery of all our heavy equipment items!

An exciting day, I arrived at the site at 9am sharp, expecting to find my crew hard at work cleaning and getting ready to take delivery (we’re not lazy, btw, the Condo association upstairs just won’t let construction start before 9am). Instead, the space was entirely empty and the area where the equipment would have to go was covered in pieces of drywall, tile and steel. To make matters much worse, our commercial loading zone was occupied by a moving crew working on someone’s condo. Only 100 units and someone picked to move in on MY equipment delivery day! I managed to track down the movers and they reported they’d be finished in less than an hour. Okay, things might just work.

Now where is my team? A quick phone call to my Contractor reports that everyone is running late for various reasons (truck problems, tied up with the City, etc) but will be there shortly. Luckily, my equipment is running late too! I continue filling wheel barrows and trash bags trying to clear space for equipment. Nearing 10am, a few of the guys arrive and set to help cleaning and soon the enormous box truck arrives with my equipment. Alas, the moving guys are still in the loading zone! I run around frantically trying to get the movers in the loading zone to move their pickup from the zone as City regulations prohibit parking in a commercial loading zone unless actively loading/unloading but they’ve disappeared into the lofts. I suppose I could call to have them towed, but what good would that do when I have to park NOW?

We manage to find a space for the equipment truck across the street. It looks like all of our equipment will have to travel a block down Travis – ridiculous. A few more of the crew arrive and we’re able to hoist the ovens up the stairs using a ramp and a dolly. Naturally, it starts to rain.

The real challenge comes with the double convection oven, which is so tall and heavy that we’re afraid it will topple onto someone’s head. Our plan was to take it apart into two 600 lb pieces but in some bizarre twist of circumstance, no one has brought their tools today and we can’t find a wrench: I’m on the bike and not in my truck, my Contractor came in his car and not his work truck, etc. A hunt begins and I manage to track down a small adjustable wrench from a mysterious tool bag I noticed in the utility room – I think it belonged to an electrician who was looking at the panel but I never did see him – and we managed to make do. The oven came apart and made it successfully into the space!

As for me, I left for home covered in drywall bits, insulation and soot; and just as I hopped on my bike a true Houston downpour let loose, adding rain and mud to the list of things covering my messy self. Let’s just say I ended up pretty happy that the cooking competition I was supposed to be in later that evening had been canceled because I was *exhausted*!

Now that the equipment is in, I’m itching to get the gas lines turned on so that we can play! Unfortunately it will be another couple of weeks before we’re ready to turn on the gas.

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