brewing beer

Back in 1996 I tried to make beer, or at least thats what the receipt i found in the heap of beer brewing stuff I dug up said. I made raspberry hefeweisen's, porter's, stout's, and ale's.
Unfortunately, all of them had a slightly medicinal taste. Now, 12 years later, I am trying again, but with better equipment (well, a glass carboy instead of a brewing bucket).
So here I am trying to make another raspberry hefeweisen. Hopefully I followed the
Will it work? I guess in 2 months I'll find out!

Next up: Apelwein (hard apple cider)

redemption

did you vote today? is everyone so sick of our current fearless leader that everyone went out and voted today? god, i hope our government takes a turn for the better... i love our country, but goddamn, do we have a moran for president.
i didn't vote the last 2 elections (my bad) so this is the first time i have ever voted.

beginnings superconnected part 3

The loan was approved, now it was time to finalize locations. At the time, commercial real estate interest and availability were just starting to climb. My first choice was always Nuuanu Shopping Center (I had previously worked there at that exact spot where it was once Radio Shack) It was close to home, far enough away from the other intenet gaming cafe's and in a busy mall. There were other locations however, cheaper ones - which is probably the 2nd most important thing as commercial rent is much, much higher then say, apartment rentals or warehouse space.

The other options were:
Corner of McCully and Beretania: Too close to other icafes, but really nice wood floors (this became a payday loan place)
Dillingham Shopping Center: Another nice space, but in a lower income neighborhood.

Negotiations progressed on the Nuuanu space. They wanted $9,000 per month and 8% of the gross profits(!). At 'About 2500' square feet of space at $2.50/psf and $1.25/psf CAMS, I talked them down from this rediculous number. (I tell ya, these guys make bank on rental properties - owning and renting out property is the business to be in.)

The rent was still higher then I was comfortable with, but was way less then what they initially asked for.

It simply was the best location I could find. No other place was as good. Kailua and Kapolei were too far and according to Census numbers, only had about 30,000 people living in each area. Makiki sounded like a good spot, but there were no openings available at Makiki Village Center, and there was already a small coffee shop there.

I signed the lease.

The lease was good for 3 years, with increases in the rent every year and an option to renew the lease for year 4 and 5. This was in December of 2002. There was a problem: the landlord wanted a really huge (5 million umbrella) insurance policy, one that no local insurance provider covered. I had lease, but they wouldnt release the keys until I found someone to give me insurance to match the lease terms. 5 days after I was supposed to move in, the landlord finally gave in and sent a waiver after it was proven that it was just not feasible. (This setback was a sign of future problems with the landlord, but that comes later.)

At last I got the keys, the dream started to become reality.

Now what?

I opened the door and it was pitch black. There was no power.

"Well I supposed you call the electricity company and get the power turned on" the property manager gently suggested to me.

-- to be continued --

Yay \o/

"Great news everyone! You're all fired!"
Some of you may know that I work as a contractor on a military base. My retarded employers are getting the boot. Party because of the actions of my retarded supervisor (yelling at the head of staff, among other things) our contracting companies are changing, and the new company sounds great!
Free at Last, Free at Last!
You would not believe how unprofessional my contracting company is. Or really, it comes down to the actions of one retarded project manager. I'm not going to use real names atm, but it rhymes with Crian Cerry. This moron actually threatened me when I tried to go over him when he didnt answer his emails.
It is amazing that a lawsuit isnt going to be filed against them. (yet)

1st Birthdays!

wow
three 1st birthdays in august. 8 other birthdays for family and friends. nov/dec must have been a busy month =)

beginnings superconnected part 2

In total, it took nearly a year to finalize the business plan using a few sample templates the Small Business Association officer gave me.

Corrections and revisions flew by, and finally, the idea was as focused and as sharp as it was going to get. (A business plan is detailed description of how you expect to build and maintain your business, including employees, suppliers, location, and exit strategies)

The idea was simple... an internet cafe that not only rented out high end computers by the hour for internet access and for gaming in the store, but a shop that also repaired PC's, activated cell phones, sold cell phone accessories, and served coffee and snacks.


The business plan was one of a few that was approved by the SBA that year (link). They loved that it was multi-faceted but tied together well.
I shopped the business plan around to several banks. The "Yes we can bank" became the "No we wont bank". Bank after bank turned it down. One bank didnt even read the plan, instead the loan officer asked the IT guy if internet cafe's were profitable.
At last one bank looked at it and wanted to work something out. They wouldnt fund the whole thing tho, so I had to trim the budget and cut something out. The first thing to go was the cafe. (On retrospect, that may have been the wrong choice, as time proved that cell phone dealers and profitability were waning.) Things may have been different if the cafe part was implemented, but that is one of those shoulda-woulda-coulda's that on retrospect, looks like an obvious mistake.

-- to be continued --

"TrikeWay" :random idea lab:

So I've been reading over the years about that city that invested in dozens of light blue bicycles and left it around town for local citizens to use. I've read a little about the rail system they are trying to shoehorn into Hawaii and the babillions of dollars its going to cost.
One thought lead to another and I came up with a trike lane. I guess its some crazy futuristic idea that probably isnt very feasible or manageable in some way or another, but in my head it makes sense.
What if instead of spending those gazillions on a rail system most of us dont want to actually use, what if we had converted one freeway lane into a special kind of ski-lift like thing where you could ride your bike and 'hook' unto a um... hook and let the powered system run you along the freeway while you relaxed on your cycle? What if these bikes were actually a kind of trike (for stability), had a windshield of some kind, and/or were powered by electricity/solar? Does that sound cool or just goofy?

Update: ME>Hawaiian Telecom Wirless

yay me!

grrrrr hawaiian telcom sucks

So I finally got an iphone, perfect timing - my contract with hawaiian telcom expired, the iphone 3g was coming out, and it was $200 less then i expected. So we do the line thing and get 3 phones and try to port out our numbers from hawaiian telcom. 2 days pass and AT&T say that HT is being difficult. As I previously used to sell cell phones, i know this can take anywhere from 2 hours to 2 weeks.
I call HT to find out what my pro-rated last months bill is going to be and SURPRISE! $144 pls kthx. I ask them why and am told that:
1) they do not prorate the last months billing and
2) they charge a $25 per line port-out fee! (3 lines x $25 = $75)
While this seems like it should be illegal as I cannot use my remaining 900 minutes and according to the FCC they cannot block the port-out process they can charge to port-in or port-out.

About 4 weeks have passed. I have been on the phone with 3 different CSR's and the most they can offer me is 50% off the port-out fee. They cite that I had agreed to a terms and conditions that I should have recieved or read, but I do not recall this. They have sent me a copy and it reads something like "We may charge you a port-out fee or a port-in fee". A customer service rep said on the phone that they didnt charge a port-out fee at the beginning, then later I get a letter in the mail saying "Oops, sorry, I was wrong, we did charge it, my bad".

I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the FCC, and begun mass emailing the executive board of HT.

Beginnings: Superconnected part 1

Having gotten my A+ Certification in 1999 and with a few IT friends, I suggested that we combine our skills and become a network, a connected, a super-connected group of contractors that referred each other jobs or brought each other in on bigger jobs. Well it didnt quite work out the way I imagined but I kept the name. And yes, I did get it from a Belly song.
At the time I was working at Radio Shack with my friend Rey and Gary, while self-studying for my Comptia A+ Certification. After getting my A+ I got a business license and starting advertising.
Now, I've been using computers to play games ever since my brother set up a x386 and I found King's Quest on it. I've had the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, PS2. After I opened the store I got a few PS2's and Xbox's. I have had a Wii, and now own a PS3 and a Xbox 360. My point is that I've always been a gamer, but never thought of going into computers, instead following my artistic dreams and attempting a Commercial Arts degree back in 1990.

I got the idea to open the icafe as a brick and mortar establishment when I started getting regular clients and needed a more accessable location. After meeting with the Small Business Administration, they outlined a goal - make a business plan and we'll if viable, they'll assist you.

Perfect. "I'll see you in a few weeks" I told him.


~end part 1~

repost: 10 years

10 years. 1/3. an eternity and a blink of an eye.
So I was talking to a friend today, trying to suggest midlife carreer changes. Then I had a mild ephipany.
1998 - I bought my first PC. A P2 266 HP box with a whopping 16mb of RAM. In the 10 years since (its now 2008, duh)
1999 - I have been dumped by a seriouso
1999 - my mom passed away 1999 - taken my A+ certification (pc repair)
1999 - started a business
2006 - closed that business
2006 - gotten married
2006 - gotten a decent paying job
2008 - and had my first child
All in a space of 10 years.
It feels like an eternity, yet feels like last week. I miss the store, but feel like I have accomplished alot in 1/3 of my life.

Viva Lost Wages

I've been to Las Vegas about 5 or 6 times in my life, way too many times for a guy who doesnt gamble much. But I have a possibly brilliant idea! I thought of it a few years ago actually.
Why not make Kahoolawe a Hawaiian casino island? The SuperFerry(tm) could take visitors and locals over there, (making use of that thing), locals could stop flying over to the mainland all the time to blow all their money, and the proceeds could benefit the Hawaiian people.
Of course, I'm not too clear on how the effects of gambling, crime, the effect on the local economy and the possible effect on the Hawaiian nation, but what do you think? A brilliant idea or am I being dumb?

first post!

So...
I have a blog now. Yay.
Isnt blogging so 2004?
Who wants to read the rantings of a crazy 36 year old asian man?

I guess you.