The past week

has been an orgy of painting and staining, since we haven't had pesky contractors cluttering up the space. Kudos to Brian M., Brian R., and Lindsay for their help last weekend staining and painting. Jon and I finished the staining this week. The painting is nearly done (the backroom ceiling is finally done! What a bitch! It doesn't look great, but it looks passable, and we're just going to call it Tuscan Sunrise if anyone ever questions us), except of course the floor, which has to wait until everything else is done. We also need to put another coat of paint on the walls tomorrow/this weekend, so any interested helpers are welcome--it should be an easy and fun job.

By the way, our tap system is now complete. Hurrah. All we need is kegs and we're in business. The only contractor with work still to do is our plumber, who is proving as slippery as a greased armadillo. But he's promised to come in tomorrow and start work on the drains for our bar and the gas line for our HVAC unit.

The next step for us after painting and staining is putting a few coats of polyurethane on all the surfaces that might get wet; we're also going to install a waterproof floor behind the bar. There are a number of small projects, but really nothing big left. We'll be able to finish them while waiting for sign-offs from the building, health, and fire folks.

Onward.