There's Now And Then There's Then

Well, first thing this morning I called the Nixa Electric folks knowing we'd passed final inspection Christmas Eve to see when our meter would be installed. I'd been told last week that it would be 1-3 business days, but needed to know so we could open. Well, I'd called at 9am and was told I'd hear back from them in a few minutes. Hummm!

Time passes quickly. It's now high noon and no call back. I decided to take a drive by for a look-see and low and behold A METER!!! Chain Gang BBQ has its own electrical meter. I felt like Steve Martin in "The Jerk," when he proclaimed "I'm somebody now." Well, anyway, once I get my first electric bill I'm sure the enthusiasm will dwindle.

So with meter in hand, we signed the lease with the Bridge Church this afternoon and we hope to open Thursday, December 31, 2009.

As an aside, and not many people know this, about the time my BBQ skills began, I was GM of KWTO and we featured to the community a hot air balloon race. We invited 40+ pilots, families, chase crews, advertisers, and friends to one big HUGE barbeque dinner prepared by yours truly. I rented a HUGE smoker with a hydraulic lid to access the pit. I did ribs, turkeys, chickens, briskets and I don't know what else. The smoke filtered through the entire neighborhood and soon, folks came down the streets like Zombies, drooling for some 'cue. Well, to make a short story long, we fed everyone and the room was as quiet as a church.

Before I knew it, one of the balloon pilots, related to the owner of Silver Dollar City approached me and asked me to go to work for SDC and run their BBQ joint. What?? Well, I never took them up on it, but maybe everything worked out for the best.

I wonder if Silver Dollar City has room for a Chain Gang?