I think at this point it's a coin-toss whether Codeword will be open on Tuesday.

We had a couple of inspections today that went ok, and our contractor had to spend two days running back and forth to various city offices filling out paperwork -- the kind of thing that we could have done weeks ago had they not sprung this information on us at the last minute, like they always do. The pattern is always, we say, "Ok, we're done!" and only at that point does the bureaucrat wake up and finally tell you all the crap they actually require.

So, tomorrow, Friday, we (hopefully) have our (hopefully) final inspection, but -- to the surprise of absolutely nobody -- ABC is screwing us. See, our liquor license has to be signed by three different people, and then sent off to Sacramento for the final sacrament of a stamp, and while those three people sit in the same office -- literally within spitting distance of each other -- one of them was on vacation for two weeks, so absolutely nothing happened in the meantime. But they assure us that the second or third signature "ought" to all be affixed by Friday, which means that Sacramento "ought" to have it by Monday, and they "should" be able to take care of that on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or, you know, some time soon.

I mean, we only started the process on this license eight months ago. What kind of break-neck speed do I expect?

Maybe as a last resort, we'll open and be dry on Tuesday, but uggggghhh how stupid is that?

I am really tired of paying rent on an empty room.

Anyway, it's really looking like a kitchen in there now! And the second photo is first light on our new pizza oven.

Back over at DNA Lounge, there have been a few minor bar adjustments. We just replaced the bar under the stairs (as it was kind of falling apart) with a new one with a snazzy custom steel top that matches our other bars. The downside to this is that the old bar had a section of the bar top with a groove worn into it that I'm pretty sure I personally wore into it with my forearm, since that's where I always used to lean before Jared abandoned us for Sunny Portland. And now that's gone.

Also, we dazzled the dazzle bar! Painting it would have been a pain in the butt and looked bad, since its surface is covered with moulding and panels, so instead we just printed a vinyl banner and strapped it to the front. Works great! Now I've just got to get the bartenders up there to agree to wear dazzle-print zentai suits and we're set.

And finally, some recently-added photo galleries: