Bailey Blog

Had a long hiatus from my blog, mainly due to being slammed working down at the Bailey Country Store to get all the issues resolved to the satisfaction of the various inspectors involved.  Man, have I learned a lot about trying to get things done in a small town and with rural county officials!  We are REALLY close to getting open - just need to pass a couple more inspections.  The store looks great, and I'll post some before, during and after pictures soon.  Yesterday the state plumbing inspector came by; nice guy, who gave us several things to change before he can pass us on the plumbing side of things.  The main issue is that we moved the water heater from the middle of the store to a back room next to the furnace.  It's definitely more out of the way now, but the problem is there's no floor drain in that room.  So, as I feared, he wants us to dig a hole big enough to accommodate a 5 gallon bucket with a sump pump.  Pete and I got through the 1 inch of concrete easily enough, but then we hit rock (which is why basements are not popular with contractors in the Rocky Mountains!).  Sledge hammers and shovels just couldn't get through it, so Herb kindly came by with his 80lb jack hammer and in about 30 minutes had a hole big enough for what we needed.  I've never used a jack hammer before, and now I know why Herb is in such great shape!  No job has been simple in this building, and we're not done until we're done.  Bailey Day - the big, annual festival in town - is on June 15, and the whole event is centered in front of the store (live bands, western re-enactments),  So we HAVE to be open by then, and hopefully a week or two before the 15th.  That's the goal anyway!