Wow, this little adventure is giving me some wicked mood swings, I've been quite manic - depressive recently. Today was an up day. Perhaps it was the business course I did in the morning which made me feel quite positive (although my attitude toward "business people", those square lookin' cats I see in cafes with shiny shoes and folders talking through fascades at each other has been reinforced), perhaps it was the coffee I had with Eroica, perhaps the two coffees I had without eating all day despite not having had coffee for the previous three days, perhaps it was buying a water tank, fixing the van's horn, fixing the broken art deco clock I bought at an antique auction yesterday, or a combination of all these things.

The van is back from the panelbeaters, but I've had a setback. The name I was going to use, "Espresso Rescue" has been trademarked in New Zealand, as has "Coffee Rescue". Looking for new ideas.

Slow progress on the van this week. As well as working on another job the van's been at the panelbeaters having a tidy up. As far as selling coffees and the expenses involved I've "done my numbers" so to speak, today I showed them to the coffee bean man and he said they looked alright. I've obtained some rimu tongue and groove panelling for the back and sides of the service area so when I get the van back can make a start. Getting my head around local council regulations, it is they who issue the mobile vendor and health permits, and the list of regulations is long, while information on meeting them adequately, what can and can't, must and must not - such detailed information is more difficult to obtain. I've obtained business insurance, but am yet to obtain public liability insurance. I'm still trying to find out what size inverter I need to convert 12 volts DC to 240 volts AC and how many deep cycle batteries I'll need to drive it. I'm attending a business course on friday, need to get versed on that side of things, as well as tax and accounting.
It's all left me feeling a bit flat these past few days.

Big Changes

The Australian fruit picking adventure has come to an end and it's time for a new direction. Jenny and I have parted ways, although since splitting we lived and worked together on the orchards for the last season, and ended up getting on better than we did when we were a couple. So it's not an easy thing saying goodbye to her and returning to New Zealand in mid winter, sleeping on a mates couch (said mate and wife having a fifteen month old baby), working during the day on a building site while trying to set up my new mobile espresso van project, trying to raise a little finance, organise a business plan,
blah blah. I have a van to build upon though, a 1975 CF Bedford, only travelled just under 18000km, due to being a rescue vehicle in a small town fire station from 1993 until I purchased it, before that being the fire tender at the "Cherry Farm" psychiatric hospital.
Of course it's turning out to be more complex than bunging an espresso machine in the back of a van and filling cups. Business insurance, public liability insurance, pure sinewave inverters, deep cycle marine batteries, various types of mobile refrigeration, water pressures, council regulations, tax obligations, mobile eftpos, graphic design, coffee beans, milk suppliers..... I'm still at the stage where this list is getting longer. Once it begins to shorten I'll feel better I'm sure.