Monday 4 March 2013

@52Blogs - Week 9 - Coffee

Coffee!

Those of you who know me personally know I have an affection for coffee.

I love and admire a good coffee, made by a well trained Barista, who is lucky enough to have at their disposal great coffee.  You know the one I'm talking about, some beautifully roasted single origin bean, hand picked by the descendants of a generational coffee growing dynasty (code for some poor half starved subsistence farmer).  On the other hand I also love a well made, consistent coffee, a coffee I can drink while driving in my car, from a straw which has a cool name like "Really BIG One".

I guess it would be fair to say I love coffee but I'm not a coffee wanker.

I started loving this activity so much I began talking to Jacqui about how cool it would be for us to have a drive thru coffee shop of our own.  Jacqui and I opened our Muzz Buzz in Corfield Street, Gosnells in June 2009, it took nearly 2 years to get open, there is a story of its own right there but not for today.  The Muzz Buzz has been a significant focal point in our lives for the last 3 1/2 years it has been both a joy and a tremendous weight. Bringing us to the present, we have just survived what could be best described as Annus Horriblis (a Horrible Year).

There was that whole cancer thing but far worse was the massive road works going on at our Muzz Buzz.  The street was effectively blocked for almost a year, for those of you playing along at home, you have all just guessed correctly, a successful Drive Thru Coffee shop requires cars being able to "Drive Thru".  We could hardly pay wages so the only answer was to start working the store whenever we weren't working in our real jobs.  Jacqui and I worked most weekends and filled in wherever and whenever we could.

Then came the diagnosis, then the chemotherapy than the uselessness kicked in.   Being in a very small environment with the pungent aromas that those who have worked in a coffee shop know too well is not an ideal location for someone on chemo.  What this meant for Jacqui is she now gets to be "Home-maker Superstar" keeping me and the kids alive, she also has to be "Successful Lawyer" and "Muzz Buzz Gosnells Manager".

I'm lucky to have her, and I hope she knows that I know that.

So the outcome of all that pressure is we started our own little legal practice, Byford Legal, and now Jacqui and I run the Muzz Buzz together and are building our new business which seems to be taking off.

So see what coffee can cause

that is all