Geppetto’s Log - Stardate 050220.1

"Can’nae take anymore Captain! I’m giving’ her all she’s got!"
One of the great challenges in a well established (old) restaurant is operating with “mature” equipment. Since Roger and I came onboard three years ago, it seems we have repaired or replaced just about everything, some things more than once.
The beauty of being in the building, pretty much all of the time, is you get a feel for what things are supposed to sound like. When the old refer is headed for a fall… you can tell. My ears are tuned to that extra whine, that shorter than usual gap between cooling and defrost.
Frequent temperature checks this last week revealed, “We have a problem!”
Geppetto’s has three separate refrigeration units, which serve three different purposes. This week two of those three went down. Fortunately the big walk-in cooler held her own. We took swift action, shifted gears, saved precious time and suffered minimal loss. We managed to fit everything from the two other coolers into the big walk-in. It made for some tight spacing and some shouting “Where’s the @#$&*! …?” but we managed. All credit to our fabulous staff… who work so well together and understand the old place is doing it’s best. They also know help is on the way.
We have a really smart repairman. Believe it or not… his name is Scott, Scott Costello. I call him, Scotty… but not to his face. He is our engineer! He keeps our ship running. He’s the kind of guy who can fix anything. New fangled machinery is certainly in his wheelhouse but I think he genuinely likes Geppetto’s and the the old school challenges we provide. Our equipment has few bells and whistles.
"It took longer than it used to to get parts. He said. Because the parts warehouse doesn’t operate like it used to. They keep as little on hand as possible and it so we wait.”
This Geppetto’s Log is a shout out to all the folks who fix things and keep us running, repairpersons of all kinds, mechanics, electricians and plumbers to name a few. They are truly essential workers. They aren’t afraid to go where no man has gone before and where that is… I can only imagine. Scott did say, when he was here last, that he doesn’t mind crawling around on the floor at Geppetto’s, “Cause this place is so clean!” - Music to my ears!
Geppetto's Italian Restaurant