Back in the US
You may have noticed that it’s been a bit quieter on the site lately. We arrived back in the US late on January 11th, and have been running ever since.
Our coffee had been awaiting our arrival in the warehouse for East Bay Logistics in Rancho Dominguez, California just a few miles east of the Port of Long Beach. After searching for a reasonable LTL (less than truckload) carrier to bring our coffee to us, we ended up going to pick it up ourselves. The lower gas prices certainly helped this time. We were particularly blessed on this trip, as about 10 miles out of Needles. California, going down the steep hill into the Colorado River valley, we lost about a third of the tread on one of the trailer tires. It started to vibrate & we limped it into Needles and to a tire shop. We were surprised to see how bad it was & were grateful for the miracle of the day.
Meanwhile, there have been many demands on my time not only from our businesses, but also the continued work on the upcoming Ebook. (Already behind schedule.)
Arizona is nice this time of year, and the ubiquitous snowbirds are now everywhere. What that means is that our land business, which in these last years since the bust of 2008 has slowed to a crawl, will now see a burst of activity until Springtime. As a practical matter, it means emails, MLS printouts and links flying around, and sometimes showings of property that can last for several hours with travel time on top of that. Nothing’s close to us way out in the high desert!
We now have 3,600 pounds of specialty coffee to sell. The price of coffee has fallen, and we’re maybe just a little nervous. We have several appointments with wholesale buyers this week…
This post is meant to update you on the Ebook. I’ve written quite a bit for the preview, but still have some issues with formatting & we’ve had some computer issues that have made the going a little more challenging than usual. Some critical security updates & backups were needed for the site. Every day, more is done, so I’ve resigned myself to doing what I can for the moment & soon the long awaited Ebook will be presentable.
We had hoped to be able to arrange a visit to interview several of the farmers while we were in Peru for the holidays, but it wasn’t possible due to scheduling, but even more importantly because of torrential rains that had literally trapped some villages & in general made travel over the Andes to these areas rather dangerous. More than one bus has plunged into the abyss lately. The small farmers and their families are the reason for Real People, Really Good Coffee & we will get the opportunity in 2015 to visit with them again as soon as possible.
I often find when working in the Latin American countries that the concept of “mañana” (tomorrow) is deeply ingrained & the saying “Peruvian” time is different than what is more typical in the US – that is, the “do it now” attitude & the ever hurrying American lifestyle. Of course, being a type “A” person myself it’s fine at home, but often frustrating in another culture. I literally go through mental changes when we go to Peru for extended periods of time. A little slower, more relaxed… mañana.
Lately, as I’ve stressed over the things to do at the ranch, the land & coffee businesses, the new website (and fighting off comment spam etc.,) it’s best sometimes to just say:
Mañana (until tomorrow…)
© 2015 Ben Gangloff
You might also enjoy:
Real People, Really Good Coffee (The Coffee Chronicles) #1
Real People, Really Good Coffee (The Coffee Chronicles) #2
Real People, Really Good Coffee – David Torres Bisetti
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