We acquired the warehouse on October 9, 2003 and almost immediately had to return to San Francisco to take care of business. It was not until January 13, 2004 that we were finally able to take possession of the warehouse when Abel, who is my partner in the LinuxCabal, and I went there prepared to work, plan, and celebrate.

The previous owner had been using the warehouse as a storage facility, for all kinds of junk. My purchase contract stipulated that he was to empty and clean it out within one week of the signing of the contract in October 2003.

It is impossible to exaggerate the the magnitude of the mess that greeted us when we arrived that first day. Not a thing had been done and there was no way that we could do anything but look around at the momentous piles of junk. Our anger levels had rarely been higher.

There is absolutely nothing that we can do but wait until it is cleaned out. The former owner has a work crew of several people nibbling away at the heap of stuff. It is doubtful that they can get it cleared out for at least another week even though they have been working furiously since Wednesday, January 14. They have carted several large trucks full of stuff off to the trash, which has barely made a dent in the mountain.

The truck load of possessions and tools has to be stored until the place is clean enough to enter. Storage charges have to be paid in order to assure their safety.

Meanwhile, not being much interested in personally watching this process, Abel and I have been running all over town gathering information on acquireing the appropriate licenses and permits. Our anger is slowly cooling and soon we will be able to start setting things up.

Photos proving that
we are NOT exagerating

( Click on any photo to enlarge )

	It's hard to tell with all of the trash, but it is a fairly large space measuring 15 X 13 meters or approx 48' x 42'.
	Abel surveying our messy domain.
	View of the mezzanine soon to be a DJ booth and office.
	"Stairway to heaven."
	The rooftop house at the END of DAY 2, AFTER cleaning.	Dramatically better than on day 1.
	The front door to the rooftop house.
	The rooftop patio will be GREAT for parties.
	View of the trash from the sky light (nothing but a hole in the roof right now (but that will soon change).
	The gas for the stove, which is nowhere to be found, and the hot water heater.