Thanks for a Good Time

Roaster hooked up, website done, space organized, green coffee delivered, espresso machine working, occupancy permit approved. Finally after all this there was only one thing left to do yesterday… roast coffee! Game on. Right around 9 a.m. I pushed the 3 button startup sequence on my roaster’s system: drum, blower, gas…gas..gas….gas….um, yeah, that’s not 3 buttons, that’s 6, and the pilot won’t light!

I’m a strong believer in being a good “user” and trying the fix it basics before calling a tech support number. The problem was that I didn’t know what the “basics” were on my coffee roaster. It’s not like you can shut it down and reboot it (really, did all those IT pros go to college just for that?). So after turning it off and on, and trying to restart in what I could only imagine was a good try, I called the tech specialist at Diedrich. The minute the specialist said, “Unscrew the back panel of the roaster’s computer podium”, I knew what I was in for it. I’d literally just sent my husband’s tool boxes home with him a day earlier, after his duties as VP of Construction had been relieved. I found myself completely tool-less. It was not like a nail file and scissors were going to get me through this one.

I embarrassingly admitted that I didn’t have any tools, and I’d need to make a quick run to the hardware store and then call her back in 5 minutes. I grabbed my purse, and jogged 50 steps down the hill in my sandals and skirt to my corner hardware store. I’d already been in this place about 10 times since I moved in, picking up everything from plumbing supplies to paint brushes (that one was on Mr. 89%). I think they’d become used to seeing me, because the minute I walked in the door they asked,
“What do you need?” Screw driver. Done. It was the cool one with a flip-top that gives you 4 options. I was sure to have all my bases covered should my screwing requirements become more complex. I jogged back up the hill, made the call, and got the panel off. Next thing you know I was flipping breakers and attempting a restart…no luck. “Ok”, said the specialist, “next thing you’ll need to do is check the small gas supply line to the ensure it’s supplying gas to the igniter.” She continued “take your Allen wrench and unscrew the pin to check for gas flow”.

“Okie dokie, I’ll call you back in 5 minutes. Down the hill, hello, Allen wrench set, up the hill, unscrew the pin, check on gas, gas flowing, not the problem. “Ok”, she said, “now let’s check to ensure your electricity is flowing correctly to the igniter switch. Take out your voltage meter.”

”Give me a sec – I’m just getting warmed up at this 50 yard dash – I’ll call you back”. Down the hill (my best time yet), up the hill, voltage meter set, no reading, something’s blown. Yep, there it is, the fuse is blown. Fuse out, down the hill, “what the heck do you mean you don’t sell these? Over to the auto parts store, no luck. Double back to the electricians shop-Bingo! Seventy four cents later and I was back in business. Plugged in the new fuse, attempted reading, something’s wrong. Back over to the electricians shop for another fuse (thankfully no hill on that route) and a tutorial on the proper setting on the voltage meter so as not to short out the fuse again!

Whew. Ok, back on the phone, voltage meter setting registered ok, so that’s not it either. ”Well”, said the specialist, “let’s try to light it manually. Get your BBQ lighter. Ok, this one was going to require the car since the hardware store didn’t carry things if this recreational nature. Exceeding the 25 MPH speed limit, and giving the short version answer to “how’s your business coming along” to a friend I’d run into at the store, I was back in 5. Nope, no luck at all. That’s it, there’s something wrong with the gas supply to the roaster. I called my plumber and scheduled a time for him to come by this morning. He showed up, plunked his uber-fancy toolkit on the floor (which caused a rush of jealously inside me), unscrewed the large gas supply line inside the roaster in two places, bled the air out, proclaimed that the line was “air locked”, and we lit the roaster on the first try. I gave him a big high-five and he was on his way.

I spent the rest of the day doing 10 seasoning batches on the roaster, and then ran my first two drinkable Lizzy’s roasts. I have to admit that I feel so much more comfortable with my roaster now that I got my hands all over it. It’s like that awkward first date is over with, and I should probably send it flowers and a note reading ”thanks for a good time”.