Overall, today was a short day, factoring in when I started and the eve of Thanksgiving Day. Yet I had to make the most of the time I had.
I made my first stop at River City Donuts 2, a coffee house and Taco shop. Unknown to me, it was closed.
My next stop was at Cafe Java. I walked in to meet them closing up shop. “We are closed, sir,” a man said to me. “We are close at 2:30 pm on Wednesdays.” I acknowledged my not knowing that, but took the chance to ask to speak to the owner, saying I was not there to buy anything, hoping the owner may be part of the team currently in the store. “The owner is not in,” came the reply. I revealed my project, and asked how long the shop has been in business, and if it was locally owned. Cafe Java has been in business for 19 years, and is owned by one Matt.
I thanked the folks at Cafe Java, and turned to leave.
I walked out of the store to find a young lady with a stable camera on a tripod stand set up conveniently on a bench. The camera was shooting a video of a young man in a Baylor University sweater, and the man seemed to be answering questions from the young lady.
The set up was a sight, considering my project's part purpose of capturing the stories of owners for documentation. I could see myself in the lady's position, and an owner in the young man's place.
I would love to have an equipment like this, I thought to myself. Noticing it to be a session not to be interrupted, I refrained from asking any questions of the lady, and walked on to my next shop. I found out the owner of the next shop was not in, and turned around to see if a chance had opened to talk to the young lady about the equipment, thinking they may have taken a break.
It was so, when I checked back. I politely interrupted their conversation, which was not being filmed this time, and seemed more casual, and interruptable. The young lady was generous enough to tell me the purpose of the video and what she does.
The video was for a short film she was making of the man's story, and was shooting the conversation to help her remember some of the things the man was saying. I often write it down, and rely mostly on my memory to document things. Her way is easier. She also works for a production company, and also freelances.
She gladly gave me her contact information, I apologised for interrupting, and left. I will be in a better place to reach out to her depending on what interview opportunities I came across on the project or off it.
I caught the 1 bus, and moved to another area of town where I knew there was a greater chance of meeting locally owned business owners.
I stopped at Pikes Peak of Austin, a wholesale Florist, which was also closed. I made my next stops at Leslie's Commercial Service Center and Ryan Herco Flow Solutions, which were both corporately owned, and didn't fit my criteria. But the next business was squarely within it.
Sports Performance Center, was the writing above the front door, and I walked up to it. I noticed a man getting out of his car, after parking in the small parking lot in front of it. We acknowledged each other with a nod, and I decided to speak to another man taking something out of his car's trunk.
“Hi, my name is Kingston, and I was hoping to speak to the owner.” Travis, I came to find out, is a trainer there, and he asked the man I nodded to earlier to take me to the owner inside. I learned quickly that the owner's name is Ben, and the man to take me to him is Ben, too. “Is there a third Ben,” I asked Ben. “No,” he responded. I was just trying to make light of it.
I waited a bit while Ben checked for the owners availability. He was busy with something, and would like an email.
We got into a conversation about the purpose of the facility, and what makes it unique---in a sense, I was asking why people would like to use it.
"Come on, would you like to see the facility?" Ben asked. "Yeah," I took the offer, and Ben started me on a comprehensive tour of the facility.
Below are some pictures I took of the place.
Ben was very thorough in sharing with me the unique features of the place---the sport specific trainers, in-house chiropractor, top tier equipment, and store of knowledge on fitness, wellness, nutrition, and others. This time was simply for me to simply take notes and take matching photos.
Aside from learning about the facility, I came away with useful information on proper posture (and how it affects my back), nutrition and how that can impact weight-loss, and a few other things.
I made a few more stops at owner absent shops, and called it a day.
Tomorrow is thanksgiving, and I'll be staying in for the early part of the day, and then head off to an invitation by a family at my church to spend the day at their home.
After that, the project goes on. On to day 12.
