Winter Takes Its Toll

Ok, after a long cold winter complete with piles upon piles of snow and harsh conditions, I walk out to start of my new baby......low and behold, my naivety strikes again as vehicles that have been around since the 1950's and that are similar to a tractor,  need a little TLC.  Had to find some help, ASAP.....or else this thing was going to become a permanent fixture in my driveway, which among other things, it was kind of in the way of the basketball hoop.  After a small bit of research (read: none) I found Arthur, AKA George Clooney look-a-like who in the dark of one evening, came to rescue me and the truck......he was sold to me as an "expert" on old cars and I am sure he is....but he is also a damn nice guy who seems to like helping damsels in distress.   And I was in distress...the kids were commenting "are we ever really going to have an ice cream truck" and friends were continually asking "hows it going", my heart rate was elevating.   Was I really going to be able to pull this together?  Was this truck really going to change the fear that I have about myself that I am  "the little girl that cried wolf" with all the years of crazy ideas and talk without action?  Was I really going to be able to put myself out there this much and drive around the town where I live in an old fashioned ice cream truck?  You better believe it, but it certainly was not going to be easy.  Arthur pulled me out of my negative tailspin with calm words, a patch on the gas tank and a much needed clutch adjustment.....just what the doctor (or ice cream entrepreneur) ordered.

The Work

The work begins....but not by me.  I have always been one who likes to delegate and this time it came in handy.   Cleaning out a truck that had been sitting in a cornfield for 30 years is really not my thing...you can only guess at what was found in all the little corners and crevices.  And then the body work and the paint job.  All of this could only be done by my cousin, who loves to complain, talk tough but work hard.  Hard he did.  Even though we missed all last summer's business because of his OCD and needing to make sure it was perfect, it arrived in my driveway off of the flatbed, from Wisconsin, in January 2013, in the middle of a cold, harsh New England winter.  And there it sat.  Except for the one time that I attempted to drive it and got significant whip lash and cramps in my left thigh-- it seemed like an impossible feat to actually drive the monster and yet this was what it was suppose to do.  Guess I would have to wait until spring and see what that would bring.

The Purchase

So, I needed a mobile truck but how I was going to find one around here?  That is when I decided to call my favorite redneck cousin, Jason and see if he could find something for me.....this was last year.......he found the perfect truck for me.  The problem was, it was 8 hours away from where he was and he was not sure of the condition of it.  I had to decide, in one day, to buy it as this was the only way that Jason was going to do all that driving and buy the thing.  He said, "I ain't coming back without it".  This was the day that sealed my fate as an Ice Cream Truck Owner, April 10th, 2012.

First Day

We started a blog!!!  How did we ever decide to start an Ice Cream Truck?  That is a great question.  I have always wanted to have my own ice cream store and spent a lot of time looking for the right space, at the right price and with the least risky lease agreement.  It was just not meant to be ......  the more I looked, I learned more about myself and how much I would hate the loneliness that would come with sitting in an Ice Cream Parlor on a cold Friday afternoon waiting on those one or two customers who might walk in.  The whole time I would be thinking that they just came in to get an ice cream because they felt sorry for me.  How could I pay the high rent if I did not get enough people in the door?  How would I be able to run the business and still be involved in my kid's lives?  How would I even be able to make dinner again?  So, instead of the worry about waiting for customers, I decided the best way to do it is to figure out a way to go out and FIND customers.  Really, how hard could it be?