The Story of Edenic Smoothies, Chapter 3

The Jerry-Rigger Arrives

Here’s a hot-take: Batman is the coolest superhero. Specifically, the Christian Bale version. 

How can you not agree? There isn’t any magic or alien backstory that makes him special. Only through grit, hard-work, and technical skill does he protect the ones who can’t protect themselves. He’s a self-made superhero, and the man does it in style

The Batman.

Once Ashley and I had purchased the small bus, we needed to renovate it into a compliant, functioning, generally pretty-cool looking food truck. We needed to install four sinks, a blue-water tank, a gray-water tank, drains, overflow drains, and had to connect it all through plumbing. Additionally, we needed to install enough energy to electrify two blenders, a freezer, and a fridge all at the same time for 6-7 hours a day. We needed help and we needed lots of it. You might say… we needed a super hero.

Without hesitating, Ash picked up the phone and called our personal super-hero, the Jerry-Rigger. He never wears a cape, nor does he hide his eyes behind a mask. In fact, his super-suit of choice consists of board shorts and bare feet. Instead of super-powers, he uses power-tools. Instead of martial arts and jiu-jitsu, he solves problems by measuring twice and cutting once. 

Of course, I am referring to Ashley’s dad, Jerry. While Batman only shows up to crime scenes with a single utility belt, Jerry arrived at our Pierpont home with four suitcases packed with all kinds of tools. After some hugs, Ash and Jerry got to work converting the bus into a proper Mobile Food Facility (MFF).

First, they replaced the original bus flooring with new, health-department approved vinyl. Proceeding to the next task, they installed and secured water tanks, both for clean water and gray water.

The Jerry-Rigger problem solving with his sidekick.

Some of Jer’s sidekicks came to help paint the interior of the bus, but they quickly quit working when In-N-Out was provided…

Breaking bread after a long day’s work.

At one point, Jer used a sawzall to cut a metal flange; he did this in board shorts and bare feet… The man was unstoppable.

Together, daughter and father went on to install the sinks, plumbing, and drains together. Furthermore, they assembled and wired two different electrical systems, one solar and the other a battery pack, to power the blenders and freezers. All this work was accomplished in front of our Pierpont house, and the neighbors soon became familiar with our project. After all, whenever someone walked by and inquired about the bus, the friendly-neighborhood Jerry-Rigger never missed the opportunity to tell them about his daughter and her smoothie bus. He was a proud papa.

Of course, Jerry could only stay for a week at a time. His employment up north is one of atomic proportions, and they can’t get by without him. Nonetheless, he was always a phone call away when Ash needed help, and I will consider myself to be a blessed man if, when I grow up, I can jerry-rig half as well as the Jerry-Rigger himself.

There were many others who helped us along the way. Ben, Eva, Russ, EJ, Nick, and Alex are just a few of the many names that we have to thank for getting the bus up to health department standards.

A happy, tired Ashley.

Our final thank you, however, goes to both our friend Sooz and my Uncle Mike. When the Jerry Rigger had left town and the interior of the bus was finished, we needed to make the outside “look cute” as Ash would say. Sooz created a custom font for us. Uncle Mike printed the font and applied it to the bus. Ash and I think it does look super cute.

Uncle Mike and Jack Jack applying the finishing touches.

We couldn’t have outfitted the bus without the help of the Jerry Rigger or our friends and family. It took a village to make the idea work. We are truly thankful for the Lord’s provision. When you combine Ashley’s true grit with her kind friends, she can do anything… and that includes buying a random small-bus off Craigslist from Paso and converting it into a mobile food facility that sells smoothies. 

In the next chapter of The Story of Edenic Smoothies, Ash has a functioning smoothie bus. However, now she faces the next problem - How the heck is she going to sell smoothies? How do we market the business? How do we create a logo? Where should we park the bus to sell smoothies? 

Find out next week when we release Chapter 4, The Water Polo Team from Notre Dame.

Thank you for reading The Story of Edenic Smoothies! Let us know what you thought of this story in the comment section, and tell all your friends about the shop. We hope we can inspire as many entrepreneurs as possible to start their own business adventures!