Dec 14, 2025I'm starting a business with my friend Lucas in Los Angeles. We're going to be making brushless motors in America with an all-American supply chain. It's a long story why we're doing this.We signed a lease, paid $18K, and just got the keys to our micro factory but, surprise! Between when we saw it and when we paid, the last tenant removed the 220V electrical panel and outlets, which is why we rented this spot in the first place.The landlord didn't know they installed any of that, and the tenant thought they had to return the space to its original condition. Who's at fault in this absurd mix-up?I would say the landlord for not being aware of what they are selling. Seems reasonable to assume the space is being sold the way we toured it. And also reasonable to assume the electrical panel and power outlets aren't scheduled to be removed.Not to mention, the tenant also spent $10K to remove the panel and outlets without talking to anyone, which is also bizarre, especially when we talked to them and they knew that's what made the space valuable to us.I'm not really sure how this could have been prevented. I suppose we could have also stipulated in the contract that the space must come with the roof too. And the urinal.Hopefully tomorrow they either just add the power back in or cancel the contract. We signed it like 2 days ago, and there's no way I'm giving them another $ anyway.I read about how Taiwan is taking the "porcupine" strategy with China, making it too painful to attack. I'm going to do the same. Better for them to just make peace with us or let us walk.Besides that, 10-15% of my time each day is spent taking care of my Mom with Alzheimer's. Not directly, I live in LA, but I travel home sometimes, and manage her 6-8 care providers and programs from afar.It's a lot of work since they're all different organizations, have differing hours of operation, holidays, she needs transport to and from places and appointments every day, there are bills and costs to manage, people to coordinate, etc.Imagine taking care of a disabled child, who needs full-time care, remotely. The good news is, she's extremely happy, positive, and appreciative, albeit very confused.Other than that, I guess things are good. I have a feeling I hit rock bottom in terms of life difficulty about 6 months back, and it'll only get better from here. Rock bottom also feels a lot higher than rock bottom used to feel a few years ago, so that's promising.

Dec 13, 2025It's taken me a long time to decide to start a journal. I realized what matters to me is having a record of my life. My memory is generally terrible, something I hope to improve in 2026, but this may help too. And I figure it will be cool to look back on some day. We'll see if I keep it up.For my first entry, I will explain the origin of the name Café Amit.This was the name given to the kitchen hang out area I set up at buildspace campus to host meetings with my students. They would bring me their A+ problem each week, and I'd help them figure it out.In my calendar, they could choose what kind of coffee I made for them at the start of the meeting, an aeropress or a pourover, and I'd feature different fancy coffees each week from shops all over SF.I'm a perfectionist in all the crafts I care about, and I enjoyed giving them a tour of the many flavors and brew methods of coffee, and teaching them the best methods, while I worked at my own craft.They would often attempt to make coffee like I showed them, then bring me a shot glass amount in a cup for my review while they stared at my face, waiting to see my genuine reaction. I'm a tough critic, so it was always constructive feedback with a hint of great promise.Everyone knew the kitchen was my domain and where I came into my own, and one day someone called it Café Amit and it stuck.

And here is a picture of Farza seeing that our coffee shop at buildspace IRL was named something other than Café Amit, and doing something about it.

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