1)Like so many things, plumbing turns out to be not half the big deal I thought it was going to be, It helps that Home Depot will cut and thread pipe for you, at a ridiculously small price. (I did have an amusing incident at the register, when the cashier accidentally rung up my 37 inches of pipe as 37 feet. She was a little huffy and said the tag was written wrong, but really, does this look like 37 feet of pipe?) Any case the plumbing is ready to go. If I'd known it was so easy (and so cheap!) I might have repositioned the two burners that remained as they were in the old configuration, but what I've got will work just fine. Just storing it away in my Big Book o' Lessons.
2)We had to fire our free welder, for repeatedly (and persistently, after several requests to stop) making racist and homophobic remarks. You think you know someone...Anyway. That sucked, but some things are more important than kiln building. (Not too many, but some.) We have another friend who can help if we get ahold of him; if not, I do know a professional I can hire. Welding is not a task I'd try to learn on the fly. I am kicking myself for not learning to weld during either my undergraduate or graduate programs, when the metals sculpture studio was right next door. (I wasn't too interested in the metals, although I remember having an interest in one or two of the sculptors...)
Salad days at Watershed today! Hopefully photos tomorrow.
Sounds like you're making awesome progress Lori! Home Depot is the best but they kind of look at you funny when you explain what you're planning to do with the things sometimes. I supposed we should be used to the "you're doing what?" look.
I had a well pump repair guy with the same problem as your welder. Probably should have sent him packing too, but I really wanted water again.
Am impressed with your willingness to get in there and do the plumbing yourself! I usually fuss about stuff for quite awhile and then find out it's not so difficult after all... Sorry bout the welder. Must be pretty uncomfortable to live in his head with such ugly thoughts. Bad, bad energy.
Every step along this path has been preceded by a period of paralyzing anxiety, but that is par for my course. Yeah, the welder was a disappointment, in all the ways. I hope someday he gets his head screwed on right, but I am not optimistic.
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Lori Keenan Watts (aka me) is a potter, gardener, and avid reader from Augusta, Maine. Though I started my university education in surface design for fabric, clay quickly grabbed me by the heart and redirected my creative impulses. I have been a potter for over 25 years -- hard to believe. The most valuable years of my ceramic education were spent in graduate study at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, under the tutalage of Dan Anderson and Paul Dresang.
My aesthetic is guided by my love of the material itself. What fascinates me and makes a pot compelling for me is the clay-ness of clay: the squooshiness that becomes the adamantine solidity. I also like patterns, unexpected proportions, and when the flame comes along and dissolves part of my careful decorating efforts! I am obstinate about this aesthetic, to a point which might be called pig-headed, but hey, if you don't like what you make, why bother?
My happy little family also includes my husband, musician and photographer (and author of the book Alewife) Doug Watts; five cats; and a turtle, all foundlings and rescues of one stripe or another.
3 comments:
Sounds like you're making awesome progress Lori! Home Depot is the best but they kind of look at you funny when you explain what you're planning to do with the things sometimes. I supposed we should be used to the "you're doing what?" look.
I had a well pump repair guy with the same problem as your welder. Probably should have sent him packing too, but I really wanted water again.
Am impressed with your willingness to get in there and do the plumbing yourself! I usually fuss about stuff for quite awhile and then find out it's not so difficult after all... Sorry bout the welder. Must be pretty uncomfortable to live in his head with such ugly thoughts. Bad, bad energy.
Every step along this path has been preceded by a period of paralyzing anxiety, but that is par for my course. Yeah, the welder was a disappointment, in all the ways. I hope someday he gets his head screwed on right, but I am not optimistic.
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