All Screwed Up and the Wife has a Fit

I've been waiting for weeks to use this title. The ceiling panels are all screwed up. As in the last screw has been driven. It's clean, bright, white, and there is insulation behind it. I think this technically completes the construction phase of the new studio. I need to build more shelves and add a heater but that is more furnishing than actual construction. I want to thank my brother Norris, my wife Tina, and Laura, Peggy Anne, and Linda for all their help. You just can't hang a ceiling by yourself.

Ok, I just couldn't resist this teaser either.After hard shopping and tooth and nail bargaining Tina bought a new Honda Fit this week.Thanks for stopping by and if you don't have empty bowls tickets yet, go to http://www.clayalliance.org/ to pick some up. It's a good time for a great cause. Feed hungry kids, help them with their homework, hook them up with needed services.

Ramble and Rant

The pottery schedule has been light this week so my old brain has had time to wander around.I made a mistake by wandering past the election ads on the T.V. Contrary to the lies that are spewing from every corner, there are a few things that I still believe.

Ted Strickland did not singlehandedly put Ohio in the fix we are in. He has brought school funding in line with court orders. His predecessor fought it and studied it to death but never really tried to comply.He has worked to bring both major parties together in the state house and has been effective in doing so.He believes in Law, Education and the strength of Ohio.I have met with Ted several times and feel he is a good guy with out collective best interest at heart.

The State budget does have problems. Guess what, in a worldwide recession people lose jobs. In Ohio that has been lots of jobs. Many of them the manufacturing jobs that have been leaving Ohio for 20 years. When that happens, government's expenses go up and tax revenues go down. No mystery here.If the Republicans had a quick fix, why didn't they tell Arnold so he could fix California where they pay their bills with IOU's and pay state employees minimum wage when they pay them at all?

As CEO wages have  gone through the roof and middle class wages declined, I'm still waiting for Reaganomics to trickle down to me. It didn't work then, it won't work now. The only thing I got was the bill for the tax cuts added to my tab.


For 20 years after WWII auto manufacturing drove our economy and manufacturers made promises to unions that were unsustainable.Then they bought KIAs and Toyotas and sold them as Fords and Chevys.The laid off American workers couldn't buy them and for the workers that made it to retirement, too many of the checks are bouncing.

For 30 years after that, housing values drove the economy.People learned that if they didn't have money for a  car, home improvement, vacation, or to pay off a credit card they could just borrow against their house and get a tax deduction for doing so. When housing crashed, there was no equity to borrow against. Even if you want to sell, most people can't because they owe more than they can sell for. Builders can't build because there is nothing for people to borrow against for home improvements and so it goes.

 Health care reform is not bankrupting America. We already pay for almost all Americans health care, just in high priced ER's instead of lower cost clinics.

Respect for each other and the constitution(all of it if we like it or not) will not bring about the downfall of our nation. Knee jerk reactionaries are a much bigger threat. I don't want to elect someone who says she is just like me (even if she is a witch with super powers). I want someone smarter than me. Well, at least harder working.

No matter what lies are told and what promises are made we are not getting out of this for a while yet.We are not getting out of it until we quit name calling, finger pointing, and ignoring laws just because a loud group of us doesn't "want" some legal activity to go on.I may or may not want a mosque near ground zero(even though there was one in ground zero).Doesn't matter, first amendment trumps what I want. All the noise and hatred makes us look like the noisy haters our enemies make us out to be.We need to return to the idea of consensus, not just majority.

Real Life Gets in the Way

Once again real life has kept me busy this week and prevented me visiting my virtual world in the blogosphere  as soon as I would have liked. The picture at the left is a large platter that I got out of the gas kiln yesterday. You really can't see it online but the ash glaze is shot full of golden crystals. It is about 14" wide and 3" deep. Big enough to say hey look at me but not too big to put away if necessary. It is also one of the few pots that came out exactly as I envisioned it.

Besides working on pots, Studio construction marches on. With the help of friends and family, we got half the ceiling installed and insulated. The metal ceiling looks great, is prefinished and will never need painting. I also added a porch light for those late night trips to the kiln. No pottery tip this week. I have more tips in production but you will have to ask for them if you want them. Let me know.