So Long, OJ and Heaven for Dogs
Our limited glassblowing skills are slowly making a return as we've recently been able to get back into the studio much more regularly than we've been over the last few months. Last week I was working on a 3-gather piece (as large as I'll attempt at this point) when Steve walked by and commented: "Go big or go home, Kevin!"
I had to laugh. I was struggling to get the piece under control because I hadn't let the second gather set up enough before going back in for the third gather and it was all I could do to keep molten glass centered on the pipe. Tammy was a big help, seeing me struggling and lending the extra pair of hands I needed for just a few critical seconds.
I was curious to see how it turned out when we returned to the studio last Thursday. I was very pleased. I don't get to say that too often as I'm often critical of my work, always seeing where I could've done better but not so much with this piece. My largest so far standing 14" tall and 6" at its widest. It's the far left vase in the photo.
Lately, Tammy is feeling so much stress and disappointment from her job as a telephone triage nurse. She's stressed because of the demands they keep making on the nurse staff to limit call-times and the amount of time they spend documenting the call afterward. They're under the gun to hurry through each call but they're also highly scrutinized and held accountable for not gleaning the proper information from the caller and acting on it correctly. She's disappointed because she so wants to help the caller but management doesn't allow her or the others to take the necessary time to do that sufficiently.
They're continually looking for new nurses because they can't keep the ones they have. It seems to me that it's clearly mismanagement of the workforce. There are absolutely no positive strokes being offered to any of the nurses but there's no lack of criticism.
It pains me to see her so stressed over it all so we decided a couple days ago that she will leave her job next April (maybe sooner) and be done with nursing for good. It came as a relief to her to know that her countdown has begun and that she's in the final stretch.
Tammy is someone who throws herself into whatever project it is she's involved in, always giving an extra effort. She's a people-pleaser. Rachel is no different. I got a text from Rachel yesterday: "today i am dying 20 pairs of shoes for the ballroom teams performance. Commitment at its finest."
We attended another retirement party for a friend of mine from work. Jimmy Johnson (OJ) retired after (I think) 28 years with the FAA. Jimmy was the kind of guy who would've made an excellent supervisor—the kind of guy you would want in that position but he knew better and was content to work in the trenches his entire career. He will be missed by many and not soon forgotten.
A few photos from the night...
There will be an ever-increasing steady drip of retiring controllers over the next few years as more and more of us who were hired just after the Patco strike of 1981 finish out our careers.
We finally made it out to Ritter Farm Park with the pups over the weekend—twice actually! Friday afternoon and again this morning after church. We figured it would be muddy from a steady rain most of yesterday but it wasn't bad at all. We did the 2.8-mile loop and they loved it.
I'm happy with the quality of the video below taken with my new Sony HDR CX700V video camera. The audio is equally impressive with its separate channels for input making it easy to tell which side of the camera the audio is coming from.
My only regret is in not purchasing the camcorder sooner considering some of the concerts we've seen recently, namely Adele. Tickets to see the BoDeans at the Minnesota Zoo in July go on sale in the morning. We'll be there and I'll have the video to prove it!
I had to laugh. I was struggling to get the piece under control because I hadn't let the second gather set up enough before going back in for the third gather and it was all I could do to keep molten glass centered on the pipe. Tammy was a big help, seeing me struggling and lending the extra pair of hands I needed for just a few critical seconds.I was curious to see how it turned out when we returned to the studio last Thursday. I was very pleased. I don't get to say that too often as I'm often critical of my work, always seeing where I could've done better but not so much with this piece. My largest so far standing 14" tall and 6" at its widest. It's the far left vase in the photo.
Lately, Tammy is feeling so much stress and disappointment from her job as a telephone triage nurse. She's stressed because of the demands they keep making on the nurse staff to limit call-times and the amount of time they spend documenting the call afterward. They're under the gun to hurry through each call but they're also highly scrutinized and held accountable for not gleaning the proper information from the caller and acting on it correctly. She's disappointed because she so wants to help the caller but management doesn't allow her or the others to take the necessary time to do that sufficiently.
They're continually looking for new nurses because they can't keep the ones they have. It seems to me that it's clearly mismanagement of the workforce. There are absolutely no positive strokes being offered to any of the nurses but there's no lack of criticism.
It pains me to see her so stressed over it all so we decided a couple days ago that she will leave her job next April (maybe sooner) and be done with nursing for good. It came as a relief to her to know that her countdown has begun and that she's in the final stretch.Tammy is someone who throws herself into whatever project it is she's involved in, always giving an extra effort. She's a people-pleaser. Rachel is no different. I got a text from Rachel yesterday: "today i am dying 20 pairs of shoes for the ballroom teams performance. Commitment at its finest."
We attended another retirement party for a friend of mine from work. Jimmy Johnson (OJ) retired after (I think) 28 years with the FAA. Jimmy was the kind of guy who would've made an excellent supervisor—the kind of guy you would want in that position but he knew better and was content to work in the trenches his entire career. He will be missed by many and not soon forgotten.A few photos from the night...
There will be an ever-increasing steady drip of retiring controllers over the next few years as more and more of us who were hired just after the Patco strike of 1981 finish out our careers.
We finally made it out to Ritter Farm Park with the pups over the weekend—twice actually! Friday afternoon and again this morning after church. We figured it would be muddy from a steady rain most of yesterday but it wasn't bad at all. We did the 2.8-mile loop and they loved it.
I'm happy with the quality of the video below taken with my new Sony HDR CX700V video camera. The audio is equally impressive with its separate channels for input making it easy to tell which side of the camera the audio is coming from.
My only regret is in not purchasing the camcorder sooner considering some of the concerts we've seen recently, namely Adele. Tickets to see the BoDeans at the Minnesota Zoo in July go on sale in the morning. We'll be there and I'll have the video to prove it!
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