"...And On The Third Day. . . "

3 Days and about 2 hours and the furnace is still heating up slowly. Cheri said it could take about 4 days to get it hot enough. Looking forward to hot glass.

Today I fabricated some more small but handy equipment. I made a blowpipe holder. A blowpipe holder is what you use when you are blowing glass solo. After you have blown the piece and you are ready to "transfer" it, you hang the piece in the blowpipe holder while you grab a "punty" (it's like a blowpipe except it doesn't have a mouth piece and the hole running all the way through the length of the pipe) and get a "gather" of fresh glass out of the furnace (that's so the punty will stick to the other end of the piece you are working on). You then grab the blowpipe, lay it on your glass blowers bench across the supports and stick the punty to the other end of the piece and knock off the blowpipe. The piece is then "Transfered". If you are familar with the process, you probably understand what I just said, if not, it may not make sense to you yet. Maybe later I can take pictures and explain each step a little better.

I also finished fabricating my hand torch caddy and my glory hole door opener rod and the place to hang it. Small, time consuming stuff, but kinda needful.

Now all I have to do while I'm waiting for the heat to come up is:
• Get rid of the the construction clutter that has accumulated in and around the studio. (It's hard to imagine that I'm so messy.)
• Hang some more sheetrock
• Hang some more slat wall paneling
• Hang some shelves
• Get everything organized

Then I will be ready for Andy Boatman and his crew to come and blow the first offical pieces @ Bella Forte. Once again, Andy and the folks at Blue Sage Studios have been really good to me. I am blessed to have them as friends.

Micah, if your reading this we miss you alot. You're where you are supposed to be, so stay dedicated and work hard and put those running backs and quaterbacks on their A's in a fierce and sudden manner.

Remember the Four C's of Leadership:
• Competence
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.

• Commitment
The only real measure of commitment is test by action. Commitment is the enemy of resistance, for it is the serous promise to press on, to get up, no matter how many times you are knocked down.

• Character
Action is the real indicator of character.
We DO choose our character.
We create it every time we make a choice.

• Courage
“When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are
stiffened.” Billy Graham.
“The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” Roman historian Tacitus
“A ship in the harbor is safe,
but that’s not what ships are built for.”

Looking forward to Hot Glass!