random thoughts – Day 2,412 (Saturday 10/24) – bug, ballot, blood

Bug!

The morning sunshine and quiet were enjoyed with a mug of warm water while the coffee brewed. One morning a couple weeks ago I did this, and it was nice, and I’ve done it every day since.

Soon, I was sitting on the couch drinking coffee and dealing with the daily runny nose. I got a tissue from the bedroom and as I held it to my nose, I spotted something weird. The tissue was removed from my face and with horror, I saw a big bug on it, and the tissue with bug was tossed to the floor. Then, I screwed up my single-person courage, picked up the bug tissue, and opened the front door. Still wearing my purple bathrobe and pajamas (aka sleeping clothes), I stood at the open door, shaking the tissue like a surrender flag to liberate myself from the bug.

A couple hours later, I had finished my study of the first 23 pages of the 87-page Massachusetts Information for Voters Guide – 2026 Ballot Questions. It felt like cramming for an exam. Relevant passages had been highlighted, a cheat sheet was drafted, and I was dressed for the day in a khaki-colored cashmere sweater and khaki pants, suitable for interacting with the world at large. When I went to the coat closet for a jacket, I saw something brown on the floor.

The past couple weeks have frequently seen fragments of dried brown leaves tracked into the house, but this brown thing was moving at a steady pace along the Berber carpet. It was another bug, just like the one from earlier and I wondered how they were getting inside. It was guided onto the dustpan from the nearby glass worktable and I returned to the door for another return to nature. At least this time I was wearing daytime clothes.

Vote!.

With my list of ballot question answers in hand, I headed to City Hall to vote. I love early voting. It was calm and peaceful, and everybody there was in a good mood. Maybe it was the “I voted early” stickers we were given. Eleven minutes after exiting my car, I was done voting and was back in my car, and didn’t know what to do next on a gorgeous fall day, so I headed home.

Once again, as so often happens, the car piloted itself into the Salvation Army Thrift Store parking lot. The place really is on my primary flight path. It was quiet there, too, so maybe everybody was doing something fun elsewhere. 

I saw two beautiful sweaters in Sal’s. One was cashmere, and based on the density of the fiber, the slightly misshapen look, and the tiny size that contradicted the size tag, it had clearly been put through the dryer. The other sweater was as good as new but was an extra small, and I’m not that size anymore. On the bright side, I didn’t spend any money, which was good because the recent investment in glass supplies has been a bit hefty.

When I got back home, I was drawn to the stained glass table. I knew the risks of messing with glass in a cashmere sweater and went there anywhere. I cut one curved piece in dark green that ends in a point, and stabbed myself in the pad of my right index finger. The bright red blood left splats on the corkboard. I grabbed a paper towel to wrap it in and headed for the bathroom where blood splatted on the counter and in the sink.

Luckily, the bandages were handy and one was applied quickly. Even more luckily, I didn't get blood on my “I'm going out somewhere” clothes. Within a few minutes, I had bled through the thing and went rummaging for a larger one. The bloodshed finally stopped, and I stayed away from the sharp pointy glass for the rest of the day. I really need to invest in some cutting gloves. The return to glasswork is getting expensive.

random thoughts – Day 2,411 (Friday 10/23) – birthday fun time

At The Old Mill, 10-23-26.

Mom’s choice for her birthday lunch was The Old Mill, and she and I met my sister there. A goose and some small ducks and goslings were paddling in the pond, and a heron stood on the shore across the water. We were happy when we were seated at a table at a window overlooking the waterfowl action and proceeded to play the local pond version of “Where’s Waldo?” as we kept looking for the heron. It blended with the trees and the stones and the water. 

We did nature show commentary of the birds swimming and grooming themselves. We talked about how the nine ballot questions in the current election feels like the adult equivalent of the SAT.

The food was good and the atmosphere relaxing. In the parking lot, Sis said she was going “to run to the store” before going back to Mom’s and Mom, without batting an eye, says “shouldn’t you take your car?” and then we were cracking up in the parking lot. Point for Mom.

The after-lunch plan was Yahtzee at Mom’s and the dice were messing with us. We kept reading the dice wrong and soon we were blaming wearing glasses, not wearing glasses, and the lunch food and a chef’s conspiracy to use some magical happy spice in our food.

When I told them how neither of my doorbells was working and the contractor and I decided to not bother making nail holes to reattach the buttons to the new siding, I said I was going to get a sign for the door like the one at the gate in the Wizard of Oz that read “Bell out of order. Please knock.” Except mine would probably read “Doorbell broken. Go away.”

That took us down the road of drafting doormat and answering messages intended for cold-calling door-to-door and telephone sales people. For phone answering we came up with “Hey, we’re not in right now. We were here yesterday, so you should have called then. Try again tomorrow. Good luck!” There was also “Are we expecting your call (or visit if doormat)? Did you text first?”; and “Do we know you? No? Please go away.” There were more, and we were howling.

Strawberry shortcake.

Then we got to the birthday dessert of strawberry shortcake. Sis had baked biscuits in the morning and they were a tad beyond golden and more brown so as backup, she brought some that were in her freezer. 

Then she hits us with “Would you like a freezer biscuit, or a freshly burned one? You know, like Mom used to make!” And we were dying all over again laughing over our family's traditional holiday burned biscuits and baked mashed sweet potato with an accidental flaming topping. As we were eating, it turned to jokes about needing a knife or a hacksaw. The afternoon was so much fun.

random thoughts – Day 2,410 (Thursday 10/22) – time flies

It was sunny, it was warm-ish and once again, I got sucked into the stained glass vortex again. Or maybe I dove in headfirst.

New design.

It was another day of the new routine. The boxes of bevels were consolidated. There was foil applied to the edges of precut bevels, smoothed with the burnishing tool, and trimmed. A new design was drawn using elements of the larger design in waiting. The new one is smaller and will serve as a warmup piece to practice cutting curves, fitting pieces, and keeping the piece square before working on the big one. The new design was colored in with pencils to test drive a concept, glass was chosen, and cutting commenced.

In between some of the glasswork tasks, there was some accidental organizing in the craft room and a kitchen cabinet. A hand soap dispenser was refilled. Food was eaten. I turned on the new front door light so the contractor could verify it worked.

Suddenly, it was 5:00 and I had someplace to be that wasn’t my sweatshop dining room and site of my recent self-imposed exile. It is still a mystery to me why the days pass so quickly now. There was never a single work day in my gazillion years of work (beginning at age 15) that went by as fast as the days pass now. I would love for a day to creep along as slowly as the lifetime of work days did. Even half that pace would be appreciated.

random thoughts – Day 2,409 (Wednesday 10/21) – finishing and starting

Siding completed.

The siding is on the house. The contractor said several people gave him a thumbs up and a couple stopped to ask about the color and request estimates for their own homes. I chose a color because nobody else in the neighborhood had it, but that may not last for long based on feedback.

The front light and skirting around the bottom still need to be installed. If there is enough siding left, the shed walls may be done and then I’ll only need to paint the doors, which are currently white with black trim and look like barn doors.  Not pretty. The temperature forecast for tomorrow is a high of 63, which feels like good painting weather if I can tear myself away from cutting and foiling glass for the day.

The day's work.

Today I finished the five poinsettias soldered yesterday by adding hanging loops and foiled the bevels for the large design. A few new pieces of glass were cut to finish the crescent moon I had trouble with on Monday. A new design in green, blue, yellow, and iridescent clear with one round bevel  was started and all but one of the pieces was cut. I had to stop after miscuts forced the recutting of two pieces and reminded me that I was hungry and tired and there was no way I would get a clean circle cut.

A late afternoon walk let me admire the house as I rounded the bend at the top of the street. The way the light was hitting it, the front looked like it was lighter than the sides and the shingles at the peak. I need to look at it again throughout the day. It's time to decide on the color of the front door If I want it repainted before it's too cold to do so. Or maybe I'll leave it red until spring.

random thoughts – Day 2,408 (Tuesday 10/20) – siding and a surprise

Siding nearly complete.

The hammering and drilling continued and the siding on the front of the house is nearly done. The inset for the bay window and the peak over it remain. Then the skirting around the bottom will be done. And then it will be all done.

Today there was a bit of excitement. I was soldering stained glass in the living room with The Middle streaming on TV and hammering happening outside near the bay window. There was a sound like broken glass and I thought a window had broken. Suddenly, the contractor’s face, with a very surprised expression, appeared at the top of the window, above the shade that had been lowered from the top. It looked comically like someone peeking over a tall fence. He asked if there was something on the wall near where he was hammering, and said  the vibrations would be a problem.

New, larger numbers.

The corner of the room backing the construction site houses a corner shelf with the TV, and above and below it, small corner shelving units hold a few knickknacks. The gold heart shaped vase on the topmost shelf was no longer there. It had tumbled down behind the TV, through the opening at the back of the shelf, and was resting on the various TV, router, and Wi-Fi wires. Amazingly, it was still intact, with just a minor scuff mark or two. The gemstone tree, a figurine from Korea  and another one from Mexico, and a crackle glass bowl were relocated for safety. The contractor checked the TV and the shelf and declared them secure. I still have no idea what made the sound so much like a breaking window as all the windows are intact.

The new 3D printed house numbers bought through Etsy arrived and were installed. They have clips that work on vinyl siding without the need for drilling holes. They are several times larger than the old numbers and can be seen from further away. Objective achieved.

random thoughts – Day 2,407 (Monday 10/19) – troubles

The moon was being difficult.

Maybe a year ago, after some dental work, I felt a weird little bump in my mouth up under my cheekbone that reminded me of a tapioca pellet. When I wash my face or touch my cheek, it feels weird. Not painful, more like odd. 

I mentioned it at my next dental appointment and the dentist looked for it in the x-rays but nothing showed up. Months later, at a routine cleaning, I mentioned it again and they looked at the new x-rays. Nothing. The dentist thought it might be a sinus thing and suggested I see an ear, nose, and throat specialist.

The ENT appointments for new patients were scheduling about six months out and the earliest I could get one was December. I was added to the list for a cancellation and a couple weeks ago, the call came in for an appointment sooner than December. That appointment was this morning.

Dr. E felt around in my mouth under my cheekbone and found the thing. He said some medical words and then translated for me that it felt bony and doesn’t move around. A CT scan was recommended. Someone will call to schedule. Cool, cool.

That took up part of the morning, and when I got back to the house to spend an hour before leaving for glass class, the siding crew was busy stripping the front of the house. The project is approaching the home stretch.

The plan for glass studio time was cutting scrap glass for a quick new crescent moon piece and then adding hanging loops to the pieces I made in the previous two weeks. The glass cutting was dreadful. I thought it would be quick, but the glass I grabbed was temperamental. Some of it was thicker than usual and really hard to snap off at the score line. Bottom line -- it became a real pain the butt real quick.

Most of the glass I chose from the bins was because I liked the color, but then a lot of the pieces were too small. I modified the pattern on the fly to accommodate the glass I wanted to use. After the final grinding of the pieces, I turned away from the grinding machine and the cardboard the pieces were laid out on hit something and all the glass shifted. One piece landed on the floor and broke and I was back to pawing through glass to find something to use for a replacement piece. 

Supper!

The quick project I thought could be cut and foiled in one session took much longer than imagined. The moon was not cooperating. Because I had changed up the pattern there was no way to match the cut glass to the location in the design so it was secured to the pattern paper with masking tape for transport home.

Glass class may have gone a bit sideways but supper was delicious. Pumpkin and sage ravioli with sauteed onion and mushrooms in a creamy sauce hit the spot. One bowl tasted great, but I still felt hungry and stupidly went for seconds. Two hours later, the overly full feeling had taken effect, along with a helping of regret.  Some fools never learn.

random thoughts – Day 2,406 (Sunday 10/18) – laboring

Pinned and ready for soldering.

The second day of the art studios event was today. Once again, I planned to go, dressed to go, and then got caught up in laboring in stained glass and didn’t go.

Today’s time-sucking, self-assigned task was drawing new designs and then cutting small red diamond shapes and then foiling and burnishing them. It took about five hours to do 29 diamond shapes and some random green scraps in other shapes.

After an early evening break for grocery shopping which marked my first time outside the house since Friday afternoon, another two hours were spent cutting and foiling tiny yellow circles and then burnishing and trimming back the foil to expose more of the glass. The various parts are pinned to the corkboard and will be soldered Monday after class or maybe Tuesday.

The benefits to working with lead over copper foil are more evident each day. Lead pieces work up a lot faster because they don’t require such precise cutting, the edges of each piece of glass don’t need  to be wrapped in foil, and there is a lot less soldering required. 

It’s quicker measuring and cutting a length of lead came, setting the glass into the rails and soldering just the joints of the lead rails. But I am getting better at the foiling, burnishing, and soldering. The glass cutting part is either great or a total pain in the derriere and there is no way to know in advance, but that applies in either method. I have a spool of lead came, so bounce back and forth between methods is an option.