The END

Well, this is the end of "ott 9", what's next, nobody knows.

Things I'm very thankful for, My loving and beautiful wife, who stands by me no matter what, and continues to dream. My Dogs, who are endless retarded entertainment. My health, not bad, besides kicking the swine flu late this year. And a butt load of other stuff.

I truthfully (and nobody really believes me), thought i would not live to see 2010. There was a time when i threw myself at things like no other, and i should not have made it. I suppose i was forged out of something tougher than most, as i should be mush. But, i'm not, and it's almost 2010, 2 more years till the end!

2010, maybe a new Job? NER!

-LB

You ever dance with the devil by the pale moon lite?

I always ask that of all of my Prey.

I finally completed a firing this winter, 8 pieces, no explosions. I think this is only the 2nd time there have been no deaths.

Sometime early or mid week i'll do the glaze firing, as they are ready to go. It's been insanely cold, and snowing, so we will see how that goes.

Bike riding has been hindered by the ice and snow, but first sign of dry, i'm sure we will be out there full force.

The Job sucks, it's boring. I either need a new job, or an injection.

Oh yeah, the xmas tree is up, it stayed down last year, but the itch hit us, so it's up now, i feel fairly good about it, although i'm broke, and can't get anything for anyone!

-Viva la Monday.

*LB*

Weekly Gihad!

Monday is over. Pottery wheel still waiting. Maybe bike to work tomorrow? I have Wednesday off from work this week, it's because I'm a Veteran, and you are not.

word.

lb

Not dead, yet.

Well, i made it through the Pig Flu, but i'm still congested, and worn out... at the moment.

Today, i watched yet another individual get promoted. This is after my boss was fired on Friday. The most disturbing thing about his is that the CFO came down to "announce it".

Most of the time i think they are totally confused, both mentally and morally. I have sat here for 6+ years, and i have never had the feeling of being promoted, gathering people together to announce it, etc. I guess that's why i always justified a pay raise, because if I'm not promoted, and I'm not moving up, at least i can get the pay, right? Fuck, i don't know anymore, don't understand this place.

NER

-LB

Death Becomes Me

Day 5:

Wait, let me start over. I contracted the evil H1N1 Flu Virus this past Saturday, or maybe Friday. I know 100% where it came from, and i'm so happy about it.

Saturday: I though i was going to die, my head would not stop pounding, this lasted until 1/2 way through Sunday.

Sunday: That part finally broke, i actually felt "ok" for a couple of hours, then, worse!

Monday: Death Part II. I was very weak, could not do much, slept alot.

Tuesday: It broke, i finally became "snotty" late Tuesday.

Wednesday: I'm filled with the snot of the world! Hopefully i will feel even better tomorrow, as i have a big time job interview to go to, then a phone interview on Friday. I have not gone to work at all this week, and i May go tomorrow morning, just so i don't have to waste any more Vacation days.

Swine Flu Sucks, it's just really terrible when you have 5 consecutive days off of work, and you aren't doing something productive or fun.

shite..

-LB

The Crater, The Drive, The Rest....

It's been a week since the Crater in Oregon, 20 hours of driving, the remainder of last week, and will finding an apartment. Oh, and i built my new bike. NER.



Maybe i'll throw/fire some stuff this week?

-LB

What a week.

Well, it was Anniversary/Birthday week here at the homestead. 6th year, and it's been great, and i think it will only get better. For her birthday, i got gen the bike of the century, now named "stuart", boy it rides like a dream:



Really, really sweet bike, i think it has motivated me to get a cruiser this winter.

Wednesday, i had an interview for the USDA, we will see how it turns out, should know next week.

NOW, I'm at PDX, Portland, and waiting for my flight to Redmon, OR. I'm helping will move to Denver, so we are going to hang tomorrow, pack, and leave on Tuesday morn. Pics to follow if the internet allows me...

-LB

Cauliflower

Meh.

got some pots almost ready to go, etc.

I'm still waiting on my upgrade at work, it's turned into this game, and it's been pissing me off from inception. I've hashed it out so many times, i don't care to anymore. I think this is the end though, if i can't get a $$ upgrade, I'm on my way out, even if i do get it, I'll have to go in a few years, but at least i would know they are loyal (like me).

So for 6 years i have been passing by this god-forsaken dog track in Peoria (Deer Trail) that has been abandoned, i finally stopped to take pictures. I guess they are converting into a auto race track, but i can't find any history on it over the interwebmachine. Drives me crazy, i suppose my dog and i could go out there and race each other, i would win of course:



Wickid sweet!

My old Army buddy from 8 million years ago is moving to the Denver "area", not sure how that's going to go. I guess it won't be terribly different from the last 10 years, since he will be about 30 miles away, and working at least 50 hours a week, he won't suffocate us. Gen got him the "Job", and a sweet one it is, so he OWES. She says she does not want anything, but that's crap, you have to take something! I'm thinking he has to kick down for Tile in the kitchen (installed by him), or jewelery for the MISSUS.

Almost meeting time. gotta go.

-LB

Small Firing

Completed my smallest firing this morning, and i think i had a Eureka moment, i think i need to do like 6 or less piece firings. These ones turned out well, the heat was perfect, and the glaze melted exactly the way i wanted. Maybe from now on i'll do only 4 piece glazes. Also, the brown clay really made the colors work better, it made Red's darker, and brown's look better... This pic is not great, but it show's alright.






-LB

Blowded up

Well, my Sunday firing turned out pretty bad. Only 3 out of 8 pieces made it, not sure why. Maybe i fired it too quick? Maybe this clay holds air bubbles? Anyhoo, the 3 that made it are nice pieces, I'll just have to Cherish them!

Yarg.

-LB

My 500th

Well, yesterday and the rest of the month are my Birthday. It was an excellent day, no drinking or crazyness, but some really good times.

Went to the Gym, Had breakfast out, went on a 9 mile Bike ride at Hall Ranch (busted my butt and got a flat, but great ride..) Saw the Movie UP with the 1st Lady (review here), and finished it off with a 900cal slice of choco cake, and a fine meal. Some cool gifts, music, needed clothing, camping stuff, and gift cards that are required to LIVE.

I have about 9 new pots that are ready for firing, mostly taller stuff i have been working on, so i think it's high time to fire them this weekend, and see what explodes...

-LB

You've seen it.

You've seen this, some broad applying eyeliner while driving, swerving around, random braking?

I'm not sure if it's illegal, but it should be, i watched her almost kill someone, and not even notice.

What gives? cars are TRANSPORTATION, not our personal Kitchen/bathroom/office/phone booth!

Maybe i should just run them off the road.



-LB

New Clay

First week with the New Brown/red Clay. Sweet stuff, it's smooth, centers well, and goes "Up". I have 3 pieces thus far, and I'm very pleased, much better than my white willow grog clay. The white is great for decorating, but the shapes and mold ability suck, so I'm rolling with the brown for now. I still need to make it out to my dad's to do a pit firing, soon.

Have to build up, or just give over a Desktop PC to one of Gen's friends, first computer project in a while, but it should be cool, I'll replace it with another i have.

-LB

Lakers win 99-86 Finals over.

Well, this is the 9th NBA Title i have witnessed for the Los Angles Lakers in my Lifetime. The first one i saw was when Magic Johnson was a skinny young guy, playing with Kareem, and this one is with Kobe. Will there be another? Dunno, but it sure is sweet to see it again. It helped that i was seriously following it this year..

-LB

The End?

Over the weekend we had 5 small twisters land in the area, and tear up an upscale mall east of Denver.

Here it hailed furiously for 5 mins. Tonight it freaked out, and hailed for about 20 mins, probably about quarter size. It looked like snow there was so much... what the heck is going on?

Larky

Bla Bla Bla. I appear to be in a constant state of tired this morning.. I manage to not throw 1 thing over the weekend (but accomplish other things).

I'm at work at the moment, and i just finished doing research on some old email, it took 12 hours total, and could have been taken down to 1 hour if management would pay for some software, but we are in tough times, so why not use slave labor?

Watched a couple of movies over the weekend.

Max Payne = Suck

-This is the worst, or second worst movie i have ever seen, absolutely no point, thank god i only rented it!

Wanted = Not bad

-This movie was pretty good, it had the attitude and humor of Fight Club, some simply ridiculous stunts that could never happen, and an enormous disregard for human life, so i think i would like to own this movie. Human life is soooo overrated.

Maybe I'll throw something tonight..

-LB

Back

Well, the traverse across the country ended for me late Sunday. Gen is still there, enjoying the weather, and some time off.

Gave away some Vessels (yes Vessels, since i don't use my pots for anything!), saw a really neat art/working/exhibit in downtown Paso Robles, really cool stuff. It motivated me to work more on my pottery. I have not yet, but i need to stop by the Ceramics place tomorrow, and get some more clay, and maybe more glaze that i like. I'm also planning on doing a Pit firing very soon, if the weather permits, maybe even this weekend.

It's been a stressful week at work already, an Audit team is here, and seemingly everything is broken.. The Auditors leave today, and take their bad attitudes with them.

Bleh

-LB

Meh

latest firing came out, before it, i blew up my largest piece, it was just not quite dry yet, so oh well. some turned out pretty well, some better. I really miss high fire!

potted plant pot?

working on a pot for plants for my MIL, its going well thus far, very heavy, but smooth, ill put a design on it later tonight, burnished it...



-LB

The rest..

Here's the rest of the previous story. So it turns out that my car did not need just an alignment! I took it to the Honda dealer, and there was a service bulletin recall (ones they don't tell you about), apparently my rear suspension arms were causing the tires to eat themselves.

Fine and dandy right? Wrong, after letting me know that the warranty covers the repairs, i was told that i needed to pay for 50% of the tires ($170). My response to this was less than what they were expecting. I called the Honda America Office, the Dealer, and continued to bitch them out. 4 hours later, they replaced the tires for free. So now my car is like new, with the exception of some bumps and bruises from the robbery.

Firing this weekend, pictures to follow. At least 1 Bisque, and 1 Glaze. I also need to create a large pot for a plant, as the Beast requests...

-LB

Just another day.

Well, this week started quite badly.

Monday, Car broken into, Wallet stolen. I'm mildly retarded and left my wallet in the car when we went to the gym. The windshield and the side passenger window were smashed, and my wallet was taken. Dashboard was tore up a bit, and glass all over. SSC, DL, CC's, and a tiny little cash were taken.

All told, it turned out ok. Insurance paid out enough to fix the windows, and all the interior crap, but i'm going to pass on most of that stuff, and just let GEM have the rest to pay for School Tuition.

The even better news is, apparently my rear struts have gone bad at 17500 miles, i believe it to be a warranty issue, but we shall find out tomorrow.

Maybe i'll even do my massive firing this weekend, i have a little xtra $$$, so i can get some gas and blow the lid. Pics will follow i Imagine.

-LB

Oh Barf

Tuesday:

Put together a drafting table for the Missus last night. $77 at Hobby lobby with 40% off, looks decent, works better.

I'm working on glazing and doing some designs on my 10 pieces that i need to fire, and the other 5 that are ready for the final glaze firing. Bottom line is that i need some propane. probably 2 tanks to finish all of this stuff.

I set back and went slower on my latest sgraffito, and it looks better, i think that's the ticket, take her slow, more precise work will look better.

Is it spring yet?

-LB

Ball-Zach

Monday Monday. I need to try some new stuff on the wheel, what i've got now is all the same, Jars as far as the eye can see. I like them, but i need to branch out. Maybe a Jar with a Handle!

It's finally spring here, so the bike must come out, and now.

-Word

Pretty Simple really

ip route 10.2.11.5 255.255.255.255 10.27.253.233
ip route 10.2.11.6 255.255.255.255 10.27.253.233
ip route 10.2.11.8 255.255.255.255 10.27.253.233

Duh.

Damn Pranksters!

I would like to drop one of these on our AC controls in the office. It seems a bit extreme for a fire alarm though, the terms "smoke inhalation", "burned to death", and "chewed her own arm off" come to mind!

-lb

fresh firing

Did a fresh glaze fire last night, and i think i have learned a valuable lesson about my kiln, bottom shelf is the MONEY, everything comes out good on the bottom shelf, perfect. The top shelf is too exposed to flame, i need to get more stilts, and be able to cap it with 1 more shelf, that way it will guide the flame around it. It just get's a little to bubbly up there, and is less than "Nice". Only 6 pieces, i have 7 or 8 others that i didn't put in with them, because i just have not had the time with our New carpet project, and heading to California for this weekend....












-LB

Yarg

$450 later, and a whole weekend.. I've installed our new front door with window, and it makes a big difference inside the house. Pleased with that, but it still needs some adjustment..

-LB

The Latest

Got a front door over the weekend, plan on installing it as soon as we have paint. I have today off, as i work at a bank (yay).

I got some new "Underglaze", it's Chartreuse (green), and we will see how it turns out. Did a couple of pieces thus far, and I'll probably do at least 1-2 more. see below:

Word

End and beginning.

So i left my new job of 2 weeks today, to go back to my previous job. They wanted me back, and i wanted to go back.

The new job was not right, it was setup for a "Desktop Tech", when in reality, i'm a network Administrator. Also, this was a HUGE organization, so segmented it would make you PUKE. We had at least 5 meetings per week for various things, ranging from 1 hour to 2 hours. The real killer was this morning when i found out that their backups were outsourced, so if you needed to recover something, you had to pay and schedule it with the company that ran it. The Routers and firewalls were outsourced, apparently the Network Admin could not handle this in between his phone call sessions.

I guess that was the death of it right there, i knew everything the network admin did, but i could not tell him how to do it, or even help. My job was "Images" and desktops, plus supporting the local 75 users. Soo boring, and beneath what i CAN do.

Long story short, i'm back where i belong, with a more focused mission now. I'm glad about it. Although i would like some more $$$, we will work on that later.

Peace...

-LB

What the hell?

Got some new clay a few weeks ago, and threw with it for the first time today. 10X better than the super soft shit i was working with, it can be moved much higher, but it's the same color as the junk i've used. My next big challenge is making a large plant pot for my Mother in law. I'm thinking 15-25 pounds.

On the job front, it looks like there's a good chance i'm going back to my old job. I'll find our tomorrow if it's really going to happen, and i'll give more info on my non-seen blog then.

Also, i saw "no country for old men" today on cable. Now i know alot of people thought it was good, but boy did it suck! It's like directors and writers try to write in so much subtlety, it kills the watchability (not sure if that's a word), but anyhoo, i really did not like it, i think it's right there with "Glitter" and "Jersey Girl", with the worst movies i have ever seen. As a matter of fact, it probably goes in that order, No country for Old Men would probably place 3rd in the all total crap movies of all time. Waste of 2.5 hours, i'll tell ya!

Hopefully tomorrow i'll wake up from the stupor i've been in, and i need to, one way or another. It's like i'm walking in a dream...

Till tomorrow.

-LB

Week 1 ends at the new job.

It was the Longest week ever, i have no idea how i survived starting a new job, and being dog sick all week. I'm not 100% sure where i fit in there yet, or what i'm doing, but i think it will be fine.

I have to throw some new stuff tonight or tomorrow, it's been like a month now, and i feel i'm losing my mind. I also can't shake the sick feeling, arg.

On top of that, i sold my Asus eee PC, and i'm going to sell the macbook i'm typing on now. I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525, which i will install my custom cover on (got it off ebay, it was one of thoes one-off Mike Ming custom covers).

Word.

-lb

Ban the Bomb

Well, today was it, i ended my 5.5 year run at the Bank. There were good times, there were bad times, but it was time for me to move on.

Tomorrow i start my new job, it's going to be different, different kinds of people, and a different environment.. Banking > Construction, but i think the latter will suit me better.

Now i just need to get over this cold, and fucking throw something! My wheel is fixed, and i have thrown one very small squatty Vase, get with it man!

Until tomorrow...

-LB

weak snow...

so weak, it was cold, but the snow was weak... happy Sunday!

1/17/08 Firing

It came out alright. Some of the stuff on the top shelf bubbled a bit, but overall not too bad for my second complete firing. here's the pics: (just a sample)






-LB

Hump Day!

Well, it's been a busy and odd week already. I found out how much I'm worth to my employer, absolutely nothing! I put in my 2 week notice on Monday, and nobody cared. I also had to write my own job description, and in the end, they decided to attempt to hire a "lower level" position. Good times. Only 8 days left!

I finished apply glaze to my next batch last night, and i'm still waiting for my replacement wheel head from Creative Industries, hopefully it will show today, and in the next day or 2 i can get back to work on some stuff, and not lopsided this time!

Word.

-LB

Change, she's good...

Well, after 5.5 years, i have a new job. I'm going to get out of the banking business, and into Infrastructure construction (in the IT department), the job itself is actually a step back, but the pay is a wash, and there's alot of new opportunity for me.

We will see how it goes, i have to give 2 weeks where i am so that should be interesting, lot's of explaining to do, and lots of pain, i have been integral to the bank for all this time, and i don't think they are prepared for me to leave.

On the potter side, i'm going to glaze on sunday i think. The stuff looks good, and i have a couple of extra glaze colors now.

Jobs, pots... I think i need to do more on the pottery side.

-lb

The 5th, of the new year.

Here i is. Over the weekend, i completed the Bisque, i guess that's my 2nd successful Bisque firing ,and it went perfectly. The Scraffito pices came out perfect, and the plain ones did as well, no explosions...

By the end of the week i plan on doing the Glaze firing for this. I'm going to Clear Glaze the outside of the Sgraffito work, and put a color on the inside. The others will be pretty normal. I'm somewhat satisfied with the firing thus far, but we will see how the finished product comes out. I have pics, but i'm at work now, and don't have them WITH me.

Flame on...

-lb