mel jacobson on tue 17 apr 12
it is amazing how broad clayart is, and the amazing reach
it has. any day...5-6 thousand people from 90 countries reading
our `advice column`. some days it is over 10,000.
it also has a drawback...what is normal, or easy in florida, becomes
amazingly hard in minnesota.
people tell me all the time...`oh, we never have those issues, why
do you talk about it?` just like gas inspection, some states care,
some states do not give a damn. some gas dealers care, some
don't.
i have had three propane dealers over the thirty years i have
had my farm. my present dealer sent out a guy last summer and
checked over everything on the entire piece of property (five big
propane tanks). he made
suggestions, asked questions about the kilns, added new high pressure regul=
ators
and moved some undergroup pipe, took apart some pipes and re/tightened
them with propane ready pipe dope. he was very understanding of my
knowledge of gas and kilns, and was appreciative of advice.
i got a bill for $200.00 with a note at the bottom...no charge.
they did it all complimentary. good people, a coop with an eye
to safety. ferrell gas is a bad company. they could care less if i
blew up dunn county. national brand, sucking up all the coops.
i sent a letter to the attorney general of wisonsin. dropped them
like a bowling ball in a creek.
it is the same for drying pots, clay bodies that are available...who do you
buy from?
i have always been able to call mike or mary at continental clay and ask,
seek information, or get supplies. they are gems. and smith sharpe compan=
y
is about a 5 miles from continental clay, with shelves, brick, or any other=
high
temp kiln supplies. spiral pipe is a mile from them. all in my back yard.
others that live all over america/world have to ship in a box of nails. an=
d we all
'understand how difficult that is. so, often advice given has no merit or
understanding to folks that do not experience that problem.
same for education, tech schools, colleges and universities.
bill schran teaches at a jr. college with like 60,000 students...largest
in the american. bigger than the university of michigan.
his problems are not the same as some jr. college with 2000 kids, that
is really a high school for 20 year olds. big differences....region to reg=
ion.
we have several world class trade schools in our region. dunwood inst. is
an amazing place to learn a trade. expensive? yes, but results follow.
other areas it is not the same.
it is as simple as infrastructure. if it snows in minnesota, it is remove=
d
in hours. other places never plow snow. it is up to you. my street in
front of my house has been cleaned twice this spring. everthing ship shape=
.
other places have never seen a street cleaner. ever.
we have no scandal with tech schools. none. in many cases they cannot
get enough clients that want to learn high tech skills.
so.
things change from place to place.
keep it in mind.
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Robert Harris on tue 17 apr 12
That is so so true. Just as you often mention how important each
person's kiln is, and advice for one person is different for another,
with another kiln, that goes for just about everything.
I see so much advice here where I think ..." you really need to talk
about why that piece of advice works for you. all of your basic
assumptions about how you work etc".
In science the key to designing good experiments is to know precisely
what assumptions you are making at every step of the process. The same
is absolutely true with any process. Drying in the hot humidity of the
south, versus the cold damp of England, vs Arizona or N.M.
When the advice is dispensed without caveats (e.g. "oh by the way I
live in ...."), it is almost useless. So here is a call for everyone
dispensing advice. Think about what sort of things might not transfer
well ... tell us about your claybody ... the conditions you live in
... how long you fire your kiln for ....
or when it comes to selling ... the cost of living in your area ...
the relative disposable wealth in your area ... Anything that might be
"different" in different places.
Robert
On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 9:08 AM, mel jacobson wrote:
> it is amazing how broad clayart is, and the amazing reach
> it has. =3DA0any day...5-6 thousand people from 90 countries reading
> our `advice column`. =3DA0some days it is over 10,000.
>
> it also has a drawback...what is normal, or easy in florida, becomes
> amazingly hard in minnesota.
> people tell me all the time...`oh, we never have those issues, why
> do you talk about it?` =3DA0just like gas inspection, some states care,
> some states do not give a damn. =3DA0some gas dealers care, some
> don't.
>
> i have had three propane dealers over the thirty years i have
> had my farm. =3DA0my present dealer sent out a guy last summer and
> checked over everything on the entire piece of property (five big
> propane tanks). =3DA0he made
> suggestions, asked questions about the kilns, added new high pressure reg=
=3D
ulators
> and moved some undergroup pipe, took apart some pipes and re/tightened
> them with propane ready pipe dope. =3DA0he was very understanding of my
> knowledge of gas and kilns, and was appreciative of advice.
> i got a bill for $200.00 with a note at the bottom...no charge.
> they did it all complimentary. =3DA0good people, a coop with an eye
> to safety. =3DA0ferrell gas is a bad company. =3DA0they could care less i=
f i
> blew up dunn county. =3DA0national brand, sucking up all the coops.
> i sent a letter to the attorney general of wisonsin. =3DA0dropped them
> like a bowling ball in a creek.
>
> it is the same for drying pots, clay bodies that are available...who do y=
=3D
ou
> buy from?
>
> i have always been able to call mike or mary at continental clay and ask,
> seek information, or get supplies. =3DA0they are gems. =3DA0and smith sha=
rpe =3D
company
> is about a 5 miles from continental clay, with shelves, brick, or any oth=
=3D
er high
> temp kiln supplies. =3DA0spiral pipe is a mile from them. =3DA0all in my =
back=3D
yard.
>
> others that live all over america/world have to ship in a box of nails. =
=3D
=3DA0and we all
> 'understand how difficult that is. =3DA0so, often advice given has no mer=
it=3D
or
> understanding to folks that do not experience that problem.
>
> same for education, tech schools, colleges and universities.
> bill schran teaches at a jr. college with like 60,000 students...largest
> in the american. =3DA0bigger than the university of michigan.
> his problems are not the same as some jr. college with 2000 kids, that
> is really a high school for 20 year olds. =3DA0big differences....region =
to=3D
region.
>
> we have several world class trade schools in our region. =3DA0dunwood ins=
t.=3D
is
> an amazing place to learn a trade. =3DA0expensive? yes, but results follo=
w.
> other areas it is not the same.
>
> it is as simple as infrastructure. =3DA0 if it snows in minnesota, it is =
re=3D
moved
> in hours. =3DA0other places never plow snow. =3DA0it is up to you. =3DA0m=
y stre=3D
et in
> front of my house has been cleaned twice this spring. =3DA0everthing ship=
s=3D
hape.
> other places have never seen a street cleaner. =3DA0ever.
>
> we have no scandal with tech schools. =3DA0none. =3DA0in many cases they =
cann=3D
ot
> get enough clients that want to learn high tech skills.
> so.
> things change from place to place.
> keep it in mind.
> mel
> from: minnetonka, mn
> website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> =3DA0clayart link: =3DA0http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
--=3D20
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