Joyce Lee on fri 4 jun 04
The Mayor ( or Leader of the Parade ... recall
those days... when we were a Parade? What
a mental spectacle that was.... we're all out in the
ether marching through the archives still .....) anyway,=20
the Mayor has referred
to his much-valued pugmill several times
recently. He speaks of putting new clay from
the bag into the pugmill and adding "stuff."
That's what I've been doing so far with the new
Peter Pugger (actually I've had the PP for
about a year but only recently have been
able to use it...... it is a Love, for sure). Until
now, at least, it's been a dream to operate.
I pug the clay from the bag, and then pug and
re-pug the same clay left from all those pots
I've been slicing in order to learn from the structure of
my mostly lopsided pots. A dream come true....
AND
when the clay seems to have lost "something"
in the process I've been daring to toss in a
scoop of sand ....... right out of the sand
vineyard outside my door........ ok, ok.......
now I'm getting carried away..... the sand is=20
Silica Sand purchased from a local contractor
for that reason..... sand which he probably
dug up from HIS rockyard.=20
I digress. Up until this moment it's all working
fine to produce clay which I can throw even
with a bum shoulder........ soon we'll see what
happens when it's fired.=20
I have to admit that
before getting the Peter Pugger to "work,"
having been warned about possible operator
errors, I read the instructions three
times as well as re-read all my related e-mails from
you buds. Still every single choice I made
was the Wrong One. None had to do with
the Process of Pugging. First I had trouble
finding the "door" ...... had to refer to the
schematic several times..... hooray! there it was!!
Under that big handle that I couldn't budge, had to
keep walking around, which seemed unrelated to=20
anything! So THAT'S what "spring-loaded"
means! Lesson learned.
BUT nothing suggested that the "door," a very
flat table-top looking "door," was what it
turned out to be........which would have
helped. EVERYTHING doesn't have to be part
of a greater puzzle! THEN .... after other similar
wrong turns.......
and after mixing and de-airing, I couldn't get the
dratted door open!!! Even though I now knew how
to work that spring thing.... wouldn't budge...
Finally dawned on me that
the vacuum operation must have sealed all possible
leaky spots,
which might remain sealed until the gauge indicated
the vacuum had dropped enough to be safely opened...
sort of like the air compressor, maybe.
Glad I figured that one out when I did since I
had hammer in hand ready to get into my clay
one way or another! Scary....... I scare me?.....
now that's pretty bad.
BUT I know by now that I have plenty of
brethren and sistren out there who suffer the
same kind of mechanical non-thinking that
I experience ..... and who will perhaps benefit
from my bad. (RR, John, Tom Buck, David F.,
Ivor, Earl, Bruce et all you al...... I said not to read!
If you have nightmares about your massive work=20
yet undone, that's what you get for reading.)
Joyce
In the Mojave wondering who ever convinced me
that I was smart??!!? If they'd known what I
know (and what I don't know), they'd re-think
their position ..... or convince me to stay in the
Real World, the Groves of Academe.... where I
don't have to DO anything...... just BE...... and
lounge about in elegant togas..... and sip the
finest wine..... and....... maybe confiscate a
weapon now&then.......
Karen Hickson on fri 4 jun 04
Joyce:
I must say that I roared while reading your encounter with your pug mill.
The part about the hammer sounds just like me. I grab for it at the first sign
of any resistance( obviously not always the best choice.)
Thanks for the great laugh!!
Karen Hickson
Gainesville, Florida, where we've finally had rain and things are green again.
grphdsgr@bellsouth.net
"Glad I figured that one out when I did since I
had hammer in hand ready to get into my clay
one way or another! Scary....... I scare me?.....
now that's pretty bad."
| |
|
