general update

I'm coughing this morning, which doesn't help my speaking voice or my general outlook. Yesterday at the studio I was very bothered by tobacco smoke seeping up through the floor from the guy who lives in the building's basement. When it's cold I keep the doors shut with space heaters on, so the air doesn't circulate. My studio mate Ginger came in and set up her air filter machine, but it didn't seem to help much. Gotta talk to the building manager about sealing up that floor. I can't work like this every day.

On the good side of things, I seem to be better able to get into the studio and focus than I was last Fall. I am making progress on commissions, and one project that had been hanging over my head for ages finally went out the door on Monday. Now the oldest thing on my plate is a Renaissance chain-style belt with gemstones modeled after a portrait of Eleanor of Toledo. Super cool project, and should bring in some serious and much-needed dollars. This is an official hint for a waist measurement. You know who you are. :-)

In the way that the universe has of dropping things into my lap once in a while, I seem to have a part-time job in my lap at the moment. I'm going in this morning to give them a resume (no, I don't know what to do about the 20 years of technical writing experience that is not applicable). This is in my new industry - at a Kay Jewelers in a mall. this would probably be good for me in that "eat your vegetables" kind of way. Once I work my way to the bench from the polishing room, I'd get much faster and more precise at doing the usual tasks that retail stores do every day and that I only do a few times a month. I don't like taking time out of the studio, and I can't imagine that it will pay decently, but any trickle of income should help. I can't let myself get into a situation that is too stressful for not enough money, though. I know the guy I'd be working for - he lives upstairs in my studio building and is the one who thought of me for the job.

Waistline in further danger

The mall store mentioned in my previous post turns out to be directly across the way from Cinnabon. The place that makes the Absolute Best Cinnamon Rolls on the Planet and vents their ovens into the mall to entice buyers. I could be in real trouble.

Amusingly, I filled out a questionnaire asking about my honesty, integrity, and drug use. The only question that gave me pause was the one asking whether I had ever given a customer a discount when I wasn't supposed to. Well, in November at the Medieval Marketplace event, I allowed some young twit to talk me way down on a circlet. I was tired, aggravated with my mom, and feeling impoverished. I regret my actions sincerely. I have reformed, and will no longer accept any attempts at dickering. The only person I am hurting is me. On the questionnaire, though, I think they were referring to working retail for someone else, which I haven't done since the bookstore job back in 1985. But no, nobody got discounts there either.