What goes agound, sometimes comes right back at ya

I just got some good news. I donated a few bucks a couple of months ago to help out Christa Asaad after she was forced to leap from her 2nd story window when her house caught fire and ended up fracturing her spine etc. The fundraising campaign came with the added incentive of possibly being drawn to receive a pot by one of many potters that had donated their work for this purpose. I never thought I would be drawn, there were so many that helped out. Well, I got an email this morning from one Mr. Michael Kline (keeper of the Sawdust and Dirt blog)  to let me know that my name had been drawn to receive his pot that he had donated. I will be adding his sweet cup to my slowly growing collection of pots by potters other than me.
On a sort of tangentially related note: After the flood of 2013, I took stock of what I was left with when the waters receded and most of the pottery that was salvaged were the pots made by others. In fact, ALL of the pots I had bought from others managed to survive, even a paper thin, egg shell porcelain vase my grandparents gave to me from their travels in China.

There are 2 Kinds of People

Thankfully, this city (Calgary) is mostly comprised of the best kind, the helpers & givers.

The other kind of people are thankfully few and far between (in my experience anyway). They are the “tiskers”, complainers and are just generally mean spirited. During the time I was down cleaning up my apartment, the other units in my building as well as other buildings on other streets, occupied by people I did not know, I was surrounded by the best kind of people. The atmosphere was almost like a party, except we were all covered in river mud, and were throwing people's entire lives into the back of garbage trucks. The gawkers were out though, and although I tried to ignore it, it was probably the rudest thing ever. I understand the need to see the devastation with your own eyes, but these people were almost gleeful. Taking pictures of other people's despair is NOT COOL. If you are the press, that is one thing, but the busybodies that are so obviously not there to help were like salt in a gaping wound.

While I was in mid disaster clean up, I was keeping my eyes on the news, the blogs and the comments and there are some really really nasty people out there that do not feel our government should be giving out the disaster relief.. I wont name names, because both you and I know who you are, and naming names is not my style. However, you need to know how hurtful your comments are. Apparently, according to some, the prepaid debit cards being handed out by the Alberta government should not be handed out to people in my neighbourhood, and I am assuming other lowerv income ones, because the recipients will just go down to the bar and drink it all away. WOW, your sympathy knows no bounds. I am one of those recipients, and so far have managed to not drink it all away. In Fact, I have some amazing friends that have offered me their cards. They were displaced, but did not sustain damage except for rotten food and missed time at work. These are the very same people that are supposedly just going to drink it all away. So, in closing, SHAME ON YOU if all you did was prance around my neighborhood with your camera and designer clothes, but did not lift a finger to help, only to wag in a disdainful manner and made disparaging comments about the crap on peoples lawns. You can sure bet that KARMA is a B@#$%. Good luck to you when you need help.

Always open your mail…

Well, I finally got around to doing my taxes. Nothing like the night before the deadline to get it done. Reminds me of how I used to do things in University. Always put off doing it today, ‘cause you can always do it tomorrow…plus, "I work better under pressure".


While doing my taxes, I learned a “valuable” lesson. Always open your mail as soon as you get it. I had been stockpiling all of my tax info in one pile (that's pretty good for me), and it was waiting for me when I began doing my taxes last night. There were a few envelopes in the stack that had not been opened, but I knew what they were (I thought). They were T4’s (income statements), RRSP statements etc. I opened one up, and low and behold, it was a cheque for $2200 that I had been waiting for. It was the share payout from the last place I worked at. I wasn’t at the point of worrying about it yet, as I know that things can be slow when it comes to actually paying someone money. I guess I must not have seen it in the pile, but it just goes to show you, open all your mail, even if you think it is a bill, or something else equally horrible, it might just be a nice surprise. So, I have to pay the MAN $500+ more in taxes, but in the end, I am a bit further ahead than I was yesterday. I must have stockpiled some good Karma somewhere along the way.

I am off to post my pound of flesh to the tax man after work, and then to unload the kiln at Ceramics Canada. I had a peek at it yesterday when I opened it up, and everything looks just right. It was just a little warm and I didn’t have any gloves handy to unload yesterday, so today I can take some pots home to actually price before the sale on Saturday. Hopefully my stockpile of good Karma helped with this firing. I hate it when the top shelf just teases you and the further down you go the less happy you get…

I WILL take pictures tonight. I always forget to take pics of pots before a sale, but I will tonight, I promise...