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It's a great day at Michael Leavitt & Co Home Inspections!!! Great is a relative term. There is 8" of fresh snow on the ground from the last 48 hours of storm. I have shoveled the walks at least 6 times and have finally given up. They say that it will ease up about the time that you receive this edition of the MMM. Easing up means no snow with a high of 20 degrees and a low of 1 degree. Tuesday it will be a high of 17 and a low of -3........ Oh boy, I just can't wait!
It is difficult to believe that this Friday will be Christmas. Our phone has been ringing off the hook inquiring as to what days we will be inspecting around Christmas. As it stands today, we have decided to stop business Wednesday evening and restart again on Monday the 28th. It is looking like I will have takers on the $50 additional Saturday fee for bookings on the 26th. But I don't know if I will accept or schedule them for the 28th. I have been pretty good about keeping my Saturdays open and have only had to break that about 8 times in 1998. I think that the snow will bring with it a slow down...... We can only hope. Afterall, there is great, fresh powder up on the slopes.
We have Christmas
to look forward to, but our first celebration will be this evening
as we celebrate the first birthday of our littlest child, Aaron.
He was our babe wrapped in swaddling clothes last year. He truly
has been a blessing in our home. Each child brings a new personality
and a new source of love. I am definitely biased, but I truly
believe that he is the most special boy in our household named
Aaron. Flashing back to the picture of Aaron driving, I'm almost
certain that you will agree.
The
Spirit of Christmas GivingIt was a dark wintry night with the white snow glistening from the street lights as my wife and I loaded our two kids up into our car along with numerous Christmas gifts. We were driving across town to visit an address that we knew contained a 5-year-old girl who's situation was going to keep her from receiving any gifts under the tree that year.
My own
daughter was also five and her eyes watched the passing cars and
houses anxiously, almost nervously wondering when we were going
to finally arrive. Jessica was old enough to understand a little
about the Christmas giving spirit and we felt that it was time
for her to learn about giving instead of just receiving.
Just weeks earlier my wife chose a name from a "Sub For Santa" tree. The "Sub For Santa" group gathers names of children whose Christmas is not going to be as merry as it should be. We were living on a tight budget, but felt impressed that we should help another family, so 5-year-old Brandy's name was selected from the tree.
We learned that Brandy needed some clothes and toys, if possible. We found out her clothing size was the same as Jessica's. Time was spent shopping for gifts. My wife and Jessica spent many hours picking out the gifts. The outfit chosen was one that Jessica loved. The Barbie and accessory were also the ones that lit up my daughter's face.
After purchasing the gifts with care, the presents were wrapped with beautiful paper and bows. It was then that Jessica first realized that these presents were going to be given to another. She probably figured that we would also purchase the same presents for her, too, but we had not. She had second thoughts about giving the gifts, but then we reminded her of Brandy's need for a wonderful Christmas.
As we approached Brandy's home that wintry evening, our little Jessica was filled with excitement. We all got out of the car and went up to the front porch with Jessica leading the way. Our arms were filled with presents and yet nobody answered the door. My wife and I had never considered just leaving the presents on the doorstep.
Jessica's hopes looked dashed when all of the sudden a pick-up pulled up out front. Brandy was in the truck. Oh the joy that was witnessed as two little five-year-olds shared the true Spirit of Christmas. Tears filled little Jessica's eyes as joy filled little Brandy's. Brandy was learning that her Christmas wishes were really being answered. Mothers exchanged hugs and we reloaded our little family into our car. The drive home was filled with Christmas thoughts and love for all mankind, especially Brandy.
When Christmas morning arrived, our family's presents were opened. The cute little outfit Jessica had picked out for Brandy was not in a box for her, too. Neither was the special Barbie and accessories. I remember Jessica mentioning something about it and she followed it up with "I bet Brandy is having a good Christmas, too." May we all have a wonderful season of giving and share it with others as we have the means to do so. Merry Christmas!
GLASS
IN THE PAST By Gordon BockOLD HOUSE JOURNAL August 1998
PLEASE NOTE: I inspect a lot of turn of the century homes and have always wondered why the older glass was wavy. I found this article in an old edition of the Old House Journal and thought that you might enjoy learning about the old wavy glass.
Ever peer through an old window and see ... the glass? The distortions in antique glass are part of the charm of old windows and a historic feature well worth retaining. Though some may tell you that ripples and dimples are a sign of age - as if glass sags like flesh after a century - the truth is less fantastic, though almost as amazing.
It's all a result of how glass was made. Once you grasp the two basic methods used to make window glass until the 1910s, you can tell a lot about the age of your windows and how to care for them.
Crown
GlassFor centuries, the best quality window glass was crown glass. To make panes with this method, a glass blower gathered a clump of molten glass on the end of a hollow pipe and blew it into a bubble much like a bottle. As a helper attached a pontil rod to the other side of the bubble, the glassworker broke off the blowpipe creating a hole. Then, by heating the glass and coaxing it with a wood paddle, he quickly enlarged this hole into a rough plate.
Working in front of a furnace to keep the glass hot and fluid, the worker then spun he rod with his hands, often on a supporting bench, so that centrifugal force stretched the glass out into a thin disc - a process nearly identical to a baker spinning fresh pizza dough for a pie. When the blower severed the rod, he had a disc of thin glass, up to 4 feet in diameter.
After annealing this table in another oven to equalize stresses, the glass was carefully cut into panes according to grade and size. The central "bull's-eye" - the thickest and most malformed part where the rods touched - was usually unsalable and returned to the furnace.
In colonial America, however, whole or half tables of crown glass were regularly used uncut, often in gable windows. (Thomas Jefferson ordered several for the oculus and porthole windows at Monticello.) When thrifty Yankees divided up the tables, they put even the bull's-eyes to use in door or barn transoms where light meant more than a view.
Cylinder
GlassThough crown glass was made up to the 1850s, it could not supply the need for bigger panes created by a growing population. The glass that could was cylinder glass (also called broad glass or sheet glass), and it dominated this industry for the rest of the century.
To make cylinder glass, the glassworker blew a large tube of glass. After cracking off the blowpipe, the glassworker cut off the ends and slit the tube down one side. From here these shawls were transferred to a special oven where they could wilt and unfold into a flat sheet.
By the 1870s, glass manufacturers were adding pits dug deep in the floor of the glass factory to allow blowers to swing the glass as they blew. The resulting cylinders were up to 18 inches in diameter and a remarkable 7 feet in length.
Two decades later, some manufacturers had mechanized the steps with cranes and compressed air. These cylinders made possible by the Lubbers process - the last before the switch to drawn-sheet glass manufacturing in this century - were several feet in diameter.
Doing
Old WindowsYou can determine whether you have crown or cylinder glass simply by eye and feel. In crown glass, the spinning process leaves subtle curved swirls or ripples in the panes that appear when you look obliquely at the glass. In cylinder glass there are faint parallel ripples - the clash between the different inner and outer circumferences of the cylinder as the shawl is unfolded.
When cutting glass for window repairs, the point to remember is that cylinder glass has a smooth side, once the outside of the cylinder, and a rough side, the former inside. Your chances of a clean cut are better if you cut from the smooth side. Most original crown glass is rare enough that you probably don't want to cut it at all.
Whatever your windows, they may be hard to clean because decades of weathering have left minute pits in the surface. Instead of spray cleaners, use a paste product such as Glas Wax which you can buff to show off your beautiful wavy glass.
MAKING
CROWN GLASS
Rather
than go to waste, bull's-eyes might be set in transoms, but never
used in even the poorest window.
MAKING
CYLINDER GLASS
Thanks to Kenneth M. Wilson and S.A Bendheim Co. for technical help with this article.
Mouth-blown cylinder glass
Beveled glass products
Decorative overlay
QUOTABLE QUOTES: "And
the angel of the Lord said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.[Return to the Current Issue of the Monday Morning Marketer | Click Here For Back Issues of the Monday Morning Marketer]
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AII™
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