My Karma Can't Be This Bad

The universe is testing my resolve, that's all I can figure. I should have karma points up the Wazoo right now.

Yesterday I rose (I was the phoenix). I worked like a dog till 11:30 last night and got up and tweaked the website some more this morning. Then I taught my first kiln-forming class of the day. At the beginning of it, one of the young girls in the class (two young girlfriends, one mother and her friend) asked if I had pets. I said yes, at the house, and didn't think anything more of it.

Midway through the class Brian came in and told me we were out of oxygen. He had two full bead-making classes scheduled. To get by, he took the oxygen tank from the hotshop leaving Domenick unable to firepolish any of the blown pieces from the rest of the day's dates and classes, but the bead-making classes could go on.

Not too much later, Domenick came in to tell me that the glass furnace was not holding temperature. I went out and futzed with it (a highly technical process that includes, of course, a reboot). And we all crossed our fingers.

I got through the rest of my class without incident, and then at the end of the class as Judy was walking around the table, she found a smushed pile of dog poo left by a friend's dog who was visiting the studio yesterday. Apparently the girl had stepped in it at the beginning of the class, asked about the pets, and then didn't say anything else. Judy, bless her heart, cleaned it up and sprayed Ozium, but the 45 minutes between classes were not enough to get the smell out of the air (the smell was actually much worse after cleaning--a combination of cleaner, ozium and poo). For the next class, guess who had that corner seat? The pregnant woman. I felt so bad for her and asked if she would like to change places with me, but she said she was fine. I would've hurled had I been in that corner and pregnant.

Halfway through that class--also halfway through Brian's second class--Brian came in to tell me we were out of oxygen. I comped everyone's class and told them they could sign up another day--they were all Living Social 2-for-1 whose coupons expire this week.

A little while later Domenick came in and said the glass in the furnace was so stiff for the end of his class that he thought he was going to pull the crucible out on the last gather. I went out and looked at the furnace, and to my untrained but jaundiced eye, it looked like three of the elements were either out or not getting juice for some other reason. I went back inside and had Judy call the other two dates for the day to reschedule. The second date had already been rescheduled once in August for the furnace being out. They were NOT happy, and I ended up refunding their date night and telling them to reschedule for whenever would be convenient for them and it was on me.

The work day is now over and I am home in the comfy chair with a glass of wine. I could be crushed right now. Arguably I *should* be crushed right now. But I'm in the comfy chair. My spouse is home from Austin. I have a glass of wine and my family around me (well, not Jessie--she's still at a friend's house and will be home soon--but my Mom and Dave). The frosting on my cake is the justifiably cliched "and I have my health". All of those things add up to I have to give "crushed" a pass. Maybe I'm a little squished, but not crushed. Tomorrow, after all, is another day (and the studio is closed!!).

Happy weekend.