Elbows Up at the Pumps?

 

Late evening yesterday I stopped at the PetroCan in Shelburne for gas. This on the east central side of town,  across the street from the Utramar (my normal go to on the way outwards from Wareham.) These two almost always have the same price per litre, they are usually also the cheapest on my normal travel circle (leaving aside local price wars some places).
Further east along 10/89, two long blocks, is an Esso. That station is almost always a good 10 cents per litre more expensive. Saturday (January 24) it was * 11 * cents more.
And people are buying gas in there?
I get that the people driving up from Toronto  for Blue Mountain skiing are turning the corner at the Esso to head north up 26. They don’t pass the other too stations, another 300 metres to the west. 
But seriously?

Now I won’t buy gas at all at either a Shell or Esso. USA owned companies. PetroCan and Ultramar are both Canadian owned (and frankly, I’ve been doing this for decades now).
So why the hell would anyone deliberately choose to pay MORE to buy at a USA owned gasoline company?

The fellows at the PetroCan, when I remarked about this said - ‘Oh, probably it is because they collect PC Points’. 
Seriously??
I looked it up. PC Optimum  is a  branded Mastercard ran by Loblaws (the Weston Family). At least this is a Canadian company ( 1 ). Their web site ( 2 )  states “Get up to 10% back in points”.
Yea. Based on “Annual 10% back in points may be achieved … when you spend on average $7,000 using your PC Financial® Mastercard® in combination with the PC Optimum™ loyalty program…”
Right. * After * you have charged $7000 on that card - at only the stores that are part of this program.
80% of which are owned by Loblaw Companies Limited.

Gas?
When you charge to your PC Mastercard, you get 10 points for every litre you buy.
If you *redeem* 4000 points, you get 10 cents / lire off that one purchase (max 40 litres). 
Four dollars. 
To *get* this, you have had to purchase 400 litres already, having spent (in Shelburne) an extra $40 - over going 400 metres to the PetroCan. 
The ‘points’ themselves? The PC Optimum web site places the value of 10,000 points at worth $10 as general merchandise value.

Mind you, Shelbune is ** still ** home to protest rallies against the Liberal / ** TRUDEAU ** government. You know : ‘Forced’ wearing of masks during the COVID epidemic. Anti-vaxer’s. Climate Change Denial. 

Elbows up?
Not when you are too stupid to do basic math.


1 )  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loblaw_Companies
 

2 ) https://www.pcoptimum.ca/  

(quotes in italics and conversion rates from that web site) 

Screwed over on House Insurance

( this is a very long text)

This process started because my current insurance company (Edge Mutual) on renewal (after 12 years), was increasing the policy cost over double that of the previous year - for no stated reason beyond ensuring company profits.
I have held home insurance for over 40 years, with only one small claim (theft) in 1989 (on my home in Toronto). I have paid out tens of thousands of dollars for insurance company profits over those decades.

I contacted and received quotes from a total of 14 different insurance companies. The identical description of the property was given to all, based on questions they asked :

( name / contact e-mail / contact phone)
( address)

(age)

Description : Residence
- construction date 1988
- detached
- two story
- wood frame construction
- wood siding
- 1600 square feet
- no basement / on concrete pad (1)
- one bathroom
- steel roof (‘about 2010’)
- attached garage / 3 car
- original electric / all copper / 200 amp / breakers
- primary heating / electric baseboards / upgrade completed 2020
- ** secondary airtight wood stove  / 3 face cords yearly ** (2)
- plumbing / copper / ABS waste
- septic / drilled well
- water header / electric / date 2017
- no pool or hot tub
- separate car port / two car / pole over driveway / steel roof
- outbuilding or shed / 96 square feet / steel roof
- (deck @ 400 square feet / roofed, only a few asked)

- distance to fire services / 12.5 km in Dundalk / pond on property
    (no available fire hydrants?) (3)
- smoke detectors on each floor
- no bugler alarms
- no off site monitoring

- no smokers
- no dog (?)
- employment / retired
** home business ? ** (4)
- no mortgage
- no line of credit or liens (5)
(permit ‘soft’ credit check? = yes)
- how long resident - since 1989
- currently resident - yes
- how long insured / 40 years total, 35 this property
- any claims (5 - 7 years) - no / never any this property
- length of current company - 12 + years
- ever had insurance cancelled - no

There are some expansions :

1) No Basement / Water
I had to continually present an argument to have ’sewer back up’, ‘sump pump failure’ , basement flooding’, and ‘water invasion’ to have removed as a policy cost.
Septic system (no sewers)
No sump pump (house entirely at or above land surface)
No basement (da…)
Water evasion? Anyone who has ever been here knows the property, and the land around it is basically dead flat. The tiny stream at the rear of the property, even at spring flood, is at best 2 feet deep, by summer that is barely 1 foot. In a trench at least 8 feet deep. About 150 feet from the walls of the building. This within about 10 km of the swamp headwaters of that stream. I maintain it is basically *impossible* to be subjected to ‘water invasion’ here.

2) Wood Stove
None of the companies will offer a policy that covers a wood stove without a current WETT certification. The major part of this is checking that the manufacturer’s listed clearance allowances match what is physically provided.
The stove we have was purchased second hand some point about 2000. As such it does not have a fixed metal plate manufacturers listing. The small family business (WoodCraft by Norbell Furnaces in Etobicoke) is no longer in operation, or has any web information. As there is no data plate, the requirement for a WETT certification is ’48 inches clearance in all directions’. This is clearly impossible (available floor space is only 9 feet wide).
It is unclear to me if the installation is also required to be by only a ‘certified installer’. Of course I had done the installation myself. I had also installed the chimney, in the early 1990’s. This is R2000 insulated, double wall, stainless, done to the standards published at that time. I have been told (unofficially) that it no longer conforms to code. Partially because I welded up the supports out of heavy steel bars, rather than using the thin sheet metal versions you purchase. 

It is extremely frustrating as the WoodCraft stove looks virtually identical to the Drolet Spark 2, save with a sold cast iron door ( https://www.homehardware.ca/en/spark-ii-epa-wood-stove-black/p/5530902 )

For this reason we have pulled out the existing wood stove.
Most of the quotes provided were offered with the wood stove premium included however.

2) Only one company asked about this specifically, this Desardins based in Brampton. The agent seemed to have problems understanding what a * rural * property was. Then I was asked several times if I ‘ had registered for a water tanking service ‘? In conversation it became clear that the agent had never been further outside an urban centre in Ontario than once to Barrie.

3) Home Business
I had answered truthfully when asked ‘What is your Employment Status’, the truthful answer here is at this point I am fully retired. Yes, I chose specifically NOT to volunteer any more. This included specifically NOT making any statements about PAST activities I have undertaken.
A couple of the agents asked  * additionally * ’Is there a home business in operation?’ The truthful answer to this is ‘Yes’. Kelly’s own Elfwork Studios operates from our home in Wareham. I stressed that Kelly maintains her own, entirely separate business registration (legally required) and holds entirely separate business liability insurance (required to take part in craft shows).
- (importantly) not her primary income  / no direct sales from home
- work is “costume jewelry and sheet metal (tin plate)”
- no hosting of clients at home
- no wholesale production
- only sales at remote locations / craft shows
One company, this Co-Operators in Dundalk, pressed for more description of the raw materials, and expressed concern when I said ‘semi-precious’ stones. (In retrospect I should have said ‘base metals’, but by that point it was clear that the agent had no idea what I was saying.

4) Loans?
(More a commentary)
To my very great surprise, NOT ONCE was I asked if I had any outstanding *loans*. Just mortgage and line of credit. Car loans, which easily can be $50K or more, were never asked about?? Or outstanding credit card debt either for that matter.
Each wanted permission to make a ’soft credit check’ (what ever that entails).


Now, it became clear as this effort continued that individual companies are all using some version of ‘replacement value’ as an estimation of what amount of insured value they are willing to supply. The days of ‘purchase an amount’ are clearly gone. You either take what they estimate or get nothing.
Obviously the higher the recovery amount, the higher the yearly costs. However, this has descended to a form of ‘brick for brick’ cost. This is clearly NOT the cost of replacing the same *described* building (in this case, two story frame, on concrete, wood siding, 1600 square feet), plus 3 car garage. Yes, I do understand that ‘demolition’ costs do need to be considered.
- As you look to the actual quotes and valuations returned you will see MASSIVE differences on the ‘values’ estimated - from an identical description.
- It also is clear that many of these ‘estimates’ were exactly duplicates of the general *current real estate market price* for similar properties for sale in lower Grey County right now.

General provisions for all (unless noted)
- Deductable = $1000
- Liability = $2 M
- no sewer back up or overland water evasion
- prices without tax


Ostic (broker) - current
Jake Lubin
Fergus
800-551-3651
jlublin@theosticgroup.com
Quote via Edge Mutual
$637 K replacement value
$3615 (includes stove)
OR
$510 K replacement value (80%)
$2928
(Note : This is an increase doubling the cost of that same insurance from last year. When a quote copy *finally* arrived (after 4 weeks!) there was an accompanying letter stating the reason home premiums were increasing was because of losses because of BC fires and Quebec ice storms. This despite huge profit taking during previous years? This is clearly a greed based cash grab. Rejecting this was what started the whole process. It is worth noting here that the ‘replacement value’ here is actually *lower* than that provided by CMR / SGI, which has *half* the premium cost!)


Those in italics are not viable for obvious reasons,

The final choice :
CMR (broker)
Rebecca Matches, CAIB, CIP
365 Queen Street, Box 479, Paisley, Ontario, N0G 2N0
Phone: 519-353-5190 EXT 214 / 1-800-282-1915 / Fax: 519-364-7209
rmatches@cmrinsurance.com / info@cmrinsurance.com
Website: www.cmrinsurance.ca
Quote via SGI Insurance
$661 replacement value
ID theft
voluntary Medical (?)
$1561 ($1622 with stove)
Quote via HD mutual
$661 replacement value
$1741 ($1802 with stove)
(requires 12 km from fire?)
recommended by David - a niece Worth noting however communications are often difficult / delayed.

INTACT
Mississauga
844-989-3775
$748 replacement value
liability $1 M
$3800
(concern over Elfworks ‘semi-precious’ stones)

Co-Operator’s
Paul
Dundalk
519-986-3353
will not cover
‘not based on building shape’
forge (from e-mail?)

Belair
Charlyne
Ottawa 833-849-3004
888 280.9111
service@belairdirect.com
Quote 33105520
$499 replacement value
$1160
liability $1M
ID theft
replacement stove requires WETT
suggestion that they enroll new at low rate, then increase later

Desjardins
Kanisha
Brampton
866-710-4760
877-699-9923
Quote UCK0NVB8
$505 replacement value
$1480 (with stove $1640)
extremely poor customer reviews, mainly in not paying after damages?

Sonnet
(on line only)
no response

Crewson (broker)
Donna Stoner / Steve Gallaugher
Mount Forest
800-392-1151
donna@winfinancial.com
will not cover
‘lack of railings on upper deck’
** Recommendation : Take Edge at 80% **

Josslin (broker)
Todd Wilson (169)
Listowell
888-567-7546
toddw@josslin.com
will not cover
condition of *new* carport / sculptures considered ‘poor housekeeping’??

Humberview (broker)
Ryan
Toronto
416-531-4647
PENDING / 6 weeks later no return

Halwell Dumfries (broker)
Laurie Kelly
Shefield
laurie@hdmutual.com
519-621-4660
HD Mutual
will not cover = the Wareham Forge
(from Neil)
This despite the fact that the business effectively shut down in 2023 - and I consider myself retired at this point (at best I work less than most ‘hobby’ smiths)

NFP (broker)
Durham
Brylen
519-986-4651
via Intact ??
(had been directed from Economical)
570 K replacement
$1820

CAA
?? via internet
Eric
546 K replacement
$2640
c002624838

Aviva
?? via internet
844-872-3816
Andrew
520 K replacement
$1602
(extreme hard sell)
(current auto insurance)


The estimated replacement cost for the same home were vastly different. The lowest was $500,000 / the highest was $750,000.  
The resulting quotes were wildly different. The lowest was $1160 (for $500K) / the highest was $3800 (for $750K). Individual companies using the same average replacement costs had differed by as much as $1000 in premium quote.
 

In several cases it was clear that the companies involved just did not want to cover a rural location home, providing some kind of artificial reason. (I got quite angry when, after seeing an image of our side yard, one broker decided my metal sculptures represented 'an unacceptable hazard'.)

As a consumer, I consider these irregularities in valuation and cost illustrate a major problem with the entire insurance business.

'Tea Pot' type glass bead furnace test...

Hypothetical Norse glass bead making furnace

Over the weekend of June 29-30 I undertook a participant demo of one of many possible furnace designs constructed primarily by Neil Peterson, who is the project lead for DARC's research into Norse glass bead making. 

see Neil's research documentation on the DARC web site : https://www.darkcompany.ca/beads/index.php

There is considerable evidence of the use and form of Viking Age glass beads themselves, common in most Norse archaeology. There are a number of well documented bead production sites, the one at Ribe, south Denmark quite extensive. Debris at Ribe includes starting raw glass, various production elements, flawed and broken beads.

Recovered raw glass, partial products, broken beads - Ribe Museum (2008)

The bulk of our research work has focused not as much on the creation of duplicate patterns from specific artifact beads, but on the equipment actually used to work the glass in the first place. As it turns out, there are only a very few 'hearths', potential furnace base plates, and no surviving actual furnaces. (1)

One of the furnace designs we have repeatedly tested is what is called a 'tea pot', basically a dome shape with a top spout. Filled with charcoal and provided with bellows air, this creates what in effect is a charcoal fired 'torch', where you work the glass just above the spout.

Original hypothetical layout for a 'tea pot' furnace

Builds using this layout have proved successful in terms of proving adequate heat, a continuing problem has been with ash from the charcoal marring the surface of the beads. Also this ash scarring is seen on some artifact beads, our attempts have most commonly have considerably more of this flaw.

Details of the specific build used over June 28-29 

This furnace had been constructed earlier by Neil. Composition was a mix of powdered clay, course sand and dry shredded horse manure (a variation on our standard mix, but exact proportions unknown).

The overall size was determined by the refractory plate used as a base, cut to 35 cm diameter and about 1 cm thick. Part of the experimental test was determining the resulting burn pattern on the base after repeated firing cycles. 

(images below taken after use cycle)

outside diameter = 32 cm

top port diameter = 4 cm

overall height = 35 cm (irregular)

base section height = 22 cm (rear) by 18 cm (tuyere) 

chimney top height = 14 cm

base to centre tuyere = 13 cm

charcoal fill above centre tuyere = 7 cm (within base section) 

furnace sections inverted to show interiors

interior diameter at base = 25 cm 

average wall thickness = 3 cm

interior diameter at base top = oval 13 wide by 14 deep (from tuyere side)

A similar sized 'Aristotle' furnace, mounted much the same as the bead furnace under discussion was, showing bellows position on the sand table forge. Rey Cogswell seen operating the bellows

 

Generally this furnace is somewhat on the small size, at least in terms of overall height. A particular problem proved to be the location of the tuyere mounting hole. This was cut fairly high up on the furnace wall, with proportionally more room for charcoal bellow the tuyere centre point (13 cm) than above this (only 7 cm) when the base section was filled with fuel. In past small furnaces it has been found that with the (also largely hypothetical) Norse twin chamber 'blacksmith's' sized bellows used, (2) the effective 'ball of heat is about 10 - 15 cm diameter. Because the bellows / sand table forge combination that was used to mount the furnaces is intended for a much lower tuyere point (flat angle into a bellows stone at about 8 cm), it proved necessary to set the bellows up on a pair of 14 x 14 square wooden blocks. This gave the tuyere a starting down angle of roughly 15 ° down angle (rough, measured by eye). Because the bellows could not be tied down as normally done, coupled with the relative inexperience of the various participant users, the air blast was actually constantly shifting. All combined, this meant that the volume of ignited charcoal above the air blast was significantly less than with other previous furnace builds.

The charcoal fuel used was an on hand but previously untested brand : Extra Charcoal, a company based in Laval Quebec. This material has source and type only given cryptically as "Made in South America". (3) The charcoal was significantly denser and physically harder (more difficult to break) than the oak (Royal Oak) or maple (Maple Leaf) normally used in the past. This fuel had not been previously broken for size down to 0.5 - 2.5 cm pieces as done for other tests. Instead it was used 'right out of the bag', although some attempt was made to take only the smaller pieces. A smaller amount of previously sized oak charcoal was on hand, and mixed in with the Extra brand. 

Results

Over the two days, new workers made/attempted roughly 8 beads, with two previously skilled workers (Rey Cogswell and myself) made another four. There was only about a 50% 'finished success' rate (whole bead removed from mandrel). This primarily due to the lack of any significant annealing process on forming (simple air cooling). 

Two finished beads made by myself - 1/4 inch grid

 

In use this combination furnace - and charcoal fuel was found to just barely produced the temperatures required for working the soft glass on hand. Although it did prove possible to wind up the starting core spirals, getting the glass hot enough to contract into spheres and controlling centering via gravity slumping proved tedious. Attempts to add decoration (lines and dots were applied) proved 'just possible' and difficult to control. All of this because the temperatures produced were found to be marginal for the glass working.

The surfaces of all the beads made were severely marred with ash scarring, the worst level seen for any of the (considerable) previous work using various charcoal fired bead furnaces. When the top spout/lid section was removed after a firing sequence, the charcoal was found to be covered with a very heavy ash layer. Although this was a light powdery ash, the effect visually was similar to what is seen with the use of charcoal briquettes. 

The combination of the reduced charcoal burn load (volume above air input), combined with the extremely high ash content of this specific charcoal brand, resulted in less than ideal operating conditions for effective glass bead making. When combined with the unacceptable level of ash scarring, the aspect of actual production is not considered successful.

The furnace base, scarring after use. Tuyere location was to middle, left hand side.

The most important result of this test was the effect on the refractory plate base. The total firing time during bead making attempts was very roughly 6 hours (figuring roughly 30 minutes per making cycle x 12 beads) This would have been the burning using bellows forced air. The furnace also underwent two burning down sets, one each day, when any remaining charcoal was allowed to combust naturally to 'cold' overnight. 

Although there are most certainly major problems (charcoal effects, overall furnace layout) in assessing the resulting burn pattern on the base plate, hopefully this experiment may be of some value in assessing the burn scarring observed on the very few artifact bead furnace bases recovered?

Notes:

1) for Neil's collected list of described archaeological remains : https://www.darkcompany.ca/beads/arch.php?submenu=B

2) For a description of this bellows unit - and the logic behind the re-construction, see : https://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/bellows-reconstruction-2.html

3) The supplier's web site (in French, via translator) does not provide any information as to the actual wood species or country of origin. An attempt was made (ongoing ? 3 days) to contact them directly via e-mail for this information. A major concern, given the vague 'made in South America' is that this charcoal is actually the result of Rain Forest clearing - a major environmental problem.

Contemporary (?) TV series...

Some observations : On television productions - What works for me

We don't get commercial TV here. Our internet connections generally too slow to allow for the current high definition streaming services like Netscape. Sorry Disney, I refuse to pay for a subscription for a 'service' I can't effectively use - then pay again to watch a single film (case for 'Black Widow' which I would have paid $20 to view at home). So I have become an active pirate of free downloads of older programs, lower quality. Obviously seriously 'behind the times'. Although this has included a lot of movies, over the last couple of months our evening viewing has been working through one per night of several series. I am most interested in solid writing and solid acting. Aaron Sorkin, Joss Whedon, Barbara Hall.

One of these is Grey's Anatomy.
I have always liked medical related drama (remember E.R. from 20 years ago?). This week we hit season 7 episode 18, 'Song Beneath the Song'. 

Now I appreciate that many viewers at the time were thrown by the style developed over several previous years of episodes. To state my own bias, my limited exposure to the inner workings of theatre and actors has made it clear that the vocal abilities required in that trade does in fact lead may actors to have basic, if not quite good, singing voices. (One of my favourite Buffy episodes was 'Once more with Feeling'.)

Truthfully, given the story arc leading into 'Song Beneath the Song', I was already emotionally invested. 

Then you hit the critical surgical procedure crisis, underpinned by 'How to Save a Life' (originally by the Fray)

 

The version seen above is a clip straight from the episode, the action and dialog foremost. For the cast music alone (with lyrics). 

This sequence in the episode is so strong, it is hard for me to imagine that producer / writer Shonda Rhimes did not have it in mind as the core of that story right at the inception. I have to admit, that piece did (and continues) to break me up.

We are working through right now the far lesser known 'The Nevers', created by Joss Whedon. Despite the controversy about Whedon's behaviour on set, I have enjoyed (viewed as favourites) almost everything Whedon has created. (I had already seen the first Part one grouping of six episodes, it took a long while to find an effective download for the balance, a total of only one season / 12 episodes unfortunately.)

Although older, and something I had viewed in entirety before, the fourth series in rotation right now is Barbara Hall's 'Madam Secretary', which ran originally from 2014 - 2019. Into season five, which aired Fall 2018 through Spring 2019, it becomes more and more clear that imagined formal statements issued by lead character Elizabeth McCord (as US Secretary of State) are direct commentaries of the antics of then president Donald Trump. There are direct echoes here of Arron Sorkin's writing for 'The West Wing' (which remains one of, if not the most, favourite series dramas of mine).

 

Taken altogether, especially given the quite different settings and themes of these three currently viewed programs (and considering past favourites including The Expanse, Firefly, Defying Gravity, The Newsroom), I started wondering just what is was about these particular fictions that impact me so deeply.

It is clear on reflection that what makes these series 'work' for me is a combination of excellent writing combined with effective actors. Actor' ability is especially important for the science fiction settings. If the actors themselves do not believe the characters, no amount of special effects or elaborate props can make the story seem 'real'. (Why gave up on 'The Madelorian' after the third episode and was extremely displeased with the pathetic attempt of 'Halo'.)

For the modern drama, it remains much the same. Because of the strength of the performances, those characters seem 'real'. The writing is complex and nuanced, with issues illustrated with weight (even in the case of 'Grey's Anatomy', where face it, the personal relationships of late 20's somethings are the flow). In the case of the political stories, I just want so much for those people to be behind the workings, not the clown car we actually do have in control. Jed Bartlet for President (which actually was a real, if tongue in cheek, movement during the second George W. Bush election in 2004).

Another core quality to so many (if not all) of these series is the obvious fact that the creators and writers, despite the narrow vision of controlling senior executives, are driven by a story they want to tell. Not merely just placing bums in the seats and so appeasing short attention spans of the mass of viewers. (See any of the recent crop of Disney's Marvel Studio for an obvious example of failures in writing, acting and pure pursuit of dollars.)

I am reminded (often) by Kelly that 'They are not making these for you.' Given my activities to circumvent paying subscriptions (despite the clear fact they are not functional here) or movie tickets (Honestly, almost consistently 'I'm glad I did not pay for that turkey' results) (1), this is most certainly a fair criticism.

 

1) However, given my current income effectively is only 3/4 of the current minimum working wage in Ontario, I expect a bit more for what works out to two hours 'income' for that movie ticket (considerably more considering the cost of gas to even get me the 150 km up and back to the closest movie house).

Women Become Wise…

 So here is a thing.

Looking to Old Norse culture ( a place I spend a lot of time ) you see a pattern (?). Old men are still expected to keep up with the young wolves, their declining physical abilities are considered more detrimental than the value of any accumulated experience. First out into the snow should times get tragically hard. (As my gang in DARK are often to remind me.)

Older Women on the other hand…

Continue to be valued and preserved for their accumulated * wisdom *.

Ok, this is most certainly a sweeping generalization and mis interpretation. But those reading here ‘of an age’ have also likely seen a pattern emerging that has struck me more and more of late, especially with my own personal increasing decrepitude. I have many male friends who are skilled, experienced and knowledgeable (all different qualities, of which I have expanded on here and other places). But it is my female friends who constantly impress me with their accumulated wisdom. Which most certainly exceeds my own. 

Thank you, those Wise Women who may read this. (You likely know who you are, so naming of names is not needed.) I’m often smart enough to vaguely frame a pattern, but so often quite unable to grasp any solutions. 

(Apologies to the original photographer and model of the image used above, scammed randomly off the internet.)

the News from Wareham...

tabloid style

Brother Garth Gloats!
So far this March, there have been at best only two days with anything like Spring like weather. Temperatures continue to hover around freezing, light snow and icy rain continue. Currently it is plus one C with about one centimeter snow overnight. Wareham resident Darrell is glad he still has lots of firewood stacked up, but getting sick and tired of daily chopping and stove lighting. (Readers should know that brother Garth is currently living in Indonesia, and regularly sends back images of palm trees and beaches.)

Fall Expedition Plans!
Air tickets purchased for late August to mid September trip to south west Ireland and Isle of Skye in Scotland. This long delayed trip for Darrell and Kelly includes the Catherconnell Furnace Festival in County Clare, the European Archaeology Assn. conference in Belfast (still tentative), and the completion of the Turf to Tools project at south west Skye (via Edinburgh). A total of 25 days in all. House sitter from August 21 through September 14 being sought.

Academic papers to presentations!
Self described 'independent researcher' Darrell has had two lecture presentations accepted for upcoming conferences. The first is for the Experimental Archaeology Conference 13, Tuesday May 2 (session 9B.1) : " 'Look at the BONES! Adding bone to a bloomery iron smelt" This video presentation can viewed online (for free!). The second is for the European Archaeology Assn. 2023 conference (session #729, exact date to be determined, between Aug 30 - Sept 2) : "Experiment, Archaeology & Art - The Turf to Tools Project". This session most likely also to be delivered via online video.

Chained to the computer!
February and March has seen Wareham resident Darrell huddled daily by his computer keyboard, most day for for to six hours (or more). The paper 'Look at the BONES!' has been completed to first draft form (including the endless seeming task of checking footnotes). A number of grants have been prepared and submitted to the Canada Council in hopes of some financial support for the upcoming Ireland / Scotland projects.

'Another days worthless energy spent'...
And it is that time of the year for the (often depressing) task of completing and submitting income tax details to Revenue Canada. When questioned about taxes specifically, Darrell said " It is such a pain, and seems such a worthless exercise. I always end up with a splitting headache. 2022 had one of my largest recorded gross incomes from the Wareham Forge over 35 years of operations. After operation expenses, even with my OAS, I still did not end up with a personal income that hit the poverty line. Hardly enough to even have to pay any income tax."

Cheese saves the day!
In Wareham, good quality cheese is on the menu. Kelly continues to work one or two days a week at the local cheese and specialties food store in nearby Flesherton, which is helping her finances through the dry period in theatre contracts over the winter months. Extremely icy road conditions around Grey County have intruded however, for two Saturdays in a row she has had to turn around and carefully limp home when driving was just not safe. Blame those continuing late winter weather!

Return to the Forge?
The Wareham Forge is now undertaking a high school co-op program, with 16 year old Ryan working at the shop three days a week. Ryan is from Thornehill (about an hour's drive away), so the arrangement is that he typically comes up Monday mornings and stays at Wareham through to end of work day Wednesday. Nights he bunks out in the 'Wendy House' and provides his own meals. So far the normal day for him has discussions / lectures in the shorter mornings, with forge instruction in the afternoons. He is give some time (typically 3:30 - 5:00 pm) to work on this own projects as his skills develop. Taken all together, this is more like a short apprenticeship than the typical 'busy work' provided in other co-op placements. Ryan will continue through to the end of June, with hopes of accumulating four, 110 hour, course credits.

Cabin Fever!
" The weather sure is not helping." say residents Darrell and Kelly. Darrell especially has been spending almost his entire days over this winter in the main room upstairs in Wareham. "Mother Nature has been an absolute tease this year, when she is not being a stone cold bitch, but who can blame her? Ryan's presence here for the last two weeks since his placement started has helped some. COVID remains a reality, as much as more and more people try to pretend it has somehow faded away" said Darrell, " I am SO looking forward to actual warm spring weather! "

 

Written as a response to a request for current news from my middle brother Garth, who yes, did taunt me (if unintentionally) with a dozen images of his own situation right now.

10 Lines - 'Golden Age...'

 

Looking back, we all realized it had been a golden age :
 

As we had moved southward into those wide open plains, it was clear the animals had never seen a human hunter before, the large game falling to our spears so easily we could choose only the best cuts of meat.
 

The floods came so predictably every spring, our new crops harvested to surplus every year, allowing some to not even farm at all, learning instead to shape clay and metals beyond merely functional, into intricate art works.
 

Copper begat bronze which begat iron, as our leaders became kings, organizing the building of stone monuments to rival the works of the gods themselves.
 

Our roads spanned the landscape, with our iron clad Legions enforcing the Pax of Empire and allowing ease of communication, trade and travel for our Citizens.
 

Using our water powered mills we built stout ships while we looked to the sun and stars, braving with confidence the open ocean to spread our rule using Guns, Germs and Steel over what we now knew was a sphere.
 

The universe itself became a clockwork toy, our mechanisms breaking forever our bondage to the land, crowding us into cities, into factories, while the chosen few lived a life of ease.
 

First through steam, and the power of electricity, our machines drove Empires on which the sun never set, allowing the Educated Gentlemen to explore and catalogue and ponder.
 

Dreams shown on flickering screens drove aspirations of material wealth beyond the wildest imaginings of even a generation before, while education and medicine became the norm as the ‘have nots’ strove to become just as wealthy as the ‘haves’.
 

We broke beyond the bounds of the Earth itself, watching on tiny screens, each holding more information than had even existed in our parent’s youth, while fully expecting stores stocked high with cheap goods from all corners of the globe and foods wildly beyond natural seasons or limits of geography.

Spread of Covid (10 lines ? F)

(with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)

Hello virus, not my friend
You’ve come to infect me yet again
Because a version newly creeping
Through all the friends that I am keeping
And the variant that is worrying my brain
Still remains
Within the spread of COVID

Through empty malls I walk alone
Without a mask I still will roam
‘Cause of course it remains my Right
Against a shot I intend to fight
When it’s clear the vax still ain’t tested and it’s all just
A Liberal plot
I’m not gonna die of COVID

And on Fox News I’m sure I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without knowing
Repeating Facebook without fact checking
People thinking that the starlet is smarter
Than any PHD
And they will not catch COVID

“Fools” said I, “You surely know
Compliance is how that COVID grows.
Forget what Science could teach you
Your bible tells you all you need to
Stay pure, while those unfaithful fall!
Only seniors are getting COVID “

And the people bowed that prayed
To the orange haired god they made
And twitter flashed out his warning
In the text that he was forming

And Facebook said, “The cure for COVID
Is found in horse diet pills
Or by drinking Draino, still
Maybe we all, will still get COVID

Photo by Sergio Flores/Getty Images

 

Not sure if this strictly counts as part of the '10 lines' exercise?

Spawned by the second to last verse...

Image stolen after a general internet search :

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4agz9n/my-body-my-choice-doesnt-apply-to-coronavirus-covid19

Snow Plow (10 Lines E)

There are sounds that always seem somehow Canadian, winter sounds.

Not the joyful yell of ‘Car!’ from street hockey players, which in truth can be heard in spring and fall, and sometimes well to the South, where backyard rinks are known.

It is that low grumble, as much felt as heard, slowly building in the far distance, the groan of the snow plow.

It is understood that those American states bordering the 49th also know this, but outside of perhaps those confined in apartment blocks, there will not be a Canadian who does not know what that grinding noise means.

It wakes you, in that grey partial light of early dawn, a warning that you had better plan for the time getting the driveway clear and give yourself extra for your morning travel to work.

You can hear that distant rumble, growing ever louder, which always seems to happen only when you have just spent a back breaking hour to finally get all that snow cleared away from your drive way, and always coming towards your side of the road.

Just as well known, if not sonic, is the line of traffic crawling along, behind a man made blizzard from trucks clearing highway lanes, which always seems to happen when you are already running late.

Paradoxically, the lack of that crunching reminder can mean cancelled trips, signifying ‘It must be bad, even the plow hasn’t been around yet’.

As much as resigned annoyance may be cast their way sometimes, those drivers are the un-recognized backbone to travel over our long winters, allowing drivers to (mostly) forget they still do live in a landscape otherwise covered in snow.

As much as I try to remember this, I too often exhibit that most Canadian of attitudes, questioning why they still have not come around to my rural back road, then cussing the snow plow that re-buries the end of my drive.

image
https://dissolve.com/video/CLOSE-Truck-plows-snowy-country-road-during-horrible-royalty-free-stock-video-footage/001-D519-136-051

Running Quiet ?

 Regular readers may have noticed a lack of new commentaries here over the last month.

There has been a lot of 'desk work'. Which has been using up (limited?) brain power.

The first major project underway is consultations with Parks Canada on mounting a 10 day training program for the (manly new) staff at L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC. This includes preparing a working budget, session timetable with individual descriptions, at least outlining the logistics details of getting out there, time on the ground, then returning. The program involves three experienced members of DARC, and will cover general material culture and history of the Viking Age, living history interpretive methods, plus a slate of hands on skills.

Related to that project has been preparing recommendations and costing for replacement / extended replica woodworking and blacksmithing tools for use in the Encampment presentation there.

Readers will have seen the number of separate semi academic articles generated over the last six months detailing the ongoing experimental archaeology based on the bloomery iron site at Hals in Iceland (a series started in 2007). I was asked to contribute a paper to the upcoming volume 'Can These Bones Come to Life? : Insights from Reconstruction, Reenactment, and Re-creation'. The full text came to some 13,000 words, from which a second (slightly) smaller version was also prepared. The due date here was Dec 15. 

Earlier in the Fall, I was asked to become one of the chapter leaders for another book under preparation, 'Visiting the Past, A Reenactment Handbook', specifically the section dealing with 'Crafts - Making Objects'. Here I am working with two other well experienced interpreter / artisans as co-writers (this itself a new method for me). Although all that has been physically generated to date is a 500 word abstract, the process of working with a widely spread international team of writers has involved a large amount of raw discussions. Drafting out how to cover artifact to object,  through personal work, demonstration, to public participation while considering the huge range of possible mediums is a daunting task. Especially since our contribution limit is 5000 words.

In there earlier this month was undertaking my regular task of reviewing contributions to the EXARC Journal.

Just today, finished layout for the next quarterly issue of the Ontario Artisan Blacksmith's newsletter, the Iron Trillium. 

 

'We now return you to your regular programing...'

Remembrance Day (10 lines #3)

"... soon no one
will march there
at all. "


At what point do we ourselves become those tired old pharts, lost in dimly remembered stories, maybe which have some rambling point. but beyond the understanding of the oh so younger listeners?
Knowing full well that although our hearts are strong, our bodies no longer can carry the load out, our perceptions not quite sharp enough to protect us anymore.

This has been a rough three months for me, coming up to my 67th year.
Too much of small things that just seem too damn difficult, of afternoon naps, of trembling hands and stumbling words.
Maybe not so serious yet, but no longer able to keep up with my friends, all almost a decade younger.
Having finally gotten all the tools and toys - just about the time I can hardly effectively use them.

Hearing just now the average age of the so few remaining WW2 veterans is into their 90's.
Doing some math and realizing I now would only be the very youngest of the Viet Nam era soldiers that shaped my own perceptions.

Watching a culture shaped by internet experts and politically correct everything increasingly not understanding why we need to Remember and ponder, at least for an hour, one day a year.

Has it *ever* been 'never again'?
Or more like the message has always been 'make it count'?

As we each, separated, but in spirit, not alone, raise a glass.
'To Absent Friends'

 

 

Those who know me, also know that Remembrance Day has always been important to me. My own military service, although limited and brief, happened at a critical age, and has shaped me deeply. This was the early 1970's, and I had lied about my age to sign up to the Canadian Army Reserves. Just about the same month of the Fall of Saigon. Over the next four years, a number of my instructors, and latter one of my oldest and closest friends, had served in there. Which itself would shape my perceptions and character. 

Over the decades since, I've watched the controversy over 'The Day'. Largely from civilians so far removed that they just don't understand any of it. Watched the cycle of every twenty years, Never Again get submerged under 'It's good for Business', as another 'generation' of young innocents, nurtured on advertising / propaganda, become meat for the grinder.   

Seeing full well that major corporations, spewing waste to sell us endless crap, are engineering a future of human turmoil, where once again the young will be called upon into destruction, to support that very few who have it all. 

 

 

Sell Out (10 lines #2)

 

You can’t be serious, they actually will sell these resources to us?

Certainly, our analysis of the overall cultural matrix shows a consistent historic pattern of destructive exploitation, usually benefiting the personal greed of individuals, most commonly by more technologically advanced groups over those resident at the resource sites. 

Excellent, mounting an invasion is so time consuming, and the costs involved certainly adversely effect our own final profit taking. 

Further, there is no centralized authority, outside of their ‘United Nations’, which is in reality more like some kind of in-effective debating society, with little to no power to enforce decisions even if they are made. 

You mean we will be dealing with separate sub groups, making individual deals for each commodity and physical location?

Even better, they have this obscure concept about trade goods, fully expecting a short use life, coupled with rapidly modified designs based on what they call ‘latest style’. 

You are actually telling me we can exchange valuable raw materials for poorly made consumer goods, sure to fail?

Yes, and they have little appreciation for waste management, hardly are concerned about environmental degradation, and will be fully expecting fast depletion of any resources required in the production of these goods.

Really, we can even use sloppy manufacturing to make this junk, on their soil, then simply walk away from the mess once we have stripped the place?

I know, it is simply unbelievable, and to quote one to their own famous poets : 'What fools these Mortals be’!

Hardly a new concept - from 1964

I actually wrote this piece first, then in looking for something to use as an illustration, got thinking about Science Fiction I had read, way back in early high school. 'To Serve Mankind' first came to mind, then this one ...

The 10 Line Challenge' is to write a short story using only 10 sentences. The piece is formatted here so to make the sentence count clear. This (again) may be cheating just a little, as some of those lines are a wee bit on the long size. 

The first contribution was 'Globes'

Grasshoppers, Hunkering Down - and ‘Alas, Babylon’…

 This is a previously unpublished commentary written in April of 2020 - at the early stages of the COVID-19 lock downs. On showing the piece to some close friends, it was pointed out to me, given the general insanity of that time, that mentioning stockpiles and preparations to the outside world might not be so wise.

With some revisions - I thought it might prove of some value as 'historic perspective', now some 18 months since lock downs started here in Ontario. There has been a new section added, after the original set of reference notes.

Note - Some of the included links may have changed since this piece was originally written.

 

Grasshoppers, Hunkering Down - and ‘Alas, Babylon’…

Note : I started this piece on March 20, and things have evolved as it has been worked up. This essay may prove a bit more rambling than even my normal, as this is part documentary, part commentary - and a healthy dose of self therapy. 

On Hunkering Down *

One of the guiding principles of my life was born out of growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. The Cold War, with the very real fears of possible nuclear exchange. ( I don’t specifically remember the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 - I was just shy of 7 years old.) I do remember ‘Duck and Cover’ drills at school. ( 1 ) Partially because of growing up in Scouting, the concept of ‘be prepared’ has been a cornerstone for me. Being a member of the Canadian Reserves in my teens, just post Viet Nam, I was painfully aware of what might happen ‘If the Balloon goes Up’. ‘Grab and GO!’ became the concept : to quote Robert Heinlein, ‘The best way to avoid being killed by an atomic bomb - is not being in a city when the bombs fall’. ( 2 ) I have been a low level ‘Survivalist’ since way back. (I still keep a simple ‘Go Kit’ in the truck, these days mainly out of habit.) To temper this all however, my life’s experience has also proved ‘the disaster you prepare for is never the disaster you get’. So this has resulted in a kind of ‘Prepare it, Pack it, Forget it’ kind of method.

I have lived almost my entire life ‘below the poverty level’. My mom had been born in the early 1930’s into a working class family, with deep ties to dirt farming in the extended relations. So from both, came principles like ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ and ’work for it before you buy it’. I was 12 when my father abandoned the family, leaving my mother to raise 5 boys on her own. (Almost unheard of for a ‘middle class’ family in those days.) I grew up on what was called ‘Social Assistance’ back in those days. ‘Making Do’ and ‘Make it Yourself’ was standard. My mother was an exceptional household manager, and because of this, and through her constant hard work, we avoided many pitfalls of poverty. A line from Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living for the City’ certainly applied ‘…clothes were worn, but never were they dirty’. (3) There are a large set of skills I developed because of all that. Since I became a self employed artisan in 1992 things certainly have not improved much.
I have never felt comfortable if the pantry is not fully stocked with basic food and household supplies. Since moving to Wareham in 1989, this kind of extra storage has proved useful any number of times. Being in Lower Grey County means almost every winter at least two or three periods being snowed in from winter storms over several days. It is also the highest point in Ontario, and wind storms (often unrelated to snow) also result in similar length periods without electricity.
Although perhaps a bit excessive (see previous) the normal situation here is having 4 - 6 weeks of ‘normal’ food level stores. Before hitting the ‘emergency’ stockpiles. (4) On a typical year, my economic situation of the winter months (more like total lack of any income) tends to draw down the normal food stores over January and February.

Alas, Babylon

The week of March 9 - 13 was the tipping point for me. I had been following the developing situation with COVID-19, searching out science based information (W.H.O. / Johns Hopkins). ( 5 )
That week I had made two supply runs. Again the normal here is hitting Bulk Barn about once every three months for largely very basic items like flours, sugar, dried and salted. The last stop there had been early December (mainly Yule baking supplies). Tuesday March 10 I had gotten enough to fill the various bins and jars in the pantry, not really anything out of the standard. If this had not been a normal re-stock, I might have been a bit more thoughtful on a couple of things. Dry baking yeast as one thing (we had one open and one extra already on hand).
As that week progressed, I saw some potential for shortages and crowding coming up with March Break coming. Hand sanitizer had already effectively disappeared over the course of that week.
(Bear in mind here that the WHO would officially announce COVID-19 as a pandemic on Wednesday March 11.) I normally stay away from town or travel when all the ‘Weekenders’ flood into our area for any holiday period as is. So with this in mind I visited our local Foodland in Dundalk (only grocery within a 25 minute drive in any direction), about first opening on Friday morning. For me this really was more or less a ‘heavy two week’ assortment, in practice just filling all the spaces on our shelves. (6)

I got home later in the morning, Friday March 13, as the official cancellations started. No gatherings of more than 50. Schools were starting March Break anyway, but it sounded like re-opening was going to be delayed. At noon I got a call from Kelly, who was in Toronto on the first day of her spring contract at the Ballet. Cancelled. So we arranged for me to pick her up at Brampton GO, about 6 PM. That put us driving north up Highway 10, at what normally would be the end of rush hour. The traffic northbound was as dense as I’ve ever seen it. There was almost nothing coming south, again not normal for the start of March Break, when usually a lot of people are heading into the USA for warmer holiday destinations. The drivers were as erratic as I have ever had to negotiate (I had purposefully driven my much larger Jeep Cherokee, having weathered ‘holiday’ traffic insanity many times in the past.)

- We started our personal self isolation that day, March 13. Since that date, we have only left Wareham unless at least 14 days have passed (this partially to ensure our own infection clean status).  

- On March 25, the Government order was for no groupings over 5 persons - scheduled to April 8 initially. We made a supply trip out on March 26. On this outing, we started alcohol wiping after stops.
- On April 11, Ontario extended that closure order to April 23. We made our third supply run on April 14. On this outing, we started gloves and masks. (7)

Additional : By the time it was clear that this was NOT going to be a short term problem, we switched to even fuller isolation. Supply trips from about June 2020 have been made on a monthly basis, this primarily for food, with any hardware items waiting for those trips. Banking shifted over to either deposit box or electronic.
 

So here we all are…
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Canada#March_2020


Grasshoppers

It will not be a surprise to those who know me well that I am a big fan of John Ringo’s writing.
Given what is happening right now, (mid March 2020) with COVID-19, it is hard not to see echoes from two of his stories : ‘Under a Graveyard Sky’ and ‘The Last Centurion’.

The Last Centurion was published in 2008, and is a self contained tale about a unit of the American army, left behind in north Afghanistan as a perfect storm of severe climate change and pandemic sweeps over the planet. ( 8 ) Written in a very Robert H. Heinlein style, a big part of the background Ringo details in the early stet up part of the book concerns the actions of a basically delusional American president, who drifts further and further from reality.  Through this rapidly disintegrating national situation, ‘solutions’ are imposed, these based on a wildly distorted world view. The results are predictably a complete disaster.

Under a Graveyard Sky was published in 2013. This was the first novel in the continuing ‘Black Tide Rising’ series. Here the key plot mechanism is an artificially created plague that combines the transmission methods of influenza with the type of brain modification found in rabies. (Yes - effectively Zombies, but medically produced, not supernatural.) This first book covers the activities of a single (admittedly somewhat exceptional) American family as they navigate an escape from the resulting collapse of the USA. Putting to sea for survival, one of the major situations of the second half of the story are their attempts to find survivors locked down aboard a luxury cruise liner, otherwise filled with the ‘infected’.

As two additional pieces of reading in the ‘End of All Things’ genre, I mention ‘Alas, Babylon’ by Pat Frank (1959) and ‘Lucifer’s Hammer’ by Niven & Pournelle (1979).

Alas, Babylon is most certainly one of the classics, and still remains one of the best looks at collapse and enduring. Most certainly dated, it comes from a time of ‘limited nuclear exchange’ and well before a society dominated by the internet and complex electronics. (available as a free download)

 

* ‘Hunkering Down’
I guess I am officially now ‘some old guy’. I was very surprised recently on the comments that came up on FaceBook (ok!) when someone of my own ‘vintage’ used the term. And a pile of people started on ‘Who talks like that?’, and more significantly (to me) ‘What the heck does that mean?’.
For the millennials reading…

" Hunker Definition: To lower oneself into a squatting position; to hide, remain, or stay low; to get ready to do hard work; to stay firm to one’s principles.
The word hunker is attested from the year 1720 and is of Scottish origin. Where it came from is unclear, although some sources speculate that it might come from a Norse word meaning to crouch down.
Hunker Down - was a south-western US dialect form that was popularized by President Johnson in the mid 1960s "

1 ) Peterborough was considered a ‘third round’ target at that time. Canadian General Electric was the town’s major industry, and was deeply involved in the development of the CANDU reactor system.

2 ) Most likely from ‘Farnham’s Freehold’ - 1964 (Which I would have read for the first time, about 1970)
(available as free download)
Because of being loosely ‘tied in’ during the 1970’s and early 1980’s, I did get a couple of phone calls late at night warning me to ‘Bug Out’ .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_close_calls#1970s_and_1980s

3) Look, I am NOT suggesting my situation in an way compares to the grim reality forced on American Blacks in at the same time (late 1960’s and early 1970’s) as detailed in this song. But in the place and time I grew up, I certainly experienced the ragged edges.

4 ) Admittedly, much of the ‘disaster’ stores are pretty grim. Some of that stuff is in ‘little green cans’ dating back to the mid 1970’s! Boil in the bag camping meals. Some dehydrated foods, packed in cans, sealed in nitrogen (remnants of those paranoid years - that stuff will last forever). Bulk dried rice, beans, and even stranger stuff. Things you would never really want to eat, save in an absolute emergency - but that I’ll be happy to have, if it really ‘hit the fan’.
Note : Read the military experience? Training and supporting ‘equipment’ to ensure personal security is also on hand. Just in case anyone reading thinks attempting to rip me off is a good idea.

5 ) My first repeating of science based information (as reposted on to Facebook) :
- March 2 : Johns Hopkins : “Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flue”
- March 9 : World Health Organization : "Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)" (often revised)
- Starting about March 10, daily reading at CBC
- March 19 : ARCGIS : “Canadian Outbreak at a Glance” (real time revisions)

6) One of the humorous things here was toilet paper. It had been on sale for half price back on the previous grocery trip, about March 1. So I picked up two large packages back then. Neither of which would end up broached until considerably later, by the way. I heard from a neighbour who was into Dundalk on Sunday March 15 that over the two intervening days, the shelves had been cleared.
Our own use rate, two middle aged adults? One pack of 12 over the month of March 13 to April 14.

At the time, one of the things I certainly noted was that there was no similar run on 'feminine hygiene products' - which certainly suggested to me just who had been doing the panic buying.

7) It should be no real surprise that as artisan makers, both Kelly and I keep both disposable gloves and simple face masks in our workshops. Gloves for working with paints, solvents and acids. Masks mainly for dust (some wood dusts are toxic). Safety glasses and face shields obviously. Plus more heavy duty protective gear for working with more dangerous chemicals sometimes needed in our work.
See end of note # 4.

8 ) One of the important elements Ringo (correctly) introduces is the concept of ‘tipping points’. Not necessarily long slow incremental environmental changes, but more realistically a series of sudden and drastic weather events.
One of the huge ‘differences of opinion’ I have with Ringo’s underlying set up for the novel is his very definitely stated view that global warming is not in fact happening, and that human effect CO2 was in fact *delaying* a natural, and major, global cooling effect. His plot has plague reducing human activity, reduced activity stopping a cushioning effect, so the climate suddenly drops into another ‘Little Ice Age’
Wrong. Look out the window.
This hardly is the experiment we all wanted to run. But the current economic stoppage from COVID-19 isolation is forcing us to undertake the experiment. Hopefully someone is keeping records?


Addition - September 2021

On Privilege (a bit of a rant)

It has pointed out to me, many times over the period since March 2020, that I am somehow 'Privileged'.  In this, people are referencing the fact that I own my own home, that I live in the country, that I have stockpiled resources, that I have certain life skills. They so clearly are NOT referencing race or sex (and it most clearly can not be economics!)

Remember 'Be Prepared' ?

Yes, I am not living in a 15th story two bedroom apartment, with three kids, in downtown Toronto, working some MacJob. 

No one GAVE me my current situation. 

I. EARNED. THIS.

The first actual *vacation* I have ever had in my entire adult life was in February of 2019. I was 64 years old, and had been working constantly, full time, since 1979. Yes - I have had various working trips, where the projects themselves covered the travel costs involved. Yes, I got a travel grant in 2016 to go to Europe and Scotland - where I worked on a total of FOUR different projects.

I never owned an automobile before I was in my mid 30's. I have NEVER owned a vehicle less than 10 year old. I drive them until they get too broken to fix.

I 'shop at the dump'. Regularly. When do buy anything (outside of Wareham Forge supplies) I almost always buy at second hand stores. Even with groceries, a huge amount is 'short dated' mark down. Almost all my electronics are a decade old (or older).

By the time I was thirty, I had saved enough for a down payment on a house. A four room house at 450 square feet (so the size of a one bedroom apartment) on an equally tiny lot. When it was sold 4 1/2 years later, in preparation to purchasing at Wareham, it was the lowest priced house sale in Toronto that year. I managed to clear my mortgage for the property at Wareham in 2019 - after 30 years. 

Is being smart a Privilege?

Is being careful a Privilege?

Is being resourceful a Privilege?

Is working hard a Privilege?

Death of the Expert

 

Death of the Expert

(a bit ? of a rant !)

This is a slightly reduced / edited version of a commentary piece prepared for the current issue of the Ontario Artisan Blacksmith Association quarterly newsletter, the Iron Trillium.This segment follows directly from 'Life on a 3 x 6 inch screen'. If you have not done so, also read the initial background piece in a previous blog posting.

 

As Artisan Blacksmiths, Just who are we?

And what exactly is it that we do?

There are a number of reasons, personally, why this all has been at the forefront of my mind over the last couple of months. With the restrictions imposed by COVID, coupled with my own individual risk factors, the ability to (safely!) offer workshop courses at the Wareham Forge had simply ended. I turned 65 in November 2020, so have entered some kind of fuzzy ‘retirement’, (with at least OAS coming in to keep the lights on). Increasingly, I find myself looking back on to over 40 years at a forge at this point: from student, to hobbyist, to ‘artisan interpreter’, into a full time business (over 30 years).

I do appreciate that there will be a wide range of perspectives held by those reading this commentary (sorry, but mostly based on generational age).

So here are some things I’ve seen over March 2021 (!!) and why they concern me:

 

The spark (that set me off) was this. Honestly, not so much what this is - but how it was reported, and spread around.

This is a video, with no commentary, of some guy (from Sweden it turns out) who forged out a (not very good) Viking Age styled bearded axe. All working on a stone block and using hand held stones as hammers.

For why would you do this?

This video was distributed through a number of topic specific groups over Facebook that I see : Axes, Hatchets / Viking Blacksmithing / Viking News / Iron Smelters. Every time with a description like ‘Look! So Cool!!’. That last bit was the final straw for me. My comment to the Iron Smelters of the World group :

“ Look at ME! I did something!!' : Sorry, there is just too much historical distortion going on here. NEVER would have actually happened. (Please do not quote Africa) There is easily 1500 years of iron making and use in North Europe before the Bearded Axe. “

Here is the link to that video - go take a look and come back…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI6l2WqIlD0

• He starts with what looks like a roughly two foot long piece, of mild steel, a 1 x 1” bar. (As if this was available historically?)

• It certainly looks to me like he has metallurgical coke as his forge fuel (Not used in the same time period as the axe.)

• It also is clear he has an electric blower air source. (Electric blower - and rocks??)

It was pointed out to me : ‘He is just having fun.’ 

Ok - that is true, perhaps.

But that at core is not my problem here. It is the way this bit of silliness has been promoted, both from himself and most certainly by others. On quick examination, this fellow has over a dozen similar content videos (steel forged with stones) posted since November 2019.

This kind of presentation is entirely about a ‘cult of personality’. There is no information presented about What or Why, the details of How obscured. (1)

 

About two years back, there had been some discussions inside the OABA Executive about expanding our visibility on Facebook. This partially in light of the level of activity on this group ‘Canadian Blacksmiths and Bladesmiths’, which started in 2015. I do regularly check the additions there, and try (??) to be a ‘wise voice’ contributor.

Now, I have every reason to support the original intent of those who undertook the effort of starting this open 'discussion' group. Over the last two years however, I have seen a dramatic shift in both the offered content, and the level of discourse, exhibited there.

The joint impact of ‘Forged in Fire’ and the effect of COVID derived free time is clear. The group has become totally dominated by knife grinders. Deliberately chosen to distinguish those who cut and grind alloy bars and put handles on them. At this point about 50% of the contributions are illustrating this kind of work. (2) Further, more and more of the ‘contributions’ are little more than thinly disguised advertisements for direct selling.

This image was presented with the caption ‘One day’s production’. (2)

Think on this.

One. Day.

• There is absolutely no black smithing involved.

• There is almost no blade smithing involved. The only application of heat (implied) is through the heat treating cycle, which is suggested will be undertaken by the maker (at least not sent off to a commercial company).

• There is clearly considerable knife making (grinding) involved.

• But what is the *scale* of production? Where is the line that crosses between *hand* and *machine* made?

Is there any significant difference between a single person using industrial methods, or a larger factory with dozens of workers employing larger, but essentially the same, machines? Especially when the end product is a series of virtually identical objects? (Yes, I do understand there will be variations in handle materials, although those profiles are likely to be identical as well.)

Back to my starting premise : ‘The Death of Expertise’

I point you to a commentary by Tom Nichols, dated January 17, 2021. This posted to ‘the Federalist’, obviously a Right Wing slanted publication out of the USA. (bias in this article noted, ok?)

https://thefederalist.com/2014/01/17/the-death-of-expertise/

The main thrust of this piece is related to, admittedly, American democracy. But take this statement :

“ To reject the notion of expertise, and to replace it with a sanctimonious insistence that every person has a right to his or her own opinion, is silly.”

When I first made reference to that article, I happily got back a link to another commentary - one that points exactly to a shared involvement in blacksmithing. This is a video presentation by Allen ’Ronin’ Rozon, of Lames Original / Origin Blades from Saint Patrice de Beaurivage Quebec, a blacksmith and bladesmith. (3)

https://www.facebook.com/OriginBlades/videos/2596577493990874

Here is a discussion of roughly the same topic, but nicely broken down to : ‘those that watch from a distance’ (armchair expert), ‘those who directly experience’ (via demonstrations or courses), and ‘those who know’ (skills developed through massive repetition).

Now as blacksmiths ourselves, we all know (or should know) the difference between the ‘doer and the thinker’. How often have we all seen someone demonstrate a technique or an object, yet when attempting this ourselves suddenly realize just how difficult it is to accomplish? (Honestly, this has become an important guide for me. Any time I see someone doing something that looks ‘easy’, I attribute this to long hours spent acquiring skills - NOT to the simplicity of the task!)

Or is what is seen on YouTube (increasingly) just good video editing?

I’m going to follow this up with a trend I see increasingly with web sites recently : All Flash - No Substance.

The most recent trend on web sites is to bend entirely to the whims of the ‘lowest common denominator’.

• Minimalist layouts.

• Virtually no text.

• Obviously designed for that 3 x 6 inch phone screen.

• Business names, but the individual not identified (or name buried down into the site someplace at best).

• Lack of any description of related experience

Additionally, I see the use of a few, admittedly professionally photographed, objects being presented, instead of any attempt at detailing a large body of work.

I see ‘courses’ defined as being not teaching, but as ‘experiences’, with little description of the content, no mention of the facilities used, or who the instructor even is, much less what background they might have.

I personally have enough experience that I can see the huge distortions from what is intentionally not being made clear, allowing viewers to draw conclusions that do not represent the truth.

Look, I do understand I am a dinosaur (or at least remember seeing them). My concept of the internet comes from the period of it’s birth and development, when the fledgling web sites were mainly text with few (poor quality) images. When the intent of the whole thing was about sharing information. Before it all became about driving sales, or even worse, data mining personal details to allow individually targeted marketing. Increasingly it is clear that those endless ’SEO Specialists’ are driving the whole internet into mindless commercialism.

Just who are we?

And what exactly is it that we do?

And how do we explain this? 

 It is clear that the public perception of ‘value’ has become determined by effective visuals, and ‘authority’ by volume as indicated either ‘number of views’ or ‘frequency of posting’. It is also apparent that this perception has extended beyond the superficial glance of the general public, increasingly to those who have a more direct interest in our specific topic and area of work.

I’m going to suggest, from the perspective of 30 years involvement in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ sector, that this dumbing down of presenting work, a drive to ‘capture market’, is going to result in the general public also devaluing the work we all undertake.

What can we all, individually or as members of an Artisan Community, do about this?

Is it far too late to have any impact?

Or, do we even care?

Note : Many of the viewpoints here are presented in a dramatic fashion. This done intentionally to spark discussion. Feel free to criticize and offer alternatives.

The images seen here were pulled directly off open public postings on Facebook, Identifying names have been removed - for obvious reasons.

Notes / References

1) A deeper search revealed that this is all part of a doctoral thesis at the University of Gothenburg :

https://www.gu.se/en/about/find-staff/gustavthane

“ In my ongoing research, I make blacksmith tools; start with the tools given by nature, my own hands, stones and sticks, and then use the tools to make other tools, use those to make others etc. in four generations. “

He describes his experience as ‘making objects professionally for 10 years’.

Although I well understand the concept of what is now called ‘sole authorship’ in Fine Arts, I suggest that this kind of mixing of modern and ancient process as if this was some kind of valuable research is self indulgent (at best). The stated premise for this study is so full of holes, I can’t realistically understand how it was ever accepted as a formal thesis.

2) A (small) apology to the owner of this image. This intentionally un-named individual actually also does also create his own layered steel billets (via hydraulic press) and forge those (power hammer) into blade blanks, which he then finishes into knives. This is all top quality work, with excellent attention to detail.

3) Like an increasing number of people ‘Ronin’ choses to separate his Facebook identity from his professional / business identity.

https://www.facebook.com/OriginBlades

https://originblades.com