When your speed ometer stops working or your dash lights go out it can be helpful to moderate ones speed using other traffic. On days when I am paranoid it is difficult but sometimes, usually after over reacting three times I norice that it is my mind that is playing up again. After recognising this it is no longer helpful to trust my own judgement. I must place total trust in someone else then use their judgement. If they tell me I am reacting incorrectly to input, hard though it may be, I must submit to their judgement. If there is no trusted party handy I have to look to past experience of the parties upsetting me. I have to go on their track record and not on the issue at hand. This often happens on a Sunday where there is time to over think. The working speed of weekdays preclude too much introspection.
Is this how life is for everyone?
Sunday 28 October 2012
Saturday 27 October 2012
The Individual or the Tribe
One polarity that is evident now is where and when to be individuals and when to think of the species. Religion had been the glue that kept tribal loyalty and allowed us to sacrifice ourselves for the species, or at least our tribe. Though we now have left the superstition of religion behind we are still struggling to find a replacement. Currently we are beholden to the cult of the individual.
I have taken small steps in altering my working practice away from individuality and more in to the familial knowledge of craft and design to please others, not to please myself. Nelson planted trees to make future British ship fleets, he failed to guess technology would have moved on by now. The trees could now be harvested but sodden vessels no use. Still it is hard to think of examples of that kind of forward thinking taking place now. Mostly we plan no further than our own lives. Those who do are often guilty of following Dawkins in to over valuing the importance of furthering their own genetic lineage at the expense of the common good. People who have strong social values in their youth can separate off into nuclear families, closing themselves off to community, choosing private education and other exclusivity for their offspring. Social mobility is advanced by all mainstream political parties offering escape from ones background community rather than any attempt to improve the original environment. Ultimately there are only limited places at the upper material table and many could never get a seat. Evolutionary debates are currently taking place over whether the singular unit or the colony should be seen as central. The previous four decades of focus on genes may be missing something. The swarm may deserve a decade or twos attention as focus on the bee may have left the hive in a sorry state.
I have taken small steps in altering my working practice away from individuality and more in to the familial knowledge of craft and design to please others, not to please myself. Nelson planted trees to make future British ship fleets, he failed to guess technology would have moved on by now. The trees could now be harvested but sodden vessels no use. Still it is hard to think of examples of that kind of forward thinking taking place now. Mostly we plan no further than our own lives. Those who do are often guilty of following Dawkins in to over valuing the importance of furthering their own genetic lineage at the expense of the common good. People who have strong social values in their youth can separate off into nuclear families, closing themselves off to community, choosing private education and other exclusivity for their offspring. Social mobility is advanced by all mainstream political parties offering escape from ones background community rather than any attempt to improve the original environment. Ultimately there are only limited places at the upper material table and many could never get a seat. Evolutionary debates are currently taking place over whether the singular unit or the colony should be seen as central. The previous four decades of focus on genes may be missing something. The swarm may deserve a decade or twos attention as focus on the bee may have left the hive in a sorry state.
Friday 26 October 2012
Yew Poisoning?
I've read profusely on line regarding yews poisonous properties. Taxines being the group of chemical poisons found in most parts of the tree particularly the leaves and seeds. Small scale users such as turners, bowyers and carvers tend to pontificate far more than professionals who silently must know far more. Making a piece or in my case a series of pieces using the timber exposes the maker more than a single bowl. At the beginning of the current series of pieces I am currently making, bedroom furniture for a house on Exmoor, I bought a tree, planked up, grown somewhere on the long least estate. The tree must have been of moderate size, the planks were one and a half inches thick and variously twelve to eighteen inches wide. I can't recall my reaction to this first time. I was in an odd space and gave it little thought. When this ran out I bought a further five boards from interesting timbers. Yesterday a collected another four two inch thick boards from a tree that grew in Shropshire. A much bigger tree that has produced these clean pieces that are of far away the best quality of the lot. The guy who gave me them is a talented and productive woodworker who has used the timber in other parts of the house. Doors, kitchen doors, handles etc. he seemed happy to see it go. He has been quite I'll and suggested that dust from the timber maybe the cause. He too researched the poisonous properties of the dust and is the only other person I know who has worked the stuff to any great degree. The problem of finding decent information lies in the sources. On line there are hundreds of first person tales from hobbyists who have become affected during their crafting a single small item. No where can I find anything from a professional. Herein lies a problem. Workshop factories have joiners working in the dustyist ways possible, 24 7 , on MDF. None of these comment on it, choosing to grit their teeth and get on with it. All their knowledge, vast and untapped becomes lost as some hobbyist using half a sheet oncea year writes on line creating a stream of responses from his ilk. This becomes the 'truth'. So I ought to speak up on my responses to using yew, everyday pretty much for two years, (bar a gap of six months when I was off ill, as far as I know not down to yew dust poisoning)
When I returned to work I spent a few days sorting through the yew. It was covered in saw mill dust that had sat on it for years. Brushing this off, sawing it up, planing, thickness sing, routing it I must have inhaled a fair bit. I wear a mask but as anyone who does this for a living knows you can not wear a mask at all times. Dust gets in anyway. On a project of this scale you become immersed in the timber. Carrying large boards. Turning them over. Transporting them about. Your arms, legs, all muscles lift and shift the stuff. You are thoroughly exercised by its weight. You pant. Your body aches. You swim in a yew sea. My sinuses swelled up so I couldn't breathe other than through my mouth. This happens whenever I am exposed to dust of any type. Extraction works and dust masks help yet milling up invariably puts dust in the air. But it affected me no more than say ash dust does. What is odd is that the amount of Taxines in one board can be far more than in another. The first tree I used was far worse than the birds I milled up today. This must be down to the conditions the tree grows in.
There is some deep mythology around yew trees of pagan origin. Some of this may well be due to genuine medicinal properties. Taxine is the base of certain cancer medicines. It is believed that it is poisonous to animals, perhaps a reason it is left to grow in churchyards. But it takes 50 to 150 Grammies of leaves to kill a human. The seeds of the red berries contain Taxines however the red juicy flesh is ok yo eat.
At furniture college we were taught that cabinet makers, back in the day, we're paid an extra penny an hour to work with satinwood. We were told this was because it was a hard wood to work. We were never told, and I don't believe our tutor understood what this meant. David Oldfield, a friend of mine and a fine craftsman took on a commission to make a series of pieces in satinwood. Somewhere in the middle of this he walked in to my workshop. The back of his hands were one huge scab and further scrabbling stretched right up his sleeve to his elbow. I have done a little satinwood veneer work but never worked in the solid. Seeing the reaction of David's skin I don't want to. Whether he has a particular allergy to the stuff or if anyone working in depth with stuff would suffer this badly I know not. What I do know is that it is far far worse to work than yew. Unless there is some accumulative poisoning or my airwaves continue to constrict further I'd say yew is ok. My breathing is fairly damaged from a life woodworking but then again I used to smoke various substances so I can not tell for certain wence the damage came from. I shall be less cavalier with my body in future. A close friend of mine, two in fact are suffering emphysema . This puts my respiratory problems in perspective.
Sitting on the couch typing this I feel my sinuses blocked up from yew dust. The interior of my nostrils is irritated. After a yew milling session this will linger for two or three days. It smells wonderful and is probably my favourite firewood. It seems that all good things come at a risk.
When I returned to work I spent a few days sorting through the yew. It was covered in saw mill dust that had sat on it for years. Brushing this off, sawing it up, planing, thickness sing, routing it I must have inhaled a fair bit. I wear a mask but as anyone who does this for a living knows you can not wear a mask at all times. Dust gets in anyway. On a project of this scale you become immersed in the timber. Carrying large boards. Turning them over. Transporting them about. Your arms, legs, all muscles lift and shift the stuff. You are thoroughly exercised by its weight. You pant. Your body aches. You swim in a yew sea. My sinuses swelled up so I couldn't breathe other than through my mouth. This happens whenever I am exposed to dust of any type. Extraction works and dust masks help yet milling up invariably puts dust in the air. But it affected me no more than say ash dust does. What is odd is that the amount of Taxines in one board can be far more than in another. The first tree I used was far worse than the birds I milled up today. This must be down to the conditions the tree grows in.
There is some deep mythology around yew trees of pagan origin. Some of this may well be due to genuine medicinal properties. Taxine is the base of certain cancer medicines. It is believed that it is poisonous to animals, perhaps a reason it is left to grow in churchyards. But it takes 50 to 150 Grammies of leaves to kill a human. The seeds of the red berries contain Taxines however the red juicy flesh is ok yo eat.
At furniture college we were taught that cabinet makers, back in the day, we're paid an extra penny an hour to work with satinwood. We were told this was because it was a hard wood to work. We were never told, and I don't believe our tutor understood what this meant. David Oldfield, a friend of mine and a fine craftsman took on a commission to make a series of pieces in satinwood. Somewhere in the middle of this he walked in to my workshop. The back of his hands were one huge scab and further scrabbling stretched right up his sleeve to his elbow. I have done a little satinwood veneer work but never worked in the solid. Seeing the reaction of David's skin I don't want to. Whether he has a particular allergy to the stuff or if anyone working in depth with stuff would suffer this badly I know not. What I do know is that it is far far worse to work than yew. Unless there is some accumulative poisoning or my airwaves continue to constrict further I'd say yew is ok. My breathing is fairly damaged from a life woodworking but then again I used to smoke various substances so I can not tell for certain wence the damage came from. I shall be less cavalier with my body in future. A close friend of mine, two in fact are suffering emphysema . This puts my respiratory problems in perspective.
Sitting on the couch typing this I feel my sinuses blocked up from yew dust. The interior of my nostrils is irritated. After a yew milling session this will linger for two or three days. It smells wonderful and is probably my favourite firewood. It seems that all good things come at a risk.
Sunday 21 October 2012
Hooligan Arrested
Further to the incident at hillsborough on Friday night it appears the police have arrested the fool who ran on to the pitch to assault the Sheffield Wednesday goal keeper. Reading on line fan forums there were many of the one match a year, fair weather supporters at the match that were responsible for the bad atmosphere. The regular away supporters know each others faces and are generally well behaved. The person involved was from Cheltenham, no where near Leeds and amongst the idiots from outside the city who seem to attach themselves to Leeds believing some false history from decades ago few in Leeds see as reality. It would be great if such characters would remain in Cheltenham and the other southern towns they grew up in.
Homeless
I mentioned seeing a homeless guy in an earlier posting. He wanders round the town with his bags and bedroll, perching here and there, reading his book, listening to his radio. It is coming in to winter now and I keep trying to talk to him. Surely the jump to getting a place to stay can not be that great. I understand that here in Somerset, through novas or other methods it is possible, if you are homeless to be put up in a b and b. why he chooses not to do this I don't yet know. Seeing him again asleep, or at least cocooned in his bedding beneath t he canopy of a shop last week, I decided not to intrude. But that is the last time. I can't have it, someone in my immediate area sleeping out. Not on my watch, as they say. Last night I saw him again, walking up toward the YMCA. Why he doesn't stay there? His cough could be heard a way off and my reaction, shamed I am to report was to avoid his ill health. Just after he passed and before i could catch hom i saw someone else, lieing on a stone bench in the graveyard, cider bottle by their side. Deciding this may be a resting drunk i passed on. I have a spare roof, I have two places to sleep. I have enough money to pay a deposit. I know the conventional wisdom is to avoid facing the problem by giving to charity. Homeless charities take the supercilious view that the homeless know not what they want. They say give your money to us, the poor just spend it on drugs. Yet I am quite sure this fella doesnt drink or take drugs. Not that I take any moral high ground. I could quite understand t hat heroin or special brew may be just the insulation one feels most drawn to when sleeping rough. I am fortunate to never have spent more than a night or two outside involuntarily. This was, however suffice to learn how I felt about it. Life doesn't last long if you are outdoors. Perhaps I'll just get ripped off. Or told to mind my own. But I would rather that than have the other on my hands. My conscience keeps returning to this and I know I will find no real rest till I have done something. So I am looking for him today. And tomorrow, till I find him and sort this out one way or another. Who knows, he may be a budding middle class novelist,researching his work, easily able to phone a friend. Or so unbalanced no one can tolerate him. I'll find out I guess. People have helped me so I return the favour to the world.
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