Tag Blogging

Wedgewood looking for apprentices, keep “Made in England” alive

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Wedgewood China

For years now, most companies, in all industries, have been going to Asia to produce their products. While I understand the need to cut costs, it’s also been sad to see Italian clothing/purses/table linens being made in China. Same with other products that used to be made in their original countries, everything is being outsourced to save money. In doing this, we’ve seen quality go down. There are pros/cons on each side.

It was with great interest that I read an article in Tableware International, “Wedgewood Investing New Apprentices.” Apparently, there is a demand for products with the “Made in England” label. They are recruiting apprentices and I wanted to pass this news on. The issue right now is an aging workforce and a lack of skilled laborers.

In America, the cost of College leaves students in great debt. We are taught that unless a person has a College degree, they cannot find a job. This means that trade jobs, apprenticeships, etc. are frowned upon. We need to change this mindset, so that young people can pursue jobs that they really enjoy without a stigma attached to it. Not everyone is cut out to be a student. Most students upon graduation end up working in jobs outside of their degree, unless they studied to be a lawyer, doctor, pilot, which is very degree specific.

Would love to see a revival of companies taking pride in their product, going back to the days where “quality” was critical to the brand. I am going to keep my eye on Wedgewood to see how this new apprenticeship program is working. In this tough economy and with College degrees becoming so expensive, young people need options on pursuing careers.

Fashion – Where are your zebra shoes?

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B9A0C629-9C7F-4589-A125-CDAEC8B9B67FYesterday, I felt like Steve Jobs. Remember, the Apple CEO whose signature style was to wear a high black crew neck style shirt. He had a daily uniform which was classy and suited him. We grew to recognize him in a crowd, just look for the tall slender guy with glasses wearing a black turtle neck.

Fast forward to my life. A few years ago, I needed gym shoes. I went to the athletic shop. Tried on a variety of shoes, nothing fit properly. I was disappointed, but needed shoes. There wasn’t much left to choose from.

The sales clerk pointed to these zebra looking shoes. I looked at him with a “You’ve gotta be kidding” type of look. For me?

Weren’t those kid shoes, I asked? Nope, the latest style, he said.

I had to admit, they were comfortable. I bought them reluctantly.  I wore them a few times, but felt funny at the gym, so tucked them away in my closet.

Years have gone by, they have sat nicely in my closet. Recently though, it was pouring rain, I didn’t want to ruin my normal shoes, so took the zebra ones out.

In retail, we are on our feet 8 hours, we need cushy shoes. These fit the bill. My feet needed a break from “nice looking shoes,” so I started wearing my zebra shoes. Of course, there were funny comments. That was fine, I laughed.

Spring is here, I thought it was time to retire my zebra shoes for cute looking ones. So, I put my zebra shoes back in the closet.

To my surprise, two of my co-workers said, “Hey, where are your zebra shoes?”

I smiled and said, “Time for a change. You mean, you actually liked those shoes?”

“YES, they are a bit crazy and fun,” they said.

Smiling, I thought, “My Italian mother would be horrified to learn my signature style was a pair of zebra looking gym shoes.”

While I would prefer being known for wearing glitzy shoes like “Dorothy’s red ruby slippers,” my zebra shoes have modern funky style! Who would have known…

Japan – Emperor Akihito, 85 yrs old abdicates, first time in over 200 years

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Emperor_Akihito_and_empress_Michiko_of_japan (1)

This past week, I have been reading about the abdication of Japanese Emperor Akihito. An emperor has not abdicated in over 200 years. It’s sad, but he has had illnesses, so he needs to rest.

He met his wife, a commoner, while playing tennis. They married in 1959. He and Empress Michiko have three children.

His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 59,and Princess Masako will now take the thrown. Life has not been easy for Princess Masako. She did not want to marry into royalty and when she did all of her freedoms for traveling, etc. were taken away from her. This caused her to fall into great depression. Also, the fact that she gave birth to a daughter and not a son was stressful. Hopefully, her new role changes her outlook on life.

In America, we are lacking when it comes to International news. Luckily, with the Internet, we can read Asian newspapers to understand what is going on in Japan right now. It’s all very interesting. I wish them well.

Art, drawing class – tapping into our inner artist

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FEAF1040-3ADC-4C9C-AA23-31734AD893B6When I was young, drawing and painting were not encouraged. My parents didn’t go to College, they wanted “better” for their children. Anything to do with art was frivolous, would get us “no where.” Focus on studying to get a “real job,” they said. We had to support ourselves. It’s a tough world out there. Sound familiar?

Fast forward, zillions of years later…

I decided — it’s time to have fun! Treat myself to an illustration class, see what it is all about. Is it true that I have no artistic abilities? I needed to find out.

I was AFRAID, none of us want to embarrass ourselves with the worst drawing ever.

What have I learned? First, drawing can be done anywhere and it is fun! Artists practice, a lot. The more you practice, the better you become. I had no idea. This sounds silly, I know, but I thought being an artist was EASY. It’s actually hard work! Second, being an artist takes determination and dedication. To be good at anything, we need to be passionate and put the time in to practice.

I’m sharing some of my sketches with you.

Last year, I was on the train in Italy. I noticed a woman writing in her journal the entire hour. I thought how dedicated she was. When I got up to leave, I walked by her. Guess what, she wasn’t writing, she was sketching a portrait of a man on the train — unknown to him. It looked beautiful.

Yes, practice makes perfect. My instructor said, “Everyday, you must sketch. As you sketch, you become faster at sketching anything (draw the perfect circle, the perfectly straight line, arms, hands, cars, houses, etc.). Through practice and mistakes, a head that seems too large, might turn out to be your nutty professor.

That is the beauty of art, what seems like a mistake, might be your next masterpiece!

Next, painting with watercolors.

Art, any form of it, does make us HAPPY!

This is the just the beginning…

Tiger Woods – Golf -> Ultimate Victory

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Tiger Woods win in the Masters yesterday was a real victory for him and for us. It shows us that life gives us set backs (personal, physical, etc.), but through perseverance, hard work, constant belief in our goals that victory can be obtained. His last win was in 2005, this is quite a come back.

Champions never give up believing, Tiger Woods proved that!

Wonderful to see him hugging his son, his mother…

By the way, there is a story out there that says when you win the green jacket, you only get to keep it at your home for a year, then you need to give it back. WHAT? Also, that the green jacket they put on him was his old jacket, not a new one. WHAT AGAIN? I’m not a golfing fan, need to read more about this. Surprised, of course.

Congratulations!

Comedy, as writing inspiration, get rid of writer’s block…

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As a writer, we get “writer’s block.” Life becomes overwhelming, ideas are not flowing freely. We need to find a way to open the channels of our creativity.

Comedy – I decided I needed to laugh.

By chance, I found a TV show called, “Miracle Workers,” I gave the first episode a shot, it was SO FUNNY! It just came out 2019. I laughed, because they show God in a corporate office in Heaven, sitting on a sofa switching through TV Channels to see what is happening on Earth. He’s so disappointed with what he sees… like us, God is tired of his job and decides he will just blow up Earth and start a new project.

I laughed AGAIN, because in Heaven there is a department called, “Unanswered Prayers.” They show only two people in charge of that department with piles and piles of requests, they can’t possibly help everyone.

So, that explains it, my “unanswered prayer” has been sitting in God’s slush pile for 7 years collecting dust.

If you take a look at this Youtube trailer for the show, you’ll understand why this comedy is so hilarious. Silly sure, but just what a writer needs to laugh a little and be reminded that God gets tired too and that sometimes we just have to do it ourselves!

Basically, this is a humorous way of comparing Heaven to normal life in a corporation.

Show is based on the novel What’s in God’s Name by Simon Rich.

Coffee… Breakfast…Tradition… making blueberry scones at home

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CB353366-48C2-4D65-9550-E232D8E8D880Have you noticed that going out for a coffee and a danish, which used to be a “treat,” has become so expensive that it is not enjoyable anymore?

When I was young, because we had four children in the family, we rarely went out to eat; it was too expensive. In those days, if we did go out, it was for pizza, once a quarter. When the waitress came to take our order, she would ask what the “children” were drinking. My father in a loud bellowing voice would say, “WATER for them, a beer for me.”

My mother did not believe in soda. Growing up in Italy, they did not drink soft drinks or fruit juices. As a treat, on Sunday, they went to the park and had a gelato she would say.

This will make you smile… when I started dating, and the waitress came to take our order, I was too afraid to order ice tea or a soda, I was conditioned to order water. It wasn’t until one date asked, “WHY are you only having water? You can order a drink. Please, have a soda or ice tea, whatever you’d like.”

FUNNY, I thought to myself, “Yeah, I’m on my own now, why am I still drinking water?!”

This past weekend I was in the mood for scones. A friend of mine sent me a recipe and it was time to try it out. Scones are usually triangular, I made hearts, see photo.

My goal was to entice my daughters, so they would say, “Mama, those are adorable, we want some!”

seattle tea potGood news — my hearts were a BIG HIT.  Just need to add tea.

HEART SCONES on Sunday.  A new tradition!

Once children grow up, we need to entice the “little birdies” back to the nest.

Being robbed on the train…hide cell phones

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C38C7E42-4E6F-43DD-9CB6-00E51BE9A347A few weeks ago I was on the train. A young woman was sitting across from me, when a man came asking for money. The woman and I looked at each other, we spoke through our eyes… we would like to help, but he was a stranger, we did not know where that would lead, so we did not give any money.

Once the man left, the woman said, “I’m afraid to help people now.”

”What do you mean,” I said.

She told me that a few days before she was on the train at 1:30 pm. She had a seat close to the exit, where the doors open. There were probably 10 people on board. She was on her phone texting. A young man got up to exit, when the doors opened, he quickly grabbed her phone out of her hands and was gone!

She was startled, scared, in horror… all the motions we go through when we have just been robbed.

We discussed the fact that when we are on our phones, we are oblivious to our surroundings. We also talked about the sadness in having to live in a world where we feel we need to be invisible, i.e. to not bring attention to ourselves, dress plainly and so on.

This picture from Pixabay.com illustrates how easy it is for someone to pull the phone out of our hands.

I share this story today as a reminder to be aware of your surroundings. We never know when something like this might happen to us. I’ve been passing the word along to fellow passengers myself.

Tell your friends/family, even holding your phone, so it cannot be grabbed out of your hands would be a deterrent. We need to help each other.

On a happier note, we are having Spring weather. It’s beautiful.

GUESS WHAT – snow flurries predicted for Thursday!? We don’t believe it!

“Afghan Cycles” – A documentary about Afghani women learning to cycle for independence and freedom…

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Afghan Cycles movie poster

Photo courtesy of “Afghan Cycles,” http://www.afghancycles.com

A few years ago, I heard about a group of women in Afghanistan who were learning to cycle. They were starting a documentary about this, but it was going to take time to produce. Good news, last year the movie Afghan Cycles, produced by Let Media made it’s debut. I want to spread the word about it.

The Bicycle Story wrote an article, “Shannon Galpin: Riding to Revolution in Afghanistan” back in 2014 to share the start of this story. Shannon Galpin is from Colorado. She is the founder and President of Mountain2Mountain, which is a non-profit focused on global women’s rights.

Galpin’s focus on Afghani women and bikes started in 2009 when she brought her mountain bike to Afghanistan. As she rode around on her bike, it sparked conversation and interest from women about riding. In 2013, she started working and training with the Afghan National Women’s Cycling Team, as well as bike clubs that had started. On her website (Shannon Galpin), she has pictures of this journey and the women cyclists!

Afghan Cycles 4

Photo courtesy of “Afghan Cycles,” http://www.afghancycles.com

Sarah Menzies, Let Media, is a Producer, Editor, Filmmaker and brilliant story teller. It has taken her five years to produce this film with many rounds of fundraising, research, and trips to Afghanistan involved. You can see this documentary was long coming. I hope you will take a moment to read their story and view the film!

Let Media is asking us to spread the word. They welcome people to contact them to set up a screening of the film in their cities.

Here is how you can watch the film:

Available On Demand

The film is available for purchase on the following platforms:
US: iTunes, Microsoft, Google Play, Vudu and Amazon.
Canada: iTunes, Microsoft, Google Play
UK: iTunes, Amazon Microsoft, Google Play
Ireland: iTunes, Microsoft, Google Play

MY FINAL THOUGHTS…

When I was young and learned to ride a bike… IT’S TRUE, it gave me confidence, after I fell a zillion times, of course! A few scraped knees and elbows never stopped me. I had freedom and independence to go where I wanted in our neighborhood. I had a newspaper route where I made money, riding the bike also taught discipline and respect for my vehicle. How many times did I learn to put the chain back on, oil the chain, put the bell and basket on my bike and fix a flat tire (too many to count).

I loved the feel of the “fresh air” (spring, summer & fall) as I rode along Lake Michigan. Riding a bike was, and is, a powerful feeling. I can understand woman around the world wanting the same freedom and independence that I had.

If any of you (male or female) have had these same feelings of bike riding than you can understand how important this documentary is, so please… don’t be shy… share with others!