British Society of Scientific Glassblowers – Editorial for January 22 issue of Journal

I can’t believe I have just written “January 22”! It seems like days ago it was last week and beyond. Another year gone and I have just written my first editorial for the year 2022. What a pain this year has been and even now as we are constantly being told off for this and that, humour has been thin on the ground. This is where my editorials come into their own as aimed to be slightly silly and thought it unfair that just scientific glassblowers have the benefit of reading them. So why not allow everyone to look. When I say everyone, I just been those that bother opening links to get here.

Editorial follows which only leaves me to wish you all a healthy festive time and catch up with you next year or the year after or the year after that and then into the next millennium!!

“My oven’s broken” I screamed down the telephone to my electrician, who at the time was fixing my lights in my glass workshop. Thing is my oven, by which I mean my glass annealing oven is situated in my garage a good five-minute walk from my glass workshop. Communication is, as always vital. “My oven’s not working,” I continued to shout. Thankfully no sooner as I put the phone down my knight in shining armour appeared on my doorstep. It transpired that he thought my chicken dinner would be forever cold until I explained it was far more important than that! I was desperate to get the oven fixed so I could anneal the piece of glass I had made for a presentation the next morning. I had assumed something complicated was required such as a complete rewiring or at the very least a fuse change. I am embarrassed to admit that as my electrician who let’s call David (for that is his name), dismantled the plug I noticed the other end of the cable had come adrift from the base of the oven and it was this simple oversight that caused the non-supply of electricity issue. I played it cool and only admitted my foolishness after a new fuse was fitted. At least I annealed my glass in time and my chicken meal did turn tasty!

Sometimes and in my case always it’s the simplest of things in life that prove the most complex to understand and correct if necessary. My sitting room window had been rattling for weeks. It was newly installed a few years ago and had proved perfect with no concerns whatsoever until recently. I called the double-glazing service team who promptly, well after three weeks waiting, dealt with a thorough inspection of the window and surrounding area. I demonstrated that when the front door was shut then the vibrations affected the window thus causing an alarming sound. I imagined lose glass and the whole unit would have to be replaced. After ten minutes of scratching heads and stroking the glass surfaces for reasons which I have yet to fathom out the answer was announced. “It’s your bauble,” one of the team told me and indeed it was. Worse than that I had made the glass bauble and I had fitted it on the handle on the window which made the bauble rest against the glass in the window so that every small vibration was exaggerated through my work of art creating an annoying noise. A point to note is that my bauble was in the shape of a Corona virus image proving that there is no escape from the annoyance and disruption that this virus has and still is causing!

Several years ago, I attended a lecture given by a BSSG official who was urging everyone present to become a member of the BSSG. This was ironic since everyone in the room was already a paid-up member and the presentation felt as if we were witnessing a gross act of preaching to the converted. The key message should have been delivered to non-members although I have no idea how this would be achieved. Those attending the climate conference (known as COP 26) in Glasgow a while back followed the same narrow minded, short sighted and mis-informed dictate in telling everyone at the conference to be more climate aware. All delegates knew the problem, and all were and hopefully still are doing their best. Its those not in attendance which I believe to be the majority that should be listening not only to the messages but also to experiencing all the protests and inconveniences. So, it really was a COP out!