I landed in the printing business and stayed … for more than twenty years. It was right on the cusp when engraving had lost its luster and thermography was about to shine.

http://www.tradeprintfinishing.com/history.html

I actually started on the engraving press. It’s a great story for another day. Pretty soon I jumped ship and worked the company’s first thermography operation (a small press with a looong machine attached). Say whaaaat?

Ever seen a business card with shiny raised letters? That’s thermography. We didn’t have computers and such back in the day, just hard back-breakin’ labor. Here’s how it worked…

Couldn’t find a picture, this is my own crude sketch.

The first machines were huge and bulky; I literally ran back and forth all day. The press is really crankin’ and the bin loads up fast. I have to pull a ream (500 sheets), shuffle, place on the table and get back to the press.

Oh honey, the paper cuts brought tears till I learned how to shuffle those sheets.

Once I’m done with letterheads, I move on to business cards. They are run eight-up on different types of card stock. Every setting has to be changed, including the press. More runnin’ up and down.

Don’t even get me started about envelopes … I hated runnin’ those things.

You gotta hear about the fun part of the job. Every newbie has fires, even some veterans let me tell ya. See, if you don’t have the speed and the heat settings copacetic there will be a massive collision.

If the heat is too hot for the paper it coils and stops in place, more paper is feeding in behind at a rapid pace causing a paper jam. In less than a minute a fire starts to build.

Rule number one: turn off press lever that feeds paper, two: turn off burners, three: grab fire extinguisher.

Afterward ya wanna yell, “Call the am-bu-lance; I’m havin’ the big one.”

No such thing as 911…

May Your Glass Always Be Half Full
______________________

Others in the LBC have their own take on today’s topic:
Gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Ocdwriter,
Padmum, Paul, Ramana, Rohit and Will..

Well, there is a court date comin’ up and court mediation after that, so I need a little time. Actually, a little prayer would help.

A corner of Maxi’s office

There is a lotta paper work to do, so I’m up real early tryin’ to sneak up on some daylight. Oops, I lied (and I never lie). I’m always up early.

You know what, I keep dreamin’ of this greenish circle with huge teeth going chomp, chomp. Am I crazy (don’t answer that) or do you remember that little guy?

Anyway, in my nightmare the faster I type the faster the “keyboard gobbler” eats my words. Omg, I’m laughin’ like crazy … just realized what I said.

I gotta get outta here before I turn into a bloomin’ idiot. Geez, never shoulda said that.

Whew, it’s a good thing you’re used to me. Poor sister Jen, she lives with me.

 May Your Glass Always Be Half Full
______________________

Part I

Oh joy, it’s 5am time to wakee wakee. I slide from the mattress onto the floor (almost) and stagger to the bathroom. Needles and pins dance across the bottom of my feet to wake me up before I go tinkle. That’s so I won’t miss the seat and go on the floor.

On to the next chore. I make it to the sink, grab the toothbrush and hit the go button. Yeeooow. Let’s turn that thing off. The needles and pins in my hands won’t stand for that. I just brush-a-brush the old way, rinse my face and go.

Makin’ the bed ain’t bad, just slow ‘cause it is king size. Everything is slow actually. I’m talkin’ snail’s pace.

I take a lot of medication and most have a fatigue factor. This new one is like being run over by an earth mover in the morning and it’s gettin’ dark by the time you start to get back up.

I have to whisper when I tell ya this part so my doctor doesn’t hear. This med isn’t really new. I took myself off ‘cause I hate drugs and this one is powerful. Only things got so bad I had to go back on. Now I have to start over again with the dastardly side effects.

(Minnie Mouse is on the back but this looks like a Maxine cup to me)

Okay, I’m finally in the kitchen. Check out my new cup. Don’t ya love it? This is my favorite time of day, that first cup of coffee. Aaah. Well, that joy is nearly gone. You can’t see it but my eyes are crossed and my mouth is all scrunched up and, and…

That’s another thing about this medication, it plays tricks on things I put in my mouth. I can’t drink any carbonated drinks. Period. They literally taste like crap. Yes, crap. There, I said it and I’m glad. And nothing else tastes wonderful either.

Food isn’t a big deal to me, but my morning coffee?

This is just the beginning…

It ain’t over yet.

 May Your Glass Always Be Half Full
_______________________

Will Knott of the LBC gave us the topic Not Over Yet:
Blackwatertown, Delirious, Maxi, Maria/Gaelikaa, Maria SilverFox, OCD writer, Padmum, Ramana, Shackman speaks, The Old Fossil, Will Knott..

Where am I going here?

The first stop is this little angel, granddaughter Brittany. School is out and she stays with Gramgram part of the time. It used to be Grandmommy, than it was changed to Gramgram, last night I was informed that it’s back to Grandmommy.

Here’s the deal. When I have Baby Doll, which I call her most of the time, the whole world stops. She comes first in my life and I squeeze in everything else best I can. We only have so much time with our grandchildren, next thing ya know she will be a teen and it will be Grandmommy who?

Here’s the second stop…
The sound you hear is me takin’ a deep breath. Did I ever tell you that I have a meningioma? Yeah, I know.

A me·nin·gi·o·ma is a tumor that arises from a layer of tissue (the meninges) that covers the brain and spine.

Meningiomas grow on the surface of the brain (or spinal cord), and therefore push the brain away rather than growing from within it. Most are considered “benign” because they are slow-growing with low potential to spread.

Meningioma tumors can become quite large. Diameters of 2 inches (5 cm.) are not uncommon…
http://neurosurgery.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=1123&ref=62&action=detail

This is not my tumor but is pretty much the size and location. It is in the occipital lobe which governs our sight. It hasn’t affected my sight yet but has caused serious problems because of pressure on the brain.

My tumor is a little bigger than 2cm. Some of the symptoms I deal with are:

• Debilitating migraines w/auras (flashing lights)
• Seizures
• Horrendous smells, like burning rubber

I take lots of medication to keep everything under control, yet the past three months my symptoms have escalated. Wednesday morning I spent four hours at the hospital to have extensive tests:

 EEG

MRI

Right now everything is a struggle; hopefully the neurologists will find an answer other than more medication. On June 19^th I will learn the results of the tests, if the tumor has grown, what will be done.

I ain’t complainin’ mind ya. I’m still here. Got lots of love, good vittles and that lil’ angel above…

God is good.

May Your Glass Always Be Half Full
______________________
Omg forgot it’s Friday, supposed to be talking ‘bout a certain
topic. See what I mean? You know what these guys will tell ya:
Gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Ocdwriter,
Padmum, Paul, Ramana, Rohit and Will..