Tom is the man

I could say this every day forever and it would still be true. It's incredible how much he does, how he does it, and how he remains the kindest, friendliest guy with a good sense of humor. He finally sealed the drain today after I made it clear that I would throw any kind of pulp in there to test it ASAP.

I did a very, very crude test w/one stainless screen and so far, it works. We did three beaterloads of mysterious, low-grade kozo, in anticipation of filling the vat with it. The bale of kozo bark we had ordered is still in transit, so we scrambled to find what we could. Melissa's students in her 3D paper class were very accommodating w/all of the random hanji business going on around them.

Tom also installed new piping to run a gas line for tomorrow's arrival of a new cooking stove. There are SO many things to think about when building an entire eastern papermaking studio. Melissa and Susan spent a while figuring out a metal breaker, and then Melissa and I sat down and drew out ideas for how to make couching guides. She came up with two very good ideas. Also, b/c of a placemat she found about a year an a half ago, I got Morgan staff to buy a whole bunch of them to convert into screens. They will be super, since the bamboo is much finer than the usual sushi rolling mats or blinds that you usually find for student screens.

We have a ton of work in store for our final five days before I teach, but I have faith that we will be ready. And I'm still happy off of red wine from dinner with Melissa and Cindy, so I'm hoping the good spirits continue for the duration.