Dean's Beans, Ganoksin , Giant Crystals and my torch

I'm sitting here finishing my cup of tea, reading the morning's email....and craving some good coffee. I periodically quit coffee because it gives me heart palpitations (even decaf does this). But, invariably I start craving it again - I miss the ritual of grinding and the heavenly smell. I've decided to order up an interesting new blend from my favorite organic, fair trade coffee vendor - Dean's Beans which promises to be a 'peaceful yet empowering' blend that will help me achieve 'universal harmony' - what more could I ask, ha ha.... I learned about Dean's from donating to LinkTV - their company was one of the giveaway sponsors. (If you have satellite, check out LinkTV - fascinating documentaries, and great international music)

One of the things I look forward to the most in each day's email are the posts from the Orchid forum at Ganoksin. Ganoksin is a positive wealth of information for not only metalsmiths, but anyone who has a jewelry business or hobby. I have learned so much from lurking there (I have never posted). They had a great discussion on sawing technique a while back that was really helpful to me, and are now talking about how to formulate a business plan - very timely info for me since I'm actually doing that now. (yes, I know, I should have done this long ago...)



A Ganoksin article also guided me through setting up my acetylene torch by myself without blowing anything up - something I am eternally grateful for!




Here's my torch today, a little over a year later. Now the big question is how long before it is out of acetylene and I have to go get a new tank? It was on 1600 (outer number dial) when it was full, got down to 400 in mid-December, and here's where it is this morning.




My question is, will it run out on a weekend in the middle of a big project, ha ha....this is kind of like a new car where you don't know exactly where empty really is on the gas gauge.

Also in today's email I finally learned what the name Ganoksin means, something I have always wondered. Dr. E. Aspler, who started Orchid with Charles Lewton-Brain, and known to Orchidians as Hanuman, posted an interesting collection of facts this morning about the Ganoksin project. Here is his explanation of the name: "Ganoksin is a Thai word. In Thai Ganok means pure gold, Sin means art, and together they can be thought of as meaning 'The Art of Gold'." Now I know! Here's the entire post if you want to know more. Or, you can read the whole story of Orchid and Ganoksin here.



I also learned about a cave of giant crystals down in Chihuahua, Mexico - completely amazing! Check out this video if you'd like an interesting little diversion. The photo here is from this National Geographic article about the same discovery.

And now I had better get going - lots of things on the bench to finish today, and a missing international order to track down. See ya later....