First the bad: a news story on CBS concerning a Tucson cop fatally shooting a shoplifter who was supposed to be carrying a knife and threatening a store (Walmart) employee with it. The allegedly stolen goods consisted of a tackle box. The shoplifter was "fleeing the scene" in his mobility scooter. It was slow enough that both cop and store employee were strolling leisurely behind it as he crossed the parking lot and was approaching another store.
There is so much wrong in this story. Shoplifting is never a capitol offense. How much can one cost? Even if it were gold and platinum construction, grand theft is still not a capitol offense. There was supposedly a threat with a knife by the man, but other than the employee's report of that to the off duty (but in uniform) cop who was shopping in the same store at the time, there is no evidence of it in the video shown, nor mention of it being brandished during the reporting. Even if the man was lunging with it towards the officer at the end, which the video shows he wasn't, there are still less lethal ways to disarm him without needing to shoot him 9 times!
Take into consideration that mobility scooter. I used one of those for a few years before my knees got fixed. They can be tipped, very easily if they happen to have three wheels instead of four, but still tippable with four. The man might have gotten badly bruised, maybe even a broken bone, but he'd be alive. If the two men feared the knife possibility, don't cops still carry night sticks? They have a long reach and can easily whack a knife out of a person's hand when they are stuck in a scooter seat. Again, bruising, a cut, or even a broken bone may have resulted. At this point, either one of the men following him could have just reached over and turned off the key on the top front of the scooter and removed it, stopping the suspect literally in his tracks. It was also reported that the cop was too close to use his taser. SO BACK OFF! Then use it.
With those options, the cop chose instead to shoot the man on the scooter. Nine times! Once he fell out of his scooter to the ground, he was handcuffed. Then aid was rendered, but the man died within a few minutes. Over a tackle box.
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Ready for some good news? November was very pleasant down here. No rain other than a very light sprinkle one evening that blessed everything with that desert rain scent for over an hour. It was warm enough I was able to leave the bedroom window open and have it lull me to sleep. Days have been in the 80s, except for maybe five or six. Nights hang in the mid to low 50s. It was a great month to set record temperatures. I have neither turned on the AC nor heat since before November started, using windows for temperature control, and we're still expecting 4 more days in the 80s in the next seven-day. Steve makes up for that by using the new oven regularly to make french fries or biscuits or fish. There might have been a pizza in there, but I think the last one was actually last month. I of course can't complain, having baked both a double batch of stuffing muffins one day and roasted our turkey another.
The Fall Festival went without any big hitches, at least, though we did get one customer who showed up at the club store afterwards looking for what she'd seen during it but claimed she'd been told she could find after the festival at cheaper prices! We let her know it was hogwash - politely of course - and that we kept prices down (meaning the same) during the festival so customers would keep coming every year. If anybody raised their prices for Festival, they'd get their club in trouble so it might be banned from participating for at least the following year. It violates clearly stated principles sent out in a memo to keep prices low.
I had fun shopping the Festival myself after my first shift, going around other booths to see what they had. The second day I actually purchased a piece at our club that I'd been eyeing for a couple weeks. It hadn't sold yet so I felt free to grab it myself. It will be the only jewelry present for somebody this year that is not of my own making. I already talked to the woman who made it and she promised to tell me what I needed to know in order to make something similar. Not exactly the same - we have a strong club policy against that. We teach skills and techniques, then each uses them in our own way. It's a really big no-no to try to sell the same thing in the store that somebody else is doing. One example of that is the celtic braid in wire that I like to teach. I tell people that the braid itself is not copying. I do mine with a particular finish on the ends and put beads inside. Use different beads, for example, or a different finish on the ends, or in different kinds of jewelry, and you're not copying me.
This Friday I'll be teaching a workshop on making flat spirals with a loop on both ends so they can be joined to something on both sides. In other words, making spiral links. It's not more unique than jump rings. It's how you use it, what kind of item you make, what kind of wire, what size links, what combinations, with or without beads, how you connect them, whether they make the whole chain or an accent piece, etc.
One thing that would be copying is my adaption of a wire flower by making it in multiple layers with green, red and gold wires and gold beads into a poinsettia. If you make it for your own use or for decorating your tree, I don't care. Sell it in the club store exactly that way and it would be a violation. Sell them on Etsy if you like, no problem. I did teach it two years back, and will again later this month. I have also adapted it in a number of different combinations of wire colors and beads, but encourage club members to make it their own.
Everything is put away again at the club. The treasurer had a bit of help both in sorting the cards from sales by person, and later by figuring out the 20% the club gets for sales through the store. I saw lots of my things get sold while I worked, but also saw times when everybody else's stuff was selling and mine ignored. I wasn't sure how well I did. The store had been closed for 18 months due to covid, so I was really hoping to do well last weekend. I had a mental picture in my mind of what I hoped my sales were. Having lots of sales of inexpensive items does not often equate with making money. I know many other members were selling well, and their prices were often higher due to different types of merchandise. The highest one I saw was a $95 sterling necklace with a phenomenal labradorite cab in an elaborate sterling bezel. I helped show it to a lady who was asking for that particular stone at a time when I had nothing else to do, and enjoyed showing off its blue flash by holding it under a spotlight in the case that held it. She wandered off, returned with her (presumed) husband, and bought it before my shift ended. It may be the only item that particular member sold. She's pretty new and had few items in the sale, all high quality and high buck, particularly for our club.
I returned to the club the next day to pick up my check from the sale. It turned out to be my best sale ever. That dollar amount I was shooting for turned out to be half of my actual sales! So of course I ordered some more supplies for particular projects I have in mind for this holiday, and will be getting things ready to send out in the next week or two, depending on delivery of those orders. I won't likely be spoiling any surprises if I tell you it's wires and beads.
Today was another great shopping day, this time for groceries. The1st Wednesday of each month at this chain offers those of us 55 and over a 10% discount. It means the parking lot is full by 6 AM, but I have decided to take advantage of being an early bird to arrive and claim a good parking spot 15 minutes earlier and listen to music while I wait. Inside, I found everything on my list and a bit more, including my favorite fresh medjool dates in an extra large container. We all already have the store card to take advantage of their specials, and they send out coupons for what we usually buy, so it's a good time for the most part. I even found room for all of it once home! Some days that's a challenge.
After that a friend dropped off a string of bubbler lights she no longer wanted, making Steve's day. I got to save a stamp on her X-mas card. Steve immediately hung the lights on our tiny tree, an artificial white one small enough to sit on the top of his roll top desk in the living room. We'd gotten rid of the old large tree a couple years back and sent many of its ornaments to our younger generations for their trees for their kids.
Following that I headed to the club for some time with the torch. I had tested a new idea the previous day, and having something of a "proof of concept," wanted to take some pre-cut pieces and do the steps I can't do at home: torch the ends, put them in the heated "pickle pot" to remove black burn marks, put in a vibrator to turn the now white surface back to shiny silver. And before leaving, buy more sterling wire, 18 gauge dead soft round sterling. The only bad news of the day was that the price of that particular wire, like all silver, had risen since my last purchase by over 80%. I compared when I got home. It's OK, though. Next year's items in the store will have comparably higher prices. They'll still be relatively inexpensive in our store compared to the general market. We have yet to generate a Louis Comfort Tiffany.
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