Beech Tree News Network

I’m sure you’ve heard and even used the expression, “Point A to Point B;” however, in my life, B has never been the end point.  C is the end point.  B represents all the material in between that you had better pay attention to if you ever want to arrive at C.   I have tried many times to skip B, but it will not be skipped.  B is a force to be reckoned with.  Let me explain.
    If I am in the shop, loading glass bottles into the kiln—glass bottles I have spent hours cleaning and drying and decaling—and I notice a slight unevenness in the middle shelf, it is the voice of B I hear telling me to get out the level and adjust the posts.  C says, “It’s just a tiny bit, it won’t matter.  Let’s get this show on the road.”  If I skip B, the glass will shift slightly to the uneven side, causing the bottles to be off-center and unusable.  Do you know how many times I’ve done stuff like that in my going-on sixty years of life?  I’m too ashamed to tell you—that’s how many times.
    Occasionally, I watch shows on KET, featuring master craftsmen in all kinds of areas—woodworking, sewing, cake decorating, pottery making.  They all have one thing in common—they never skip B.  I watched a guy make a small music box on one program.  I was amazed at the attention he gave to the lid of the small box.  I was saying things to the TV like, “Who cares about the lid!  Get on with it!  I want to see the gear box mechanism!”  The lid was B, and he was smart enough not to skip over it.  That’s why he was featured on KET and I wasn’t.  Nobody wants to see me unload a kiln of glass bottles that have melted to one side, because I didn’t level the shelf like B told me to do.
    My husband, Garey, never skips B; in fact, he takes B to a whole new level.  He has subcategories of B that are maddening.  Let me explain.  This week, we prepared to put up the Walmart pool we took down at the end of last summer.  Due to inclement weather over the winter, the spot for the pool had some shifts in the sand under the plastic ground cover we set the pool on last year.  I knew the ground would need to be leveled again, and my B would entail folding back the plastic cover, raking the sand to a reasonably level-looking surface, replacing the cover then moving onto C—setting up the pool.
    The following was Garey’s B:
B1: Fold back plastic ground cover.
B2: Use two boards—one to kneel on and one to level the sand.
B3: Put level on leveling board to make sure sand is level in all spots.
B4: Return plastic cover to original position.
B5: Cut a series of small wooden blocks and gather clamps for blocks.
B6: Wedge plastic ground cover between wooden blocks and tighten with clamps.
B7: Thread rope through clamps then pull rope taut to remove wrinkles from cover.
BINGO!  It’s time for C—set up Walmart pool.
    I’m expecting KET to call any day now to ask Garey to do a master class on setting up Walmart pools.  I’ll let you know date and time.