offcntr | Jan. 7th, 2023

Jan. 7th, 2023

After successfully shipping all of my Christmas packages before the end of December, we decided we deserved a day off. Since it looked like January 1 would be the only dry day for about a week, we drove down to the coast for a day. Had fish and chips in Florence (kinda meh--why doesn't anyone ever properly salt their fish?), then drove up to our favorite beach at Heceta Head.

Was very busy--New Year's, of course, nice weather, and apparently it was a free day at state parks as well--so I had to drop Denise off and go back under the bridge to park. Getting across the cobbles onto the sand was about all she could manage, so we found a nice boulder for her to sit on while I went and poked around in tide pools.

Saw the usual lots of mussels, some sea anemones hunkered down to ride out low tide, and a whole bunch of tiny hermit crabs. Found a place were the basalt dike was parallel to the coast that had acted like a gold sluice, lots of shells trapped in the rift. I picked out a dozen olive shells for Denise, a few whelks. Picked up one nice big one, the size of my thumb, turned it over to see tiny crab claws in the opening. Sorry, buddy, I said as I returned him to the water.
anemone mine

It's been a kinda wtf? week. First, I got an email from my co-op treasurer, asking how I wanted him to fill out my 1099s. This wouldn't have been a big deal, except I'd already answered that question twice. Apparently he wasn't getting my emails, and was getting downright cranky, as, honestly, was I. So this time, I replied to his email, cc'd it to his business/pottery email, and left a message on his voicemail for good measure. Apparently, one of the three finally made it through, though we have no idea what happened to the earlier replies.

Then I got an invoice in the mail from UPS to Frank Gosar/Shippo for a package shipped to middle-of-nowhere Utah in late November. Now, I do ship my pots through Shippo. They negotiate discounts with major shippers, and I can print labels and drop boxes off at the Post Office or UPS Store, not have to wait in line. But I've got my account linked to my PayPal, so there's no way I should be owing anything to UPS, even if I did recognize the address, which I didn't. Running the tracking number was even weirder; apparently the package shipped from La Mirada, CA. Is that Spanish for mirage?

In any event, I left a Help ticket at Shippo, called UPS the next morning. After an annoying phone tree but a surprisingly short hold, I got an agent who zeroed out the invoice. Later got an email from Shippo's service folks saying it's a known problem with UPS's billing system, and since I'd included photos of both sides of the invoice, they'd gone ahead to reach out directly to UPS. Which is probably why I got so little fuss from them.

Best of all, though, was this email:

Hi Frank,

I'm on the editorial team of VoyageMinnesota Magazine and we're interviewing local entrepreneurs, creatives and community leaders for our Inspiring Stories series.

Please let me know if you are available for an interview in the coming weeks.

We're excited to learn more about you and share your story with our readers. There is no cost involved, but we'll of course need some of your time for the interview.

I'm sure our readers would love hearing your story and many would benefit from learning from your experiences.

Note regarding COVID-19: The interviews are done remotely and don't require you to leave your home. Hope you and your family are staying safe.

Thanks,

[redacted]

Okay, this is weird because 1) I live in Oregon, 2) I'm originally from Wisconsin, not Minnesota (though I studied under a Minnesota potter, and subscribe to the philosopy, if not the aesthetic), and 3) How the heck did they get my contact information in the first place?

I replied with all of the above, and got back:

Thanks for letting me know! Please disregard this request. This could have been a mistake from our end.

Could have?

Well, the weather isn't nearly as frightful as they're getting back in the midwest, but it's still a mess. No point in leaving the studio when this is what waits outside.

That's a good inch of water backed up at the bottom of the ramp.

Back in the studio already; I've got a stack of special orders, plus all the empty spots in my inventory. Started easy with soup bowls, pie plates, dinner and serving pasta bowls. Then I amped things up a little, making pitchers, teapots and oval platters, all at least in part to fill orders.