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Nostalgic for my old job in the jewelry trade

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Everyday when I watch the news they keep talking about how the price of gold keeps going up and up. It’s something like $1245 an ounce now.

I think I’m starting to wish I was working in the jewelry trade again.

Oh yes, I used to be a jeweler. No – not a salesperson behind a counter. I actually made jewelry, cast gold, cut designs into rings, pendants and bracelets with a diamond cutter, gold plated and so on. My husband was a jeweler (trades person like me) as well.

My sister and I used to work together with our respective businesses. She was and still is a jewelry engraver. So our customers would come in and I’d put a design on their jewelry or make a mold so they could mass produce a piece and then my sister would engrave the finished work once one of our customers clients purchased a piece.

We worked in a building filled with jewelry trades people, from those who specialized in setting stones, to gem sellers who’d open a bag and drop it on a desk letting the loose diamonds scatter, to people like myself who cast gold into pieces of jewelry and so on.

It was a tough business. I loved it and I hated it. During the busy season I’d sometimes work 18 hours a day. I had to because once January, February and March hit things really slowed down and if you didn’t make your money over Christmas you’d be in for some tough times.

Anyone else work in the jewelry trade now or in the past? If so, did you enjoy it?






What do you get an 81 year old for Father’s day?

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It seems like almost every week this month we have a birthday or a party of some sort to attend. I was just talking about my friends upcoming birthday in my last post and now I’ve just realized that Father’s day is coming up soon too!

Man, this month could be expensive!

My parents are gone, unfortunately … but my husbands are still around. My husbands father is 81. Hmmm What do you get an 81 year old for Father’s day?

Lucky for me I came across this father’s day gift guide 2010 and I think it might help give me some ideas. It might help you too if you’re as stumped as I am.

At this point I have no idea what we’ll get for my Father in Law. He’s really into genealogy and any thing Ireland … so maybe something along those lines.

Have you come up with any cool ideas for Father’s Day? Care to pass a suggestion along?

Trying to find a special gift for a friend

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I have to find the perfect gift for one of my friends. She’s turning 30 this month and I want to get her something special.

The problem is that I have no idea where to start. She’s a bit of a fashion hound so I thought I might get her a designer purse … but that’s probably out of my price range.

She also really likes horses. She rides regularly, so I thought that perhaps getting her horse tack might make an ideal present. I know it would be a little unusual, but it’s the best idea I have right now and I think she’d love it.

Any idea for a fashion loving horse affectionado?

Window treatments and bedding freshen the look of a room

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We’ve been living in our house for 9 years now – 10 in June. Can you believe we still have some unfinished renovations? Ones that were started oh … maybe 6 years ago! Yeah, it’s true.

Anyway … in the areas that aren’t under an almost permanent state of renovation or stalled renovation I’m starting to get a little tired of the decor. I’ve been thinking of getting some new window treatments or perhaps even blinds for the windows in the upstairs bedrooms.

I think that will freshen the look of the room. Perhaps new bed spreads as well to give the rooms a new look. It’s really amazing what just changing the window treatments and bedding can do for a room.

I think I’ll start looking through catalogs and online stores to see if I can find anything I like.

Do you ever get tired of the look of a room? What small inexpensive changes have you tried?

I think I need a new printer

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I tried to use my printer the other day and I think there’s something wrong with it. It seems like the alignment is all off and naturally it’s running out of ink!

I tried running the alignment feature but it didn’t help so now I’m trying to decide if I should spend money on ink for a machine that might not work properly or if perhaps once it has fresh ink if it will suddenly start working properly again. What do you think?

In the meantime I’ve been looking around online for a printer with features that I like. Our current one is a scanner, copier, fax machine and printer. I’d love to get another one that has all of those features. I don’t fax often, but I’m sure if I got a printer without a fax I’d suddenly need to fax out a signed contract or something.

One printer that caught my eye was the tm-t88iv It’s a thermal printer so it’s way more than I need for my home office, but it sure looks nice. I think I’ll be sticking to traditional models for now.

Any printer suggestions or any idea as to how to solve my printers alignment problem? It’s an HP BTW if that’s important.

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