As it happened (from my Journal archives)

May 25, 2004

11:18 pm - Inspected, packed, shipped #543, Lighthouse, final piece count 420. I packed the Creative pieces carefully in layers, separated by thick paper to protect the somewhat delicate pieces during shipment. This will be my standard method of shipment for Creative style puzzles.

Note: I will be getting my shoulder MRI'd this Friday and by mid next week a verdict will be reached regarding the need for surgery. If surgery is needed, the recovery period will depend on the type of surgery required; ranging from just a few days to up to six weeks. If Custom Puzzle Craft is to be closed for a while, I will certainly post a notice here; I expect to complete all puzzles in the current backlog before surgery, if surgery is needed. My feeling is that if surgery is needed I'd like to get it done during the summer slow season.

May 22, 2004

8:00 pm - I was away from the shop for most of the day; I spent maybe an hour cutting the Lighthouse puzzle, mostly subdividing larger sections of the board. I cut 10 pieces. Tomorrow I expect to make a lot of progress on the puzzle.

May 23, 2004

6:17 pm - I continued working on the Lighthouse puzzle today, cutting around 120 pieces, about the same pace as in the Vermeer's. The cutting continues to go well and the puzzle is going to be impressive looking. In one cutting run, I cut a couple "floppy knobs", round knobs that have longish necks and "flop" to one side. The direction of the "flop" is relative to the topography of pieces already cut, not the "gravity" of the picture. I've cut some similar knobs in a few puzzles but this is the first time I came up with the label "floppy". A couple other "floppy" knobs made an appearance too.

Tomorrow I'll complete the puzzle and I'll ship it on Tuesday.

In the past couple months my shoulder, which never really completely healed has been bothering me more and more. On Tuesday I have an appointment as I'd like the get approval for to get the shoulder MRI'd to get a definitive diagnosis.

May 24, 2004

6:50 pm - Lighthouse, by Kevin Daniel is finished. I'm going to ship it tomorrow. The puzzle is about 16" by 20" with about 400 Creative style pieces. The puzzle has no figurals and just a little color line cutting.

The puzzle is a major work. Tomorrow when I'm going through the inspection / cleaning process, I'll select some pieces for a close up photo, including a "floppy bulb" piece.

As I spent four full days and a partial day working on Lighthouse, plus the time prior to cutting and the time to come to inspect and ship, I will have spent more than a full regular work week equivalent into this puzzle. I've now gone ahead and repriced Creative to a sustainable level.