Engraved Stones : Rock Artisans Meet TechnologyWritten by Liz Hekimian-Williams
Have you ever seen an engraved garden stone, address marker rock or memorial stone and wondered, “How did they do that?” The process of etching words and designs onto such dense and strong objects is actually accomplished through a masterful combination of imagination, art, skill, technology and nature. Stones found in a South African cave dating back about 77,000 years, etched with lines and triangles, appear to be among earliest hand carved engraved stones. Time intensive hand engraving with chisels and hammers actually continued as primary manner of etching stones even into 19th century. Technological advances, however, have since helped many stone artisans with their craft, resulting in finely engraved rocks that are created with more efficiency. And while hand engraving tools still find a place within stone artisan’s toolbox, sandblasting has become a more common technique for carving into stones nowadays. Interestingly, first patent for sandblasting equipment is traced back to 1870. That is when a Benjamin Tilghman is said to have obtained British patent. However, sandblasting machines seem to have become more widely available and used only after about 1930. What is a sandblaster? It is like a pressure tool that blasts out sand. It uses compressed air or steam to force sand particles at high speed onto rock. This wears out targeted areas on stone surface that artisans direct nozzle towards. As you can imagine, sandblasting equipment has helped stone engravers to greatly reduce their production time. So this has become an invaluable tool in their trade. Before actual engraving work begins, stone engravers must first select right stone and work on design and layout issues for each custom job. This includes deciding on or including specified font type and size, designs, and layout of elements on stone. Locating and selecting right one-of-a-kind stone with attention to size, coloring and shape for current stone engraving project also requires artistic eye of stone artisan. Then, a stencil is prepared and attached somehow to stone before engraving starts. Here again, technology has come to rescue. It used to take stone artisans many more hours than it does now to complete a stone engraving project. But design and preparation phase is much speedier now thanks to computers, scanning technology, drawing software, rubber cutting machines and rubber or vinyl stencil sheets already complete with adhesive backings. Finally, stone artisans use sandblasting and hand engraving as desired to deeply engrave message or image requested into rock. Cleaning stone and, if requested, painting inside of engraving, finishes up engraved stone project.
| | Coping With an Unplanned PregnancyWritten by Patty Hone
Your period is late and you start to think maybe you might be pregnant. Maybe you are afraid to go take a test because you don't want to find out results. You may be asking yourself "how could this happen"? If you find yourself pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy all kinds of emotions may run through your mind. Perhaps you are secretly excited about this but scared to tell your husband. Maybe you are not married and scared about facing motherhood alone. Maybe you do not want any more children and prospect of having another baby is worst thing you could imagine right now. There are many scenarios that lead up to unplanned pregnancies. Mistakes in judgment happen, condoms break, birth control pills fail, even tubal ligations and vasectomies fail.Once you get over initial shock of finding out that you are pregnant you will have some tough decisions to face. Do you want to carry this pregnancy, how are you going to tell your friends and family, how are you going to handle emotions and pressures that people will put on you. The first thing you should do is try not to panic. Although this may seem like an extreme emergency, in reality you have time to make a decision. Try to take some time to collect yourself and think about your options. You will not be first mom to not be excited about news of a new baby. Try not to beat yourself up. Take responsibility for your actions but wallowing in guilt is not going to help situation. Before you talk to anyone about your decision take some time to decide what you want to do. If you want to keep this baby, have an abortion, or consider an adoption that is your decision and talking to someone about situation may cloud your judgment. Yes your partner should probably be involved in decision-making, ultimately; you are one that is going to have to live with your choices. Try to make some plans in your head for what you would like to do before you talk to anyone. After you have had time to think about things and to collect yourself, you may want to get some counsel from friends, family or maybe a minister. Find someone that you know will be supportive of your decision to confide in. You need to have support during this time. You don't want to be surrounded by people that are going to beat you down for your mistake or pressure you into doing what they want. Surround yourself with a support group. If you have no one to turn to you can seek help from support groups geared for this situation. If you do not plan to have an abortion, you may want to steer away from groups that endorse this and perhaps find a faith based support group.
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