Speechless

I apologize for being away for so long. There is a saying that seems to hold rather true: it takes 20 percent of the effort to get 80 percent of the results and it takes the other 80 percent of the effort to get the last 20 percent of the results. Or something more eloquent and catchy than that. In any event, I’ve been in that last 80% of the effort. Wainscoting, baseboard, quarter round, other trim, gluing, caulking, etc. I also have a full-time job! And the garden! I just finished my second set of 10 pints of sauce this year. Bumper crop indeed.

And then… and then… and gentlemen and THEN!

Today, the glass tiles from American Olean came. Finally. Two weeks of waiting. For sure, they are beautiful. I was looking over the box to look for tips to put them up on the wall - starting tomorrow - when I came across a small phrase written just under and just to the left of the “AO” logo. It read like this:

Made In China.

So they’re getting returned. If I’m left with tiles manufactured for low wages in a country that does not reciprocate patent laws, has almost no enforced environmental dumping laws, and controls all media, then I’m getting material that costs under ten bucks a square foot. Not this $22 dollar a foot stuff. I’m glad that American Olean still makes basic tile in the U.S. (the white tiles I have were made here by them), but I’m not going to feed into the profit margins gained by shipping overseas the jobs that used to make these lovely tiles here.

The search continues. Luckily, I’m a patient man…