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Coronavirus Helmets

My son and I took a short break from planting our native and heirloom vegetable garden and digging a second tadpole pond and made Coronavirus Helmets, which are an essential piece of equipment these days. The Coronavirus Helmet featured in this post is mine. I have more about Henry’s helmet later in this post.

As I write, there is almost as much proof that these helmets repel Coronavirus as there is proof that malaria meds work for Coronavirus -at least not any better than any number of existing pharmaceuticals that were designed for viruses and not a protozoa like malaria.

That is why I feel like I have contributed as much in the fight against the pandemic as Donald Trump has.

More actually. I spent much of February warning friends and relatives of the coming catastrophe and encouraging them to buy groceries and make other preparations as soon as possible.

What did the President do in February? He repeatedly claimed everything was under control and played golf.

My apologies to anyone who is offended by that comment, but you might want to give me a pass for several reasons:

My ex-wife is from NYC, and I was aware of all the deeply disturbing things that local people knew about Trump BEFORE he entered politics, including assessments by deeply conservative bankers and tradesmen who hated Hillary Clinton with a passion. Most anyone who worked with Trump described him as a crook and cheat with too many ties to the wrong sort of Russians.

Like any experienced manufacturing engineer, I had a complete safety plan for my employees to work solo shifts wearing N95 masks I purchased well in advance of the crisis, having dealt with outbreaks of flu and stomach virus in production lines before. My criticism of Donald Trump’s lack of a timely response is from professional experience.

The mosaic business is merely one of my activities, and I spent the past year looking into developing an aptameric alternative to protein-based drugs such as Humira. My masters thesis involved microbiology and the University of Georgia patented it.

-Joe Moorman, MS, engineer
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coronavirus-helmet-found-object-art-rear-v2-20200411_175310

How does a guy who has 8 part-time employees outperform the President of the United States? And how did I do it when my decisions were only based on basic information accessible to anyone who follows international news?

I don’t often use words like doddamn and futhermucker when I speak to my momma on the phone, but I did when I called her and explained why she needed to stop watching Fox News.

Second Tadpole Pond

Here is the second tadpole pond I am digging and lining with a reinforced concrete I am making from hydraulic cement and pea gravel.

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second-tadpole-pond-construction

I reinforced the liner using old wire fencing that was torn down next to the warehouse and steel rods recycled from old steel filing shelves we bought from a medical records office that was moving to digital.

I want my son to learn the clever, frugal ways of my father’s tribe. My son might not get to meet his sharecropper ancestors, but I am going to do my best to make sure I show him as much as possible of what they taught me.

Here is the first tadpole pond:

The first tadpole pond in my small back yard is circled by dragonflies and hummingbirds.

And here are the tiny baby tree frogs that are born there in the summer:

Tiny Baby Tree Frog are about half the size of a raisin and have iridescent skin.
Tiny Baby Tree Frog are about half the size of a raisin and have iridescent skin.

Unfinished Coronavirus Helmet

I finished my helmet, but Henry hasn’t finished his yet. Henry’s squad has been doing team Fortnite competitions, and he is obsessed with Fortnite like most boys, and so he spends more time on the screen than I would allow if not sharing the parenting with his mother.

Still, I would allow some online team gaming each day because my son is playing with friends over headphones and getting a ton of interaction with a circle kids his age that he selected based on their ability to work cooperatively and not be a jerk like most of the people in online combat games. Also, my son certainly wouldn’t be getting that level of social interaction and entertainment without the online team gaming, not with the current quarantine.

I also have to be honest and admit that my favorite activity as a kid was running off with other boys my own age and playing hide and seek and war in the woods with dirt clods or rotten turnips, and so Henry wanting to play an online version of that with a bunch of other rowdy 5th-grade boys is completely understandable.

coronavirus-helmet-found-object-art-henry-beans-20200407_164247
Henry wearing my Coronavirus Helmet found-object sculpture. Henry is standing in front of the trellis I made for the Cherokee black beans. I offered to trim my neighbor’s very tall crepe myrtles so they wouldn’t overshadow the front garden plot. I used what I cut down to build the trellis. I explained to my son how I did a favor for my neighbor to help both him and me. It was a teaching example of looking for win-win situations where both parties benefit from a transaction and how to make maximum use of what is already there.

Uphill Both Ways

Unlike my son, I didn’t get to play with other kids my age very often because I lived out in the country and my father would put me to work anytime I wasn’t reading.

My father grew up in a large extended family that worked as tenant farmers and itinerant millrights as a small tribe, and so he understood that kids needed to learn how to be adults by working alongside adults for a few hours a day to put it mildly. He had a Mississippi Delta understanding of the amount of labor a person should be expected to do in a day.

The extended family’s collective dirt-floor welding shop was less than 50 yards from the bedroom I slept in, as was our one-acre vegetable garden that always needed weeding or hoeing or picking and could produce more than a bushel of tomatoes or peas or cucumbers on a summer day. Keep in mind that all the aunts and uncles and cousins that lived in the mobile homes and houses around us had their own gardens. That was just the one my mother and I worked for our canning and freezing.

Anyway, anytime I tell my son anything about growing up, it always sounds like “I walked to school ten miles in the snow, uphill both ways.”

But at his age, I was carrying a five-gallon bucket full of water to the trough in the chicken coop every morning before school. And I regularly did things like hoe a garden for hours at a time or scale and clean 75 or 80 bream (fish).

As an employer of young people, I can tell you that America would be a much better place if more kids knew what it was like to haul a five-gallon bucket of fish guts and heads to a place out in the soybean field where they could rot far enough away from the house for the smell to be bearable.

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coronavirus-helmet-found-object-art-side-20200411_175145

Bored Kids

I can’t relate to these people who are complaining online about having to entertain their bored quarantined kids.

You’re the one that raised them with the expectation to be entertained by something constantly.

If you didn’t teach them to value their free time by giving them daily household chores, on behalf of every employer in America, I ask you this: Why are you raising your kids to be people that even you don’t enjoy living with? Why are you raising the horrible roommates and spouses of the future?

Like most all kids before modern parenting, I was pretty good at entertaining myself, and I wouldn’t have never dreamed of complaining to an adult that I was bored because they would have instantly put me to work on a chore. My cousins and I hid from adults and kept as low a profile as possible,

My father in particular was someone I took care to avoid. As I said, he would put me to work whenever I wasn’t reading, but the only non-library books in our house were the scriptures, a couple of Richard Scary children’s books, and a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

I remember lying to my father with no shame, saying unbelievable shit like, “Teacher says we got to read all of these, but I’m only on the Lysistrata-Mitochondria one, and I got 13 more to go.”

I was afraid if he knew I was only reading stuff selectively out of interest, he would have put me to work, and he certainly would have if he knew that part of the time was spent watching Gilligan’s Island reruns and enjoying the simple pleasures of not operating a belt sander or some other power tool that made a lot of noise and dust.

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coronavirus-helmet-found-object-art-rear-v3-20200411_175314

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84 responses to “Coronavirus Helmets”

  1. Terri Avatar

    I read this post and felt sad that this was a guys’ platform for his hatered of the president. Not everyone hates the president and as with every president, they don’t get everything right. He has done an amazing job. I guess we all have so much experience with a pandemic that we have the luxury to critize how it’s being handled. Really? It’s kind of a learn as you go thing. Let’s just stick to helping each other and not use a mosaic website for your personal political opionion. Mosaic supply, shame on you for posting this. You should have just posted the part about the helmets.

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      How is it trashing the President to point out what he did in February? If you or I said such irresponsible things in our jobs and got people killed, we would be on trial for second-degree murder and facing endless civil suits. I spent February warning friends and relatives. I spent January getting my own house in order. The information Trump had is at least that old.

      1. randi bert Avatar
        randi bert

        I love the helmet! Thanks for the inspiration!☮️

      2. Christine Slocomb Avatar

        Joe I love your comments on the president and whole heartedly agree! Suffice it to say there once was a time, approximately 4 years ago, when there was room to disagree in this country. We could share different perspectives without fear of losing jobs, friendships, customers or employment. This new mindset is what leads to dictatorship.

      3. lou Avatar
        lou

        in responding to teri and her – i suppose – issue with your post and tRUMP, i neglected to say how great your helmets are, and how much i love your yard and tadpole pond!! those were my takeaways and several days later i’m still thinking about both. ( but not the tRUMP stuff. ) really fun and good activities to do during covidlockdown with your kids. a few years ago we had a tadpole pond in our hot tub. whoa!!!

    2. Louise Thompson Avatar
      Louise Thompson

      First of all, Terri, it isn’t about hate. Joe didn’t mention or even lean toward hate. Second, I hope you don’t really believe that any government agency takes on a possible crisis with a “learn as you go” plan of attack. Not the military, not the IRS, not your children’s schools, not the Postal Service, and not police, not mayors, NO responsible organization waits to see what happens as a calamity rolls into town, while they tell people it will be over in a matter of days. Even when there have only been 15 deaths….. As for using “a mosaic website”…it happens to belong to Joe, and I’m almost certain I heard somewhere that Americans are free to speak their minds and their opinions. I learned in school that freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin (Thank you, Miss Simmons). You just can’t yell “Fire” in a crowded theater…in other words, put other people at risk. Lastly, do a wee bit of homework, dear. The fact that a huge amount of precious time was wasted is not in dispute by any reasonable person.

      1. Charla G Avatar
        Charla G

        Louise,
        You make excellent points. The Ebola crisis led the US government to prepare for the next pandemic. Agencies ranging from the CIA, NSA, and State Department to the CDC, Health and Human Services, etc. learned from that and had extensive plans in place for the next time. Well, the coronavirus was the next time, but the Trump administration completely ignored all the planning.

        We know that Trump was informed in January numerous times, in intelligence briefings that he ignored. Heck, Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.; Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga.; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Ca sold stock right before the stock market tanked. They had been briefed on the coming crisis; do you think Trump wasn’t briefed as well?

        Then there were the images coming from China and Italy. My husband started stockpiling supplies in February, and he’s just an ordinary American who watches the news. So anyone who gives Trump a free pass because “no one could have seen this coming” is just making excuses.

      2. Denise Downs Avatar
        Denise Downs

        I second that opinion.

    3. lou Avatar
      lou

      i read the whole post and didn’t think joe’s ‘platform’ was his ‘hatred’ of tRUMP. the prez did a terrible job on warning the people of america, playing down the risk of covid19 and joe said so. he talks much more about his father and gardening and reading and raising kids the right way, with accountability. i think it’s sad that you jump all over him because he doesn’t agree with your politics. shame on YOU for taking a small bit of the post and making it seem like that’s all he’s referencing

    4. LDSA Avatar
      LDSA

      He’s right. The helmet is just as effective at treating COVID as HCQ. Trump lies, people die. We have an
      incompetent POTUS and the whole world sees it. Sorry, you’re in a cult.

  2. Julia Avatar
    Julia

    Yes!!

  3. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    Joe,
    While I worry that you may ostracize some of your customers, I have to thank you for making me laugh. This is hilarious! Sad, but hilarious!
    Thanks!
    Chris

  4. Wilma Van Arragon Avatar
    Wilma Van Arragon

    Hi Joe. Love your blog… now I am even MORE happy and proud to be your customer!!!! Thank you!!! Can’t wait to get the supplies I ordered, but certainly understand the delay ❤️

  5. Elaine Sheridan Avatar

    Loved your rant. I am voting for anyone whose name isn’t Trump.

  6. Sally Bloch Avatar

    Thank you so much for your post. I am now not only a lifelong, loyal customer, but will do my best to direct my friends to your company. I so appreciate your use of creativity, intelligence, and wit to make some very important points. Thanks for that!

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      We need all the help we can get! 🙂

  7. Louise Thompson Avatar
    Louise Thompson

    Amazing. Thank you for this, Joe, and Henry :-).

  8. Maria Salvucci Avatar
    Maria Salvucci

    Joe, I very much enjoyed your thoughts as we struggle to control our lives during this horrific virus. Your helmet is a perfect combatant to the virus and I think you should send one to Trump. Oh wait, he would never wear it because then he would be setting an example for the American people. How would that look if he was not shoulder to shoulder with his cronies wearing protective gear!
    I understand your concern about our young people complaining about boredom. Their world is such a different place than ours was growing up. The events of the past 20 years have influenced their lives in such a profound ways-911, Katrina, school shootings, rise of hate groups, Trump… The increase of anxiety and depression in young people is off the charts. Keep Henry smiling and interacting with his friends. That’s so important!! Stay safe, stay healthy!

  9. Cynthia Mitchell Avatar
    Cynthia Mitchell

    Well Joe, I love getting your expertise on mosaic but was not expecting to read another attact on OUR President.
    I may be your only customer that supports our President , but I doubt it. This didn’t sit well with me.
    Your political opinion is your own and I just wish you didn’t use your business platform to express it.
    #inittogether
    #AmericaFirst
    #WeWillPrevail

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      I’ve noticed that you describe my pointing out what the President did in February as opinion. If you or I said such irresponsible things in our jobs and got people killed, we would be on trial for second-degree murder and facing endless civil suits. I spent February warning friends and relatives. I spent January getting my own house in order. The information Trump had is at least that old.

      1. Susan Cravey Avatar
        Susan Cravey

        Joe, I totally agree with you…and I’m glad you called him out. He is a clear and present danger to our country and I’ll never understand why his supporters don’t see this. Thank you for your comments! The hats are amazing!

  10. Roberta Avatar
    Roberta

    Great story Joe…I really enjoyed reading it. And I love your helmet!

  11. Dorothy Jazemski Avatar

    So very cute and creative. Jsut what the world needs right now….whimsy and lots of smiles.

  12. Lisa B Avatar

    Now that I know you’re such a great guy I have more of a reason to order from you whenever possible! Your son is lucky to have such a great father. Love those helmets!!!

  13. Gail Avatar
    Gail

    Not the right forum to trash the President. Very disappointed.

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      How is it trashing the President to point out what he did in February? If you or I said such irresponsible things in our jobs and got people killed, we would be on trial for second-degree murder and facing endless civil suits. I spent February warning friends and relatives. I spent January getting my own house in order. The information Trump had is at least that old.

    2. Jill Gatwood Avatar

      I figured somebody would be bothered by the perspective on Trump. Here is my take:
      1. You should be more disappointed by a president who lies in disturbing ways almost every time he opens his mouth.
      2. Your president is obviously a big supporter of the 1st Amendment with his constant vulgar insults for even members of his own party who disagrees with him. Oh wait, but he doesn’t support the free press. I would think you’d hold him to a higher standard.
      3. Speaking of the first amendment, this is Joe’s blog and he can express himself however he likes.

      1. Joe Moorman Avatar
        Joe Moorman

        Hi Jill,

        The problem is that those customers are free to buy elsewhere. 🙂 But when someone puts my mother’s life at risk and puts the stability of the United States at risk, I am going to say something. Some things are more important than selling mosaic tile. If I am a “shame” or a “disgrace” for saying speaking out about this lack of leadership and character and concern for people’s lives, then I am proud to do so whatever they call me.

  14. Robin Peckover Avatar
    Robin Peckover

    I love your creativity, Joe, and identify with your great work ethic. Your son is a fortunate child to have your mentoring….and I agree with the premise of your very fun helmet (re fighting the virus). A few years ago, being a huge Harry Potter fan, I made a lot of “Dark Arts” potions using bottles, stoneware jars etc and with names like Bat’s Blood (from Transylvania), Mermaid Tears, Acromantula Venom and so on. I thought it would be fun to post them to FBook and suggest that they might be as useful right now as anything else recommended by our leaders….unfortunately I don’t think many people got the joke. I love your ramblings and hope you stay safe during these times. . Robin

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      What a coincidence! I have been looking for a bottle of Acromantula Venom. I need to remove a wart.

      1. Robin Peckover Avatar
        Robin Peckover

        HaHa! If you are serious about the wart then try tea tree oil a few times a day for a week! Robin

  15. Cynthia Wood Avatar
    Cynthia Wood

    Wonderful lessons you are teaching. Love your helmet! Stay safe.

  16. Siona Avatar
    Siona

    Love it!

  17. Jill Gatwood Avatar

    Great post! Love the helmets, the Dump rant and especially the tadpole ponds!

  18. Jessica Soffer Avatar
    Jessica Soffer

    I said to my dentist once that he might have made a business decision by having an anti-Hillary bumper sticker on his car. I meant it. You, Joe, may also be making a business decision with your tRump rant. I’ll be placing an order TODAY!!
    Don’t like frogs, love your ponds, property, helmets and writing skills!! HAPPY SPRING!!

    1. Louise Thompson Avatar
      Louise Thompson

      Maybe Joe Moorman has joined the ranks of businessmen like Bill Penzey, of Penzey’s spices. He has been ranting on the same elephant in the room for 3 years, and his business is better than ever. People are starving for the truth :-).

  19. Leslie Avatar
    Leslie

    Well said. I couldn’t agree more. Sounds like you are doing a great job in the parenting department. Your son will carry the values you learned as a child with him as he becomes a parent himself.
    As a psychologist i often see parents take the easy way out (kids can break us down in a heartbeat) and relinquish to electronics. Keep him in That garden as long as you can, dad, – and let him game. 👍👊✋👏💪

  20. Sally S Avatar
    Sally S

    I knew I liked you for a reason…just wish you’d have shared your virus theory in Feb…I’m STILL not able to find TP or Lysol!!‼️😳
    And love the C. Helmet, BTW!

    1. mlaiuppa Avatar
      mlaiuppa

      I’m still looking for hand sanitizer and wipes.

      But I was lucky. I stocked up on TP and paper towels on sale in January by coincidence. Also had canned goods and pasta. But couldn’t find lentils and split peas until this week.

      But I have flour, eggs, milk and butter. And I know how to use them. While I have a bread machine if the power goes I can do by hand and gas stove during daylight hours.

      I’ll bet YouTube has heavy traffic for people who are just now learning how to cook from scratch.

  21. Jane Carper Avatar

    Love your posts. I was sorry you were closed when I tried to order stuff but I know it was necessary!! Here is how my husband and I have been keeping busy!
    I was asked if I have been doing any jigsaw puzzles lately to fill in the time we are spending at home. I said that my husband Terry and I have been working on a very large puzzle. It’s a 8 X 19 foot mosaic I have been doing for AID’s Help and it will go on the wall of Marty’s Place by the High School. I am so glad of this job. We have been happily working at home. Here are some photos. I will post a finished one when that happens. We have done 9 feet of the 19 foot mosaic. Check it out!
    http://www.keywestjane.com/index.html

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      Thanks! Nice work. Please email me pics when it is finished.

  22. TERRY CARVAJAL Avatar
    TERRY CARVAJAL

    Brilliant and very well said. You nailed it!!

  23. Jane Glotzer Avatar

    Agree with Jill! Great post, rant against the prez, and parenting tips! Keep it up 👍🏼

  24. Valerie Wright Avatar
    Valerie Wright

    Enjoyed your story and the helmets rock!
    The tadpole pond is wonderful!
    Glad to see you and your business are surviving the “Dumpster” debacle, looking forward to a time when artists can work again.

  25. Yolanda Bergman Avatar

    THanks Joe – so much! Well written and very funny. I love the helmut.

  26. Jane Avatar
    Jane

    I’d ask you to run for President but then you’d have to give up the mosaic business and tadpole pond building and that just wouldn’t be right. So I’ll just say, “Right On!”

  27. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    Thank you! It was so delightful to know the personal side of mosaic supply. I very much enjoyed your story , especially the message to your mother on Fox News. Stay safe and the best to all in your neck of the woods!

  28. al ciletti Avatar
    al ciletti

    Dear Joe, What a fabulous essay – and helmet – in such a weird time. I think you nailed the entire ethos of America right now: Trump, Coronavirus, bored entitled children. I hope you don’t get backlash from some of the Donald’s more ardent supporters. All I can say is that I liked you before…but I LOVE you now!!!! Keep up the good fight, brother!!

  29. Louise Roberts Avatar
    Louise Roberts

    Great story

  30. Ronnie Michael Avatar
    Ronnie Michael

    Love your helmet! So nice to create with your son. I also liked your observations of parents and children today. Spot on.

  31. Kitty Avatar
    Kitty

    All so true! And it was the helmet that I noticed first…because
    some guy in our neighborhood, well, the entire hood of his car looks just like your helmets.

  32. Susan Sweeney Avatar
    Susan Sweeney

    I really enjoyed this! Those words are very appropriate, pretty much required for the last 3+ years. I tell my daughter that Only boring people get bored 😉

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      That is so true! If you have imagination and curiosity, you are rarely if ever bored, and then it is usually because you are trapped with other people in some group activity like a meeting or lecture.

  33. Teresita Doebley Avatar
    Teresita Doebley

    Nice to read while I’m taking a break from cooking. Love the tadpole pond especially.

  34. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    I have always enjoyed your posts and have learned a lot. Today I learned more about you, and now admire you more than ever. I’m glad you are staying safe. Your helmet is keeping you safer than anything the Rump does or says. Except for the fact now I want to see it in person. 😊

    Be well, stay safe, stay sane.

  35. Lynn McLeod Avatar
    Lynn McLeod

    Dear Joe – I’ve always enjoyed and learned from your posts, and it’s a big plus to learn about you personally – your creativity and sense of humor are a goofy surprise. It’s pretty brave for a small-business man who depends on people of different political persuasions to be so up front about Orangeman. So refreshing! However, it is just possible that parents now are not raising monsters, love their kids and try to raise them with the right values, have lost one or both incomes, are trying to homeschool them with no prior experience, feel a dry cough coming on and haven’t been able to sleep. Just sayin’…

    I will stay tuned – Lynn

  36. Ethel Jaske Avatar
    Ethel Jaske

    My youngest grandson is always saying he is bored. He wants to play on the computer all day. I wish he had a chance to live in the environment of your childhood. It is so great to know there are parents who still try to teach their children good work and living ethics. I think I will copy your covid 19 helmet if you don’t mind. My grandchild uses a helmet and maybe this activity will be fun and help him think about our currant situation. You impress me!
    Ethel Jaske

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      THANKS! Just be careful with the hot glue gun. It sticks to skin and burns. What I did with my son is let him pick out pieces and placement for the objects on his helmet, and I did the actual gluing. I did give him feedback on different design principles such as color contrast, size transition, and thematic concerns. Always be looking for teaching examples with children and always be showing them something.

  37. Linda Avatar
    Linda

    Enjoyed reading this and knowing you a little bit better!

  38. Michelle Legler Avatar

    Bravo!!!
    Loved every single bit of it!!
    And the TRUTH is so refreshing these days!!! Soooooo tired of the lies.
    Thank you!

  39. Lisa Ramirez Avatar

    Thank you for speaking out against the nightmare in the White house, and with such great humor! I love your products and the educational information that you share so generously!

  40. Andrea Strongwater Avatar

    Absolutely LOVE the helmets! and the rest of the blog.

  41. Kymberly Henson Avatar
    Kymberly Henson

    Great post! Loved every bit of it.
    But let’s get some info on how you attached all the little goofy toys to the helmet!

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      Hi Kymberly,

      Thanks for reminding me! I forgot about that little detail. 🙂 I used a hot glue gun because I was gluing plastic to plastic. I should state here that hot glue guns should not be used for mosaic art. The glue and its adhesion to glass is greatly compromised at low temperatures and can pop right off the glass.

      1. mlaiuppa Avatar
        mlaiuppa

        Now you tell me.

        I’m having to use epoxy to re-glue pieces of glass to the bottom of my fountain because they popped and the grout didn’t hold them in. Not all, just a few. Still, it’s annoying. I think when we originally attached the glass to the mesh backing we used hot glue because I figured the thin set underneath would adhere to the glass and the grout would also keep it in place.

        Of course, this was about 15 years ago so there wasn’t a lot of information on the internet to walk me through the process.

  42. Rita S Avatar
    Rita S

    Excellent commentary – thanks for sharing!
    I like to support businesses that line up with my beliefs, when possible.

  43. stella hastie Avatar
    stella hastie

    Hi, Joe,
    Thank you for sharing more of your life with us, customers!
    Now I know more who you are: a great parent, a creative and humorous individual, a person of courage (that difficult and essential quality that many current officials so desperately lack). Indeed, you’ve taken a great risk with the no-matter-what-mess-trumpers by calling out the terrible job the president has done with his managing the corona virus response. Because in this case, as is your own mother’s case, it’s absolutely true that this president is endangering our lives and lives of our loved ones.
    Now when placing an order, I’ll be happy to buy my tiles from a wonderful human being, unafraid to let us know who is and what he thinks.

  44. Pat Ransom Avatar
    Pat Ransom

    Love your article about the Coronavirus. Wish I had the guts to send it to my sister who is a true trump and Fox News supporter. I don’t understand how his supporters can listen to his lies, watch him fire anyone that doesn’t agree with him or condone his narcissistic personality. God help us all and keep us safe during these scary times

  45. Laura Robinson Avatar
    Laura Robinson

    I happen to agree with your opinion about our president and loved your take on the Coronavirus, but even if I didn’t I’d still be putting my order in today and willing to wait till you reopen. I’ve been ordering mosaic materials online for 15 years and your site is the best place to order from with the best customer service, not to mention your blog and all the educational materials you post on line. Thanks for your time and efforts.

  46. Grandmom who misses grand kids!!! Avatar
    Grandmom who misses grand kids!!!

    Hi Joe- loved the helmet!! Questions about it- just a glue gun or something heavier and is it heavy to wear- Also do you think an 8 year old set of twins would find them fun if they got them in the mail?

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      Hi Margie!
      These are too heavy to be practical and present a neck-injury risk due to the weight. And so they aren’t practical to be worn during play, but they tend to amaze children. I think some eight-year-old kids would love to get something like this from their grandmom. Just be careful with the hot glue gun!

  47. Christine Lombardi Avatar
    Christine Lombardi

    Loved your political comments and I agree. I applaud your courage to say what you think even though you know you may alienate some readers. Also have always enjoyed your informative mosaic articles. Stay safe.

  48. Katie Walton Avatar

    Thank you for your courage and showing us your helmet, explaining yourself and sharing who you are outside of the mosaic world. Keep sharing and posting your helmet with the country. I love mosaic art supply, and am so grateful to mosaic art for helping me cope with all this chaos. You rock!

  49. Janine Willis Avatar
    Janine Willis

    Trump has finally met his match with the virus. Can’t fire it, bully it, get dirt on it’s family, pay it $175,000 to go away, etc.

    He’ll can LIE about it – and he does constantly – but Americans are still going to be getting sick and DYING and it’s going to take a long time to get our economy back on track because of the mess he made. I am no big fan of Biden but once again, we need SOMEBODY to come in and clean up the mess so it looks like he’s the one.

    Enjoyed your very level-headed comments and love the helmet!

  50. Jim Baird Avatar
    Jim Baird

    Your helmet inspired me to make one for our garden scarecrow. Can I send a photo?

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      Please do! inspire [at] mosaicartsupply.com.

  51. Deborah Avatar
    Deborah

    Joe, I’m relatively new to mosaics and even newer to your website. I was immediately hooked on the latter because of your informal tone and the incredible breadth of your topics! (E.g., building a tadpole pond and a native-American garden with your son). I loved your rant about raising resourceful, self-sufficient kids (who won’t return to live in your basement after college because they’ll be too busy doing things!)–I wish I’d written that myself.

    It seems to me that your life–and this website–is very much a mosaic. It’s full of small and large experiences and thoughts that you somehow fit together into a coherent and beautiful (to most of us) piece each month. And so are the comments you’re receiving on your comments about “Death-Count Donald.” Some people didn’t like them, but most did. Sort of like you might use an odd color or texture to emphasize a part of the overall mosaic piece. They serve as contrast, lest you think you’re talking only to those who agree with you. It’s important to have that diversity of comments, so that we can learn what they’re thinking when they continue to support him.

    I hope you will continue to talk about whatever occurs to you as you sit down to write your blog. When I first started reading it, I thought that the writer must be an engineer! It’s great to see how you apply your engineering (and other) outlook to art, child raising, and all other matters. Gives me a completely different perspective, although I usually agree with you. And that’s always healthy.

    Stay safe, and thank you for being you!

    Deborah

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      Hi Deborah,

      Thanks for the kind words. I’m working around the clock and don’t have time to moderate comments.

      The way I see it is that we have a President who routinely lies about what he said on camera just a few days or weeks ago and Tweets conspiracy theories about his critics.

      There are people on the left and right who understand how toxic that is for civil discourse, and then there are those whose minds have already been corrupted by too many conspiracy theories.

      That latter group won’t be posting on my website.

  52. Canela Ajena Avatar

    Personally, I love the helmet!

  53. Amanda Walker Avatar
    Amanda Walker

    Wow. Bummer. I went to the blog to learn about mosaic art…and here’s this guy using this platform to share his political brilliance and personal insults. Why? Can’t people be happy with the numerous social media sites? Singers should sing, actors should act, athletes should athlete, and mosaic artists should mosaic. Totally turned off by this guy and if he’s on the blog, then I assume he represents this business. I will look elsewhere.

    1. Joe Moorman Avatar
      Joe Moorman

      Hi Amanda,

      Actually these articles are very relevant to this business. I personally lost over one quarter million dollars in less than three years on goods that have never been produced in the US. Also, as a manufacturing engineer, my former peers tell me that the tariffs severely hurt American manufacturers by raising the costs of their parts. Also, we have lost over $5000 in lost packages since DeJoy removed USPS’s sorting machines to sabotage mail-in voting.

      If statements of fact offend your politics, then your politics could use some work.

      Posting those articles was the most unintentionally wise thing I ever did as a business. Overnight we lost virtually all of that small percentage of customers that don’t read product descriptions and complain about everything.

      1. Wilma Van Arragon Avatar
        Wilma Van Arragon

        Dear Joe. Several years ago, I made a commitment to intentionally support business that reflect my views of social and environmental justice. It is one of the reasons I only buy mosaic supplies from you. Plus, your products and customer service are excellent!! Keep up the good work, and thank you!!

    2. Louise Thompson Avatar
      Louise Thompson

      Ok :-).
      Bye, Felicia!

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