Everyone who is interested in the free school is invited to join us for a potluck/meeting at Traditions on Sunday, August 17, from 3pm to 5:30pm!

Please join us for a celebration of zines!

Sunday, June 1
4 - 6:30 p.m.
at the Olympia Free School, 610 Columbia St.

There will be a potluck, readings, and opportunities to trade zines! The purpose of the event is to bring people together in hopes of sharing ideas and making new friends. Everyone who is interested in zines and DIY publishing is welcome! The event is all ages and absolutely free. For more information, please write to olympiazines(at)gmail(dot)com.

(Bonding over hardware)

For months the free dryer from Matt and Jess (see Shower of Sparks post) had been acting up, getting hot under the collar and in the sheets - in fact, burning hot.

How hot was it?

It was so hot that the smoke detector would go off from the heat when we'd open the door.

It was so hot that Trish's sheets (for Heartspeak Massage) would come out too hot to handle and with brown scorch marks. More like Heat-speck massage.

It was so hot that we feared leaving the dryer running if we had to do an errand. In fact, we feared leaving the dryer running longer than 15 minutes at a time.

Ever adaptable, we'd run it for 15 minutes, quickly open the door so it would stop and shut it before the alarm went off. Repeat if clothes still damp.

Since I knew that Grampa Dave had experience salvaging major appliances I kept "Fix Dryer" on his agenda for the holiday visit. Eventually, the day came when we tore the thing apart and found a burnt-out thermostat.

See the itty-bitty numbers? This is the L145-15F, an outflow thermostat for a GE clothes dryer.

Harold's appliance in Lacey had one in stock. They also sell fast-ons, which help join wire to tabs by way of goofy loopys (the technical term).

These have fancy blue insulators as well.

Make unique wallets that reflect your personal style! The library will provide all the materials needed, but feel free to bring any images you'd like to use. This program is for teens and older. Sponsored by the Friends of the Olympia Timberland Library. Call the library for more info: 352-0595.

PS- if you'd like to see some real Poketo wallets, here's a link!