09.10.1978 Contact with Hemiksem and Brazil comes into the picture

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History

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The end of his active career is approaching, but Alfred is not yet thinking about stopping. He continues to search for new technical possibilities and buys a few more pieces, even though he knows it won't be many years before he has to close the door. :!: See work material. Frau Schünzel is also no longer there to package the glass. Glassblowing is done on his own with a pensioner who is also an invalid and for whom he does not have to pay social security contributions. Alfred breathes glass and cannot and will not stop yet. At the same time, he looks to the past and seeks contact with Dolf Cauwenberghs, who worked for Alfred in Hemiksem. Among other things, he made the wooden moulds for blowing the glass. He no longer has Dolf's address, so he sends a letter to the town council asking for information so that he can contact Dolf after so many years. :!: See Cauwenberghs.

Health

Alfred was troubled by his knee. He receives two injections in the knee after which he is relieved of the pain. The doctor tells him not to give too many injections. It is probably cortisone. His nose is also bothering him and he gets an ointment for that, but he stops using it because it gives him a constantly running nose, especially along the right nostril. :!: See prescriptions.

Customers

By working alone with the help of a retired invalid, Alfred was still able to cope with the work, although he did make some mistakes. For example, a shipment was not properly packed and some of the goods were found to be broken upon arrival at the customer's premises. :!: See GVD. At another customer, there were some lids that did not fit. :!: See Schieche. Besides these 2 customers, he also works for other customers, which means that he actually had to work almost 7/7, but glass was his life and he needed to live. :!: See customers. Rolf Ehlke of Cristal Blumenau in Brazil comes back into the picture. He had visited Alfred in 1972 together with a German. On 28 May, the German contacted Alfred again, asking for the recipe for ruby glass for Blumenau. The German thought he might try it, but of course it does not work like that. This is clear from his comments on the letter, which I cannot quite link to. Eventually, a few years later, Alfred would go to Brazil. :!: See Blumenau.

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