Stacking the Kiln

It's always much easier to stack the kiln with greenware in the evening than to restack it exactly the same way the next morning at 6am.
For one thing - the evening before - you're awake! Your mind is clicking right along and computes space wondrously. Ah yes ..... that piece will exactly fit in that small cubbyhole between the cup handle and that funny shaped bowl with a half-inch margin between the side walls to boot.
The next morning your mind is fogged over and the ceiling of your attention is very low. It's like trying to re-assemble a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.
It would be really nice to be able to leave the pieces in the kiln once they were stacked. But the garage gets much too cold overnight. The temperature differentiation between frozen greenware and applied heat would cause all kinds of unwanted fissures.
And even though, when you removed the pieces from the kiln the evening before and stacked them on the kitchen counter in the exact same configuration . . . .
Well, the next morning - garbed in fleece-lined winter boots, an Alaska parka and woolen mittens - it seems like an impossible fit.

The weatherman promised 39 degrees today. I hope he's right. For at that temperature the house heat will take the chill off the garage. Of course, with the door open between the house and the garage, it makes the kitchen, dining area and living room a wee bit chilly.
I have the bird here in the computor room so he won't expire due to the cold draft.
But i sure am worried about that funny shaped piece which fit in the kiln so well last night. This morning it wouldn't co-operate at all. So! It's in a rather precarious position.
Happy stacking days to y'all.
Chae