... create an aigret...
It would never occur to me to set anything on a plume of feathers (but then again, I don't have the benefit of a Texas A&M education). What did you really mean?
The price of typing on a phone - with "autospell"...
"air-gap" was the intended word. And you are right - somehow both A&M and you benefitted by your absence there.
Some further thinking..... I think I know why this glass broke in the manner it did.
The edged being cut and polished in the "sculpted" manner of the top design created un-even stress points around the edge of the glass. The heat source was likely not centered - nor could the heat generated be evenly distributed throughout the glass . This caused un-even temperatures, and - un-even expansion of the glass in it's circumference. (albeit on a microscopic level - the expansion/contraction of glass is calculable). The un-even stress from the heat caused the glass to break.