Author: peterb51

10th September 2025

I’m sick and tired of being taken for a fool, I’m fed up with being fobbed off with technobabble.

Today I took the plunge and erased the hard drive of my MacBook Pro.

There were a number of faults and things that pissed me off, so finally I wanted to clear it out and start again.

Oh the erasing bit was easy, I opened it again in recovery mode and chose to reinstall the operating system. That is where things started to go bad. The main thing was I couldn’t open up the apps store, crucial in finding the old OS to reinstall. It kept coming up with an error message.  I did it several times with the same result, my only option was to contact Apple support and try to get help from people that know.

The first guy didn’t really have much of an idea, I expect he was just a child when I bought this laptop. As we were floundering about, I checked my Apple account and the status of all my devices. My MacBook was there, but there was a note that this device couldn’t receive any verification codes. I thought that is why I cannot log into the apps store. That was dismissed as not the cause of the problem. 

I think this reached the limit of this chaps ability, so he suggested that I get a call from another expert. I agreed a time for the call, and waited.

At the agreed time the phone rang and I was through to an expert from Texas. 

I went through my issues slowly and the lady at the other end listened patiently. 

She then started to try to help me. I mention this note in my devices list, but that was fobbed of, something about servers being updated.

She mentioned that my machine was old, I reminded her that there are a lot of old cars on the road, and they can be fixed, so why can’t my computer? She then went off on a tangent using words I’d never heard off, my patience was wearing thin. Finally her answer was to go to a third party store and get them to reinstall the software from a disc, the closest one was in Grand Rapids, and that was it, a billion dollar company could work out how to solve my problem. 

The other thing that annoyed me was something I won on an auction on EBay.

It was at a really low price because I was the only bidder. Anyway I paid for it, and the very next day I had a refund. When I messaged the seller he told me his storage room had been broken into and everything was smashed.

Now that was bloody convenient, I then went to his feedback and there was another case where someone won an auction and paid a low price. Then there was a flood and the item got water damaged, I guess there is no honour amongst scoundrels.

9th September 2025?

There are some rude, and ignorant drivers over here.

I was taking a package to the UPS store for Kelli, on the way there was a lane closure ahead, so I indicated that I needed to pull over into the lane that was moving. Car after car drove past me not wanting to let me in, it was slow moving, really easy to do it, but no. 

In the end I had to do an Italian lane change, when you stick your nose into the gap and then complete the change.

It is like everybody is in such a rush that they have no consideration for anyone else.

I’m surprised that no road rage episode occurred.

Did my business and returned home.

I cut up all the timber to make all the drawer boxes, without any mistakes, I was dead chuffed. I had fun getting the thickness right, the hose on my extraction kept blocking up, and blowing back through the thicknesser, making a mess on the floor. After each plank I had to stick my arm down the hose to loosen the blockage, now I know what a vet feels like when he sticks his arm up a cow’s arse.

Kelli finished the two matching headboards in a bold blue, these were posted, and awaiting new owners.

8th September 2025

A drive to Hamilton was on the cards to collect a tall mid century style dresser. It was a pleasant journey into the unknown. The vast corn fields are soon to be harvested, but the scale of the fields are huge. The watering system resembles the skeleton of a dinosaur, a huge metal structure of tubes and jets tower over the crops, and the amount of water it delivers could easily wash the front and back of our house and include our truck.

On the way, we passed, what looked like a pine wardrobe laying on its back. Kelli almost wanted to stop and load it, but we needed to collect the dresser first. We made a note of the road, and drove on to our destination. The dresser was outside waiting for us, it seemed a decent piece, so in the back of the truck it went, now we headed back to inspect the piece by the roadside.

Cautiously we approached the place, there lying on its back  was a wardrobe with a smashed door. What was odd there were two long threaded rods extending through the floor, and a metal box with a slot attached to the inside of a panel. I think it was Kelli that realised that this was a display cabinet that the place set out for its home grown vegetables, that had blown over, quickly we scarpered from the scene.

I have often thought that one day we will take something that we believed was for free, and it’s not.

I managed to buy timber for the drawer boxes that I have to make, and Kelli wanted to paint the headboards that we collected on Saturday, we achieved both as well as our weekly shopping expedition.

7th September 2025

We took a bike ride to the park, passing the lake made me appreciate where I’m living. There was a big ship that regularly brings gravel into the dock starting its journey back to the big lake.

Days like these are great, it’s not boiling hot, it was just right, and I was looking forward to getting to do the assembly of the kitchen island.

It was a deliberately slow build, I wretched over everything. Checking each panel was square in all planes, each piece came together well. Although I was dealing with an old door that was not perfectly flat in places I was still relieved when I stood back to look at the structure in front of me.

Our neighbour Debs, stopped by to show us a small table she had just collected, it had a few white marks on the stained wooden to that she wanted me to remove.  Without going mad with it, I tackled them with a scalpel carefully scraping the offending  marks, then wiping over it with some scratch guard to add a bit of colour back, I’m confident that will be acceptable.

Kelli pulled off a remarkable deal with a lady further down South Shore who bakes sourdough bread, which I love. We picked up a loaf yesterday which is delicious.

The loaves are  stacked on a small brown shelf unit that she places at the side of the road. To illustrate how it blended into the landscape, I never saw it, and it was only when Kelli pointed it out to me, that I saw it.

Well Kelli offered to paint it a more striking colour to draw more attention to it, and we would do it for four loaves of sourdough bread, how brilliant is that?

6th September 2025

It was not worth putting on my work clothes even though I wanted to. My plan was to start building the kitchen island structure, I had been going over it in my mind most of the night. It dominated my dreams, figuring out how to keep everything square, including jigs and fixtures made out of all the scrap timber I’ve accumulated.

But all that evaporated once I got up. We had to go to Kelli’s niece’s baby shower somewhere in the depths of the Hudsonville.

That meant I had to dress appropriately, well Kelli acted as my stylist in choosing my attire.

That was not simple, the weather has changed towards a colder day. My first attempt looked fine but I felt a bit chilly, and if this event was being held outside, I needed something different.

All this was taking time, finally I arrived at a suitable collection of clothes.

We set off, aiming to get there fashionably late, on the way Kelli saw someone in car that had pulled over to the side of the road, frantically waving.

Thinking it was a person in trouble she turned at the next junction and headed back, this was despite me objecting loudly. I said it was more than likely a person trying to get the attention of a slow car that we had overtaken. Oh no, Kelli the Good Samaritan thought she was doing the right thing. As we headed back I could see the car was no longer there, hence we wasted time.

You hear stories of people trying to help someone, only to get robbed or killed, that was not my idea of a Saturday experience.

We eventually found the farm where the event was being held, it wasn’t a picturesque place, most farms here aren’t. It had a collection of cows and a turkey that looked older than god. The fact that thanksgiving was getting closer, it didn’t worry at all, there was not a scrap of meat on the poor thing. It waddled around moaning and complaining like all old people do.

There was a good spread of food laid on. I helped myself to some macaroni and cheese, and later three hot dogs. In all the time I’ve been here I’ve never had a hot dog, so in my mind I was just making up for lost time.

We stayed for a while, we unloaded the dresser that we were gifting, then we had to head back to Zeeland to collect two free headboards, she never misses a trick.

By the time we got home, taken the dogs for a walk around the lagoon it was time for more food .

Kelli had made a chicken pot pie earlier, that was delicious, so a day that started with food ended with food, perfect.

5th September 2025

We sold the two wicker headboards, they were picked up early, even before our breakfast.

Kelli was right again.

I wanted to get the structure components primed  which I did. However there is no amount of paint that will make an old door look good. That the only frustrating thing, I could use a ton of Bondo to fill every indent and hole, but I can’t, the lady even wants the hinges and door knob fitted.

It would have taken a lot less time to build it from scratch, and be a more enjoyable build, I just want to get it finished and handed over.

I met up with Lloyd for our rescheduled beer and winge session. There was a lot to talk about, he recently had to put his little dog Oliver, down.

That became a topic that expanded into a spiritual discussion about dog heaven.

4th September 2025

Well if my reader is still with me after yesterday’s rant, today is back with the work stuff.

I had my list of things I wanted to cover before going to my beer session with Lloyd.

I have to get the kitchen island finished this month, there is a chunk of cash that will help this month’s numbers.

I was outside early, it was chilly, too cold for shorts and short sleeves, I needed to cut the plywood for the base of the unit. I decided to use a skill saw instead of the circular one because it was heavy and an awkward. I set up a guide, checking and rechecking the measurements, and then went for the cut.

That went well.

I was on a roll, I managed to build the complete floor frame, a monumental moment, now everything can be primed and then the big build.

I managed all this because Lloyd couldn’t make today’s session, that is put off till tomorrow.

Kelli went off with Elaine for another Goodwill special returning with a pair of cain headboards.

Those went straight on to Marketplace.

I did get a reply to my plea for a Mac expert.

A lady responded saying that she had an older laptop that needs the same clean up done. I’m not sure if that helps me, but if she is successful then maybe I could learn what to do.

3rd September 2025

What we have been waiting for happened in abundance today, it rained, all day.

The downside was I couldn’t do the work I had planned, which was not good.

So really the day was a waste, I was reduced to trying to fix a laptop that needs a good clear out. In the end I had to put a plea out to the community to see if there was a Mac expert out there.

We did manage to finish a dresser that we are giving to Kelli’s niece as a gift for her new baby.

We are getting closer to the eleventh of September that terrible day in history when the twin towers were attacked and destroyed.

There has alway speculation about that, and I’ve got a few questions myself.

1. Where were the military fighters? There are air force installations all around NYC, and none were deployed, why was that ?
2. They say the fuel from the planes melted the steel structure, although that burns at a maximum temperature of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, steel would melt at 2700 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. There were people visible waving towels from the windows, if things were that hot, they would have been burnt to a crisp.
4. When the towers collapsed, there was nothing identifiable, no office chairs or desks, no computers nothing, but they found the passports of the terrorists.
5. There was another plane that hit the ground so hard it buried itself into the ground with no wreckage, people aren’t even allowed to use metal detectors on the site.
6. There was one plane the was supposed to hit the pentagon, that made a hole in the wall smaller than a plane, and again no wreckage.

You can’t make this stuff up, but you can ask what was the plan? 

This led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussain, who really benefited from that?

I can’t now sit around and not think about stuff, and neither should you. What is happening in the UK is part of a plan, and the people can’t see it, it’s right in front of their eyes.

The people need to plan to take the country back, before it’s taken away from them.

DO YOUR RESEARCH!

2nd September 2025

There was a second flood, not so bad, but that was after I replaced the water intake valve.

Everything went well, I followed the instructions to the letter. Undoing the correct screws, taking off the plastic covers and releasing the proper clips, the valve was replaced easily. The problem came once I reassembled the unit, I noticed that the valve was not straight, although it wouldn’t have made any difference, I removed the covers again, and repositioned the valve so it sat correctly. 

In doing that, a metal clip and plastic part fell down inside, which meant the covers had to come off again. I didn’t want to remove them completely because I was worried about aligning everything up, but I had no choice. I located both parts, and with the aid of a telescopic magnet retrieved the metal clip. I also managed to find a get the plastic part. By now Kelli had arrived to help with the reassembly.

With everything in place it was a case of opening up the water supply, and start the machine. 

Kelli loaded it with clothes and started it up.

The water started to fill, I stood and watched as the level rose. My heart was pounding, as it continued to fill without any sign of stopping, we had to intervene and stop the cycle.

Now I was pissed, we had a washing machine full of water, and a device that still wasn’t working.

What happened next was a mystery, I thought that Kelli had put it on spin to pump out the water, but somehow it continued to fill, now spilling on the floor. Luckily I spotted it, and we contained the flood to the laundry room floor.

We managed to suck out the water, and I went on the internet to find out what the problem could be. I had my suspicions that it was the pressure switch. That was confirmed by my findings. There were a couple of checks that I could do to see if the switch was faulty, but we had to take it apart again. Now we were experts, and it didn’t take us long to find the problem.

Somehow, during the last reassembly, the plastic tube that connects to the pressure switch had become dislodged. With that refitted, and the machine once again rebuilt, we went for another test. This time we did a small load. The water started to fill, slowly the level rose, there was a pounding sound, that was my heart, then it happened, the water stopped all by itself, we had fixed it!

What started out as a simple job had take a few hours, but I am proud to say that we are now fully fledged experts at washing machine repairs.

1st September 2025

It’s Labour Day over here, the official end of summer, and it sucks. The summer was a slow start that became savage, so much so that it was difficult to be outside, the AC bills were high, and people complained about it. Imagine complaining because it’s hot, in five months time the same will complain that it’s flipping cold, you can’t win.

I will miss the warmth, working outside is great, I can hear the birds, watch the cars on south shore, and see the people walking their dogs.

Hopefully there will still be a reasonable amount of sun left to enjoy.

However today I am a little sad because about now I usually start to plan my visit back to the UK, but not this time. I’ve decided not to travel because I have so much outside work that I want to do here that I can’t afford the time. There are trees that have to be trimmed, new fences to be built and big changes to the garden that I want to do before the cold weather arrives. 

I hope to return in March, and then get back to my regular routine.

I had a visit from my friend Chris who I used to do a lot of recording with. He moved away ten years ago, and although we kept in touch, he recently mentioned that he wanted us to work together again, so he visited to talk it through.

For me it would be fun, but a bit daunting because I’ve probably forgotten everything, so I need to reacquaint myself with the software.

We are coming to the end of our twelve hour documentary, and it’s been an experience.

All I can say is, history, like the joke about nostalgia, it isn’t what it used to be.

Frogs are very important in our household, there are frog ornaments all over the place. In pride of place is the pond where, recently we were given frogs to populate it. Every morning there is a pilgrimage to see how many are visible. There is excitement if we hear a plop, but even more if there is one chilling on a rock.

There was excitement yesterday when Kelli rushed in breathless saying that water was gone from the pond. Both myself and Chris rushed out, and sure enough the level was really low.

Somehow it had happened over quite a short duration of time, so I wasn’t convinced there was a leak, but the priority was to refill the pond with the stored water we had. That wasn’t easy, but I rigged up a pump and used it to fill watering cans that were then dumped into the pond.

Poor Chris was standing watching us madly trying to fill the pond to save the frogs.

Most of the water in the barrels was gone, but the level in the pond was stable, I believed that the fountain had tilted and shot the water out into the surrounding ground.

We checked it periodically, and there was not any drop in level, so panic over, no frogs were harmed in the writing of this blog.