Author: peterb51

8th October 2020

The paving slabs arrived today, they were heavy buggers.

This was delivered on a big truck, and off-loaded onto our driveway using a forklift that attaches to the back of the lorry, very neat.

Then I had the wonderful task of carrying each one from the front to the back, thirty times.

I had to laugh out loud because I was curious to see what they would look like in place. I carried a few over to the concrete slab and laid them in position, I then stood back. The colour of the slabs (Marble grey) was not that far from the colour of the slab itself, so I have spent a lot of money to get an extra two inches in height.

I know as part of the great scheme of things they will look great, but I may have to put signs around warning people what things are new.

7th October 2020

It was a pleasant autumnal day the temperature was in the sixties and the sun was shining down on the turning leaves of the many maple trees.

It is a beautiful time of year, and working outside is great.

We had a number of pieces that were close to completing, it would be good to get them in this weeks numbers.

We dragged the dresser that we got from Goodwill out of the truck, it was not in a bad condition and may require a quick paint job. The only contentious point was the top, it was a laminate, usually we usually replace it as they are difficult to rejuvenate, this one was in good condition, but would we want to sell it that way?

I continued to sand the fronts from the free dressers, this will be a labour of love to get these anywhere near ready.

We went to New Holland for our regular Stein night treat, then back for the Vice Presidential debate, and an excuse for Kelli to shout at the screen again.

The debate was another platform to spout party bullshit and not really answer any of the question thrown at them. The star of the show was a fly that had landed on Pence’s head, social media lit up flooding the platforms with every conceivable fly joke and reference, I think it won the debate.

6th October 2020

We wanted to get out and organise the paving slabs for the first part of the patio project.

We went to a couple of places to source them, the first gave us a delivery of three weeks, and the second could deliver on Thursday. These were more expensive, but would be good quality, and I wanted to get that part of the job completed before November.

We stopped at Goodwill for our regular fix and found yet another dresser to add to our collection, and as it was old gits day we got 20% off.

Kelli completed the hanging wardrobe so we attached it to the back fence to take pictures.

That went on Marketplace this afternoon.

The dresser was picked up late afternoon, there a number of pieces being worked on as well, I am expecting a bumper week.

Kelli did her annual sunroom move round,the not only confuses me but also the poor dogs who don’t know if they are coming or going.

I rigged up the new garden sprinkler to dampen the dirt, I’m not sure if I should, but as we hadn’t had rain for a couple of day I thought it was a good idea.

Kelli had a phone call from her son Cameron at about 12.30am. He was freaking out over a spider that he had in his living room. Granted is is only nearly thirty, so not so worldly ride about removing crawly objects from his home.

The way he described it was a monster of enormous proportions, arachnophobia gone wild. Kelli volunteered to take her crawly catcher and dispose of it for him.

So dressed like a ghostbuster she headed out to do the deed.

At least they didn’t kill it like so many of the Christian people around here would do. God’s creations around here don’t mean anything if it’s inside their homes, bloody hypocrites.

5th October 2020

The garage was rocking today.

I washed off the stain from the top of the dresser and sanded it back, it was a pig of a job.

Kelli started work on a hanging cabinet.

We tried not to get distracted by the antics that Covid infested Trump was doing on the network news.

I started stripping the drawer fronts from one of the free dressers we got last week, boy that was tedious. There are a total of sixteen drawers in the two units we had been given, then there will be the carcass’s to do afterwards.

We dragged the green dresser outside to take pictures. This was not a great piece, it was only the fact that it was free gave us any interest in it at all. But Kelli posted it on Marketplace at a very good price, and it sold very quickly, I guess our standards of taste are not the same as other people’s.

I wanted to really get ahead on the furniture to give me some time to concentrate on the patio. This small part will figure in the redevelopment of the back garden, it won’t be cheap but it will be cool.

For dinner Kelli made the most amazing stew, it was made from fake chicken and tasted great. The texture of the fake meat was very good, but I’m not sure I want to know what it is made from.

Mike had cut some branches off from two of our tree in the front garden, they didn’t seem very large growing on the tree, but once they were on the ground, they were massive.

I proceeded to cut off the small branches to be able to put them in our yard waste bin. As we are paying for it, we need to use it every week.

I managed to stuff about 75% of the stuff in the bin, stamping it down to maximise the internal area.

4th October 2020

The couple who bought the dresser that we rescued from the side of the road in June arrived to collect it. They had traveled from Portage near Kalamazoo, about an hour away. This would be the first sale of the month, a good start, so we needed to make sure it was all working. I had to fit the top and test all the drawers.

Like alway there is always one that is a bastard, gradual shaving of the central guide got it sliding the best I could, now it was waiting for our customer. The fact that they had already paid made the wait a little easier.

I got on with another dresser that Kelli had bought from Goodwill. I had lovingly stripped the paint of and prepared it for staining.

I used a pure black stain, but applied a conditioner first that limited how deep the stain went. This meant the the colour was more a grey than black, just what Kelli wanted.

The drawer fronts looked great, the top I was not so happy with.

Sometimes when sanding the wood with a course paper any areas that are softer get marked easier, often these are not seen until the stain is applied, as was the case here, my only recourse was to wash it off and sand it back.

In between all the other jobs, I had to add a centre channel to the drawers of another freebie dresser. We managed to get some spare guides from a friend, they weren’t the exact length, but I managed to make it work.

Now this dresser was ready to sell.

I was quite pleased how this one turned out. It had damage to the bottom of the side panels and the top had blown due to water damage, but with a ton of Bondo, and a new panel for the top it was complete.

3rd October 2020

We drove to the doctors surgery for my medical, I was slightly apprehensive about being probed and fiddled with.

He told me to remove my clothes, I asked him where I should put them.

“On top of mine” he replied.

Okay I know it’s an old joke, but I kept thinking about it just to cheer me up.

The address was in some obscure building behind a Dollar Store, a real unlikely place.

It took us quite a while to find it, the GPS just took us around in circles with Kelli getting angrier by the minute.

I purposely didn’t have coffee for breakfast as I didn’t want it to mess up any blood pressure readings. I didn’t use the toilet before we left as I thought I might have to give a urine sample.

I walked into the place, if life was not depressing enough, this was the epitome. Dull stained carpets, dead flies on the window sill, and horrible utility chairs that would better off in a skip.

I approached the reception area and was given a form to fill and a symptom checklist, I then waited my turn.

The place had a collection of African and Asian people all clutching their papers.

One by one they went into the back area emerging a few minutes later handing back forms to the administrator.

Then it was my turn.

I was greeted by a short Mexican doctor who led me in to the small back room.

He asked me to sit on the bed and then began the strangest medical examination I could ever have imagined.

First he held my ankles, moving up to my neck. Extending his hands he wanted me to grip them hard and resist him pulling them away. Finally he listened to my innerds with a stethoscope, then it was done, no blood, no urine no nothing.

He scribbled away on the forms, handing them back to me, saying that I looked healthy, and should not have a problem with medical part of the residency process.

I then sat in the waiting area forever whilst the administrator looked after other patients/ victims.

Finally I was up, the administrator, who’s job it is to type up the official paperwork wanted my immunisation details.

I handed over the details of the inoculations I had when I went to India, some of which satisfied the requirements.

Once the paperwork was done he informed me that I had to go to a lab to have the blood and urine samples.

That was a blow, I thought I’d got away with it.

Having just used the toilet, giving a sample might be challenging.

The charge for the medical was $275, a bloody con, and the cost of the sample test would be another $250, guess it’s baked beans on toast for the rest of the month.

The testing centre was several miles away, it was full with the people who were in front of me at the doctors, so another long wait was anticipated.

Kelli went off to look round some shops, I just sat around thinking about all the better things I could be doing.

Eventually I was called into the back area. The nurse led me to a consultation room, she carried a tool carrier with unpleasant implements sticking up.

She showed me to the toilet, removing a plastic container from the cupboard. She told me to produce a sample and then place it in a wall safe, or that’s what it looked like. That was good timing, as I was now bursting. I could have easily filled ten of these containers, but judging when it was full was difficult, I just kept going. I had to get the timing absolutely right, finish filling the sample, then the rest in the toilet without spillage. Fortunately there were no disasters, a good sample was left in the designated receptacle.

Now it was the blood sample, I think I had one once before, but the trauma itself blocked it out of my memory.

The nurse tapped on my arm near the elbow, I had the feeling this was new to her. Maybe she was normally the cleaner, and used to knocking pipes. The needle went in, the horrible sensations came back to me.

The needle went deeper, I expected it to poke out the other side, instead I heard her mutter “Ruptured the vein” by which she hurriedly stuck a plaster on it, and started on the other arm. She didn’t have much luck on that one, leaving me with several holes covered with sticking plasters.

She was beaten, she had to call in reinforcements.

In came Brad, he had the appearance of an ex navy seal, or maybe he just smelt of fish, anyway, he rummaged in his took box and pulled out a number of plastic pipes.

“ This should do it, I’ll use a smaller needle, goes in with less pain, but will take longer to suck it all out”

By now I was passed caring, I hadn’t passed out, so I felt I could manage it.

The time he took felt he had sucked up my entire arm, then there was light, the needle came out to be replaced by another sticking plaster.

The ordeal was over, Kelli was waiting outside in the truck waiting to drive back home, stopping to pick up a furniture piece on the way, as we do.

2nd October 2020

Kelli got her Biden sign to place at the front of the house, now the neighbourhood knows our political bias, and I’m not sure what I feel about it.

Holland seems to be equal in its choice of candidates, but that is only judged by the number of signs in people’s front gardens.

America being the dividend country that it is has many crazy people who might take things into their own hands if things get out of control.

I joke about the sign being like garlic to keep vampires away, although in this case, Republicans. So no visits from her mother and brother until after the election.

The change in the temperature means it’s harder for the polyurethane to dry, and with a deadline looming I need several more coats before the long dresser can be finished, which by the way, is being picked up on Sunday.

I managed to finish stripping the former red dresser, and even finished the drawerless dresser that has been in progress for over a year.

1st October 2020

What everyone needs when they are on a deadline is an excursion.

Kelli had to take her mother for a doctor’s appointment in Grand Rapids, she didn’t want to do it, so to try to make the trip more enjoyable, I volunteered to come along.

It was a shitty day to make the trip as the rain was quite heavy when we left Holland.

We had learned from a bit of Googling that there was a coffee shop nearby, so I was set.

We made good time, and arrived early, and as Kelli and her mum made their way into the surgery I had a short walk to the coffee shop.

The Bitter End was a homey place with dark panelled walls covered with old black and white photographs, you immediately felt at home there, as did the students who had taken up residence on most of the available tables. Their faces illuminated by laptop screens.

Every other table has a large X taped on the tabletop to denote the exclusion zone, making the value of an available table even more desirable. I spied the table that would be ideal, checking it every few seconds to make sure that no one had snook in and placed a coat or laptop on the table to secure it.

They say it is a stressful experience, I believe it. The alternative is to drink my coffee outside in the bus shelter, nope that isn’t going to happen, if push comes to shove I’ll throw someone’s laptop into the street, and as they run to retrieve it I’ll take their table.

I ordered my large latte with almond milk, and grabbed one of the few muffins left.

There were two types, normal and vegan, I had the opportunity to grab the normal, but because I didn’t put my glasses on I grabbed the vegan one instead.

It was a decent size, but a bit gluey, as vegan cakes usually are, but I chocked it down.

The students have perfected the art of making the smallest cup of coffee last the longest time, I go through pangs of guilt as I sip my beverage, and I try not to stay after my drink has gone cold.

The students have that covered, theirs is cold from the start.

I often wonder, when I am writing my blog in a public place, what the other customers think I am doing. I peck away furiously then gaze into space looking for the next word, or some inspiration. I try to avoid the gaze of others in case they think I am writing about them, which may be true at the time, but I don’t want to be confronted as some kind of literary peeping tom.

I breath into the reminder of my coffee to keep it warm for a few more minutes until I start my walk back towards the doctor’s surgery.

I think I’ll allow myself ten minutes to make the walk, when in reality I could do it in three, even if I do it in slow motion.

I began to think of what I need to do when we get back. Hopefully another coat of finish on the top and legs, maybe start stripping the paint from the red dresser, oh not forgetting to coat the drawer handles. All this distractive thinking has cause me to miss my start back time.

I throw back the last Luke warm chunk of coffee, find the waste bin and leave in a dignified manner.

We got back and started work in the garage trying to catch up on our jobs.

Kelli suggested we go out to eat and asked me if we could, I thought for a moment before agreeing.

“ That’s good because I’ve booked the table for 8.15” she replied smugly.

30th September 2020

We were expecting the buyer to collect the dresser Kelli posted yesterday and was snapped up.

In the meantime we ploughed on with two other pieces that we wanted to complete by the end of the week.

I was staining the top and stripping twelve drawer knobs, which were a real pain.

Through a strange coincidence Kelli managed to sell the long dresser we were working on for collection on Sunday.

The buyers had made contacted over a piece that had been posted on Craig’s List, an alternative selling website. This had been sold some time before on Marketplace and Kelli had not listed it as sold.

Anyway, she mentioned to them about the dresser we had and wanted to finish by the end of the week, she sent them pictures with the dimensions, and they wanted to buy it!! Now I have to finish it on time.

29th September 2020

We had to deliver the two dressers that we sold at the weekend to an address on the east side of the city.

Part of the deal was that we would take away two other dressers that the person didn’t want.

This was a unique situation getting these pieces for free was amazing. They were good solid pieces covered in a bad paint job, it will be interesting to see what is under it.

We rushed back to photograph the latest piece, our last chance for a September sale, and amazingly we had it sold in under an hour.

Tonight was the first presidential debate which we thought would be interesting.

Kim, Kelli’s ex sister in law came over to watch it with us. Kelli did promise not to shout too loud, and to keep the language respectable.

This didn’t last long.

The debate was a train crash from the start with Trump talking over the moderator at every opportunity, it was a disgusting example of the bullying tactics he employs every time he opens his mouth.

We endured one and a half hours of this shit show leaving all of us utterly exhausted, can’t wait for the next one.