Author: peterb51

19th February 2020

I have a bit of tooth ache which is uncomfortable, it is a tooth where I lost a crown, and it happened just before I came back to the US. Under the normal arrangement I would have returned to the UK in February and have it taken care off then, but as everything has changed I face the prospect of having treatment over here, which is more expensive, but is my only option.

We went to New Holland for dinner, and as it’s was Stein night I was forced to have one.

Kelli was woken early by the next door neighbour’s dog barking. This has been a problem since they moved into our old rental.

They have two dogs that get little exercise other than being let out to bark, which is the problem.

Kelli tried to message the neighbour but got little support, and was blocked on Facebook.

She had little option but to complain to the landlord.

So many people have dogs over here and it is rare for me to see them being walked.

The one next door (our old home), is a huge German Shepard with a bark to match, it gets let out to crap and then back indoors.

18th February 2020

We took a few more pictures using the fridge as a backdrop until we got to one that Kelli deemed as acceptable. Then as we went back to Walgreens to get our refund, we got them printed instead.

We then went to the bank to get the cheques to attach to the application forms, this has been an exhausting exercise.

I did a lot of sanding in the garage, I was determined to prepare the dining table ready for staining. There are three jobs, with money on them that I want to finish before the end of the month.

There was a paint job to a dresser, and a dresser with a special stain.

Kelli had transformed the small dresser we got yesterday.

We heard from Cameron that the place he wanted to rent had rejected his application.

This was due to not having a high credit score.

It seems that you are penalised for not being in debt, and trying to live within your means.

Rental properties are so expensive here, a small apartment costs upwards of $650 per month in a dodgy area, with a house, like the one we moved from is around $1200.

17th February 2020

They say that if you look like your passport photo you shouldn’t be allowed to travel.

Today we had to get these done to send along with the documents for my residency.

We went to Walgreens as the nearest place to get them taken.

Gone are the days when you went to a photographer studio and got properly set up with proper lighting and someone who knows their way around a camera.

The area in Walgreens is pretty basic. There is a green door that doubles as the backdrop with the aid of a white blind that is pulled down. The experience is shared with just about anyone who wishes to purchase a packet of crisps, as those being photographed share the same isle.

I was the first to take the stage. Generally I have the same look, a cross between a zombie and somebody suffering with wind. The guy behind the lens had very little to offer in terms of poses. He stood in front waved the camera around and that was that. Next it was Kelli’s turn.

“Tuck your hair behind your ears and don’t smile” was the instruction, this set the scene for a bad experience. That is the one thing Kelli does not do, and did it under extreme protest.

“That’s the requirements laid down by the government” the photo man explained.

Kelli stormed off not even to want to look at the result.

The guy went off to print and crop the images and returned with them placed in a booklet.

I paid the thirty bucks and we left.

“Have you seen them yet” she inquired.

I open the booklets, the first being mine.

It was as I expected, a look dead from the eyes down. Then I opened Kelli’s.

I should have know something wasn’t right because the booklet was different to open, a force was keeping it shut. With determination I managed to get it open.

What was staring up at me was not the person I married. The photographer managed the impossible, he had taken someone who was naturally photogenic and changed her totally.

Kelli demanded to see it.

I tried to think of a diplomatic answer.

1. We had the wrong person’s pictures

2. You were distracted by someone buying crisps

3. You wanted to stick the camera up the guys arse.

4. They were using comic filters

None of these cut any ice with her, as she stared at the sight in front of her.

“Is that how other people see me, do I really look like that? She was obviously upset and angry.

As soon as we got home they went straight into the waste bin.

Kelli was not finished, phone calls ensued, and she found more information about what the requirements were, and announced the we would go to City Hall and get new ones the next day. She also called Walgreens and gave the manager a tongue lashing, who it seems, took the pictures in the first place. He offered a full refund, which was the least he could do.

In the evening, I downloaded an application on my phone to take visa photos, it was so easy that even Stevie Wonder could have done it.

Before I knew it Kelli had retrieved the photos from the bin, and could see some humour in them. She posted a request on Facebook for others to share their passport picture stories, and they started to appear, most of them were equally as bad.

We agreed to keep them, they will scare the trick or treaters at Halloween.

16th February 2020

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the snow was a blinding white, and the air was cold.

It was a rest day from furniture, but a chance to catch up on jobs that I just hadn’t got round to, like setting up the turntable I bought ages ago. This meant modifying the red cabinet that the stereo lived in. I had to remove an old panel with a speaker attached then move the amplifiers and CD player into this lower compartment. However first I had to make a shelf as there was nothing there. So in reality I had to go into the garage, and wade through some old boards to find something suitable.

After a burst of sawdust and fallen offcuts, a shelf was made.

I took some time to untangle the spaghetti of wires that was hidden in the corner, and finally the job was complete.

Kelli was repotting plants that she has been desperate to keep alive, and although I don’t like succulents they looked a lot better in the new pots.

15th February 2020

The cold wind blew, icy rain made the eyes sting, it was not the best day to be out, but here we were making the rounds of the Goodwills and coming up with zilch.

Zilch means that there was no decent furniture to be had apart from a couple of items ridiculously priced, but it didn’t stop Kelli from finding other things. It must be like walking around Ikea, you must leave with something, usually coat hangers or candles.

I needed a few things from Menards, but a couple rolls of shop towels and some foam brushes didn’t take long to gather.

As we were out, we decided to go to New Holland early for some food. We expected the place to be filled with walking frames and old people who normally eat early then head back home to bed.

I had a glass of Mad Hatter which is one of the stronger brews, this made me a little buzzed, and I knew this when I walked into the door on the way out.

We had an evening of wine and dominoes with our friends Mike and Lesley. I was lucky enough to score over three hundred, which didn’t come close to my personal best of over six hundred.

14th February 2020

It is the two year anniversary of my proposal of marriage to Kelli, and boy what a road trip that has been. As I look out of the window at the falling snow that adds to the five inches that has already settled, I question why I cleared the drive earlier. Oh yes, Kelli has to help at the flower shop on one of the most busy days of the year, so I needed to do it so she could get the truck out.

I had placed a card on her pillow when she got up to let the dogs out, she smiled as she read the message. “ Did you buy it when we drove to Grandville?”

I smiled, pleased that I had taken that opportunity, because I don’t often get the chance to do covert operations.

That was a day that changed my life, not that renovating a cottage and buying one in a different country is not different, retirement is usually a time to coast and reflect life, not start another one.

But I haven’t regretted one second, each new day is another challenge, a different problem to solve, and more fun to make.

I switched the heater on in the garage, determined that I would reassemble the table ready for the last part, staining the top.

As I was placing the base attachment cradle to the top, I thought I could do a better job with the staining. So that’s what I did.

We had more interest in the rejected side table and the tall dresser that we finished yesterday.

I waited in all day with the phone close at hand waiting for the call when the person was due to pick up the small table, but no one came.

Kelli returned after four, and we loaded up the tall dresser to deliver.

But first we had to unload things that she had been given.

The hardware store was having a clean out of old display items, and these were gathered up and put into the back of the truck. There was a collection of wooden racks that must have stored something, these will need to be creatively marketed or we will be tripping over them for the next few years.

There was a large wooden thing on the roof rack that Kelli thought was a door, but it was not the sort of door that I had ever seen, it was more like a section of a fence.

However I’m sure she will sell it to somebody.

The delivery of the tall dresser we very close to us, and we were instructed to leave it in the garage, and the money was taped to the door.

This was a good ending to the week, and made us realise that we needed more furniture stuff.

13th February 2020

“I think I’ll pass on that” the dreaded phrase that we hear sometimes, meaning that all our hard work is not appreciated by a prospective buyer. It is a statement that raises the sap of anger in both of us, especially when we drive out to some god forsaken petrol station in Fennville, in the freezing cold, only to find that we were at the wrong place. So we then had to drive back to one that we must have passed earlier. The lady was interested in the side table that we had advertised, but she started playing with the drawers swinging them from side to side, and in and out, I thought she was trying to get a tune out of it. She announced that she felt there was too much lateral movement in the top drawer. I explained the attributes of roller slides, but she was determined not to buy it. Kelli walked around back around our truck to avoid saying something she might regret later.

We were left to load the side table back into the truck.

I didn’t know what she expected, it was only $45 not a bloody Chippendale.

We started to drive back, “ I want a bottle of wine” said Kelli, I agreed that would be a great idea.

In contrast, the next delivery was brilliant, the guy handed over the money even before he saw it. So things were not that bad, and with a bottle of wine in our shopping trolley we were determined to end the day on a high.

We got back home and immediately started work on a tall dresser that we picked up a couple of days ago. We had gone to the Habitat store to buy some new handles for it, and we were determined to get it posted.

I had to drill the new holes for the handles, and then had to find shorter screws to fit then to the fronts.

As I didn’t have any, I had to cut down longer ones, which wasn’t an easy job, but I made a jig to hold them securely whilst I cut them.

Kelli came into the garage, saw me struggling, and suggested that I use the screws that were used with the old handles.

As I explained (trying to make a convincing excuse, which was weak and pathetic) that I was saving them for another job.

I conceded that it was a good suggestion, and tried to avoid looking at the smug look she was giving me.

I can’t think of the bleeding obvious all the time.

Kelli has other people interested in the side table, so she sent out text, and set up a viewing tomorrow.

The day started well, we managed to sell the matching pair of pedestals that I had put a lot of time and energy into.

12th February 2020

This was a workshop day.

I needed to finish the pedestals and progress the dining table project.

I completed the staining of the underside, of the table sections, and once they were sealed, I could re-assemble the skirts.

I attached the new tops to the pedestals and Kelli painted the fronts.

For many days nothing seemed to have changed, then suddenly, things were complete and it looked like we had made progress.

11th February 2020

The air is getting colder, but in the garage things are hotting up.

Kelli had concerns that the last dresser had attracted little interest on Marketplace. According to her, action is required.

I thought the natural oiled cedar was a pleasant change from all the dark stained furniture we had done recently, but with little activity she was determined to change it.

She went through our stock of tinted oils and decided on a dark Walnut finish.

The oil gave it an antique look and killed some of the red in the clear finish.

Once she was done, it had to be carried back into the living space to be photographed.

I had my own list of objectives to meet, which entailed sanding, staining and finishing. I finally got to working on the dining table staining project.

I sanded the backside of the two half sections and stained them. The finish was okay considering the material, so I set them aside to dry before applying the finish.

When I checked the tin the lady supplied it was super thick, like a yogurt. According to the instructions it was three times thicker than ordinary polyurethane, and was hell to apply.

Kelli was also on the hunt for more JustEgg. We had exhausted the supply in Holland and Grandville, so it meant going further afield to Grand Rapids. Oh, and quite by coincidence she had accumulated more clothes to take to Plato’s Closet, so that is where we had to go.

10th February 2020

I was completely freaked out this evening.

Kelli was trawling through her Facebook and came across a post that claimed that the earth’s axis was in the perfect position to allow a broom to stand up straight without any support.

Of course I said that the story was crap and went off on a rant about the junk that was on social media. To make my point I went into the laundry room to get our broom, determined to prove my point.

I placed the broom on the floor and let go, expecting it to fall down, but it didn’t.

I jumped back, not believing what I was witnessing. Kelli was jumping up and down laughing hysterically, it was true.

To my amazement the broom stayed vertical.

We tried it with paint brushes, and another brush but with no success, so I know it is a joke and it’s got nothing to do with the earth, or the moon, but it was amazing that it happened

The day started ordinarily, we had to meet a person outside Zeeland at a petrol station to pick up another dresser and side table, like we need more. Sure enough we met up and transferred the furniture from their truck to ours. We headed back with our new things rattling in the back.

We had to go a visit Kelli’s mum, so I took the opportunity to start moving out some of the machines from the basement.

The first one was a disc sander. I thought this was the lightest one, I was wrong. I could not carry the thing up the stairs without serious injury. I had to dis-assemble the motor from the table and even that made my eyes water. But I managed to carry all the individual items up the stairs and into the truck.

I also came across a very old tape recorder and a reel of tape. Nobody knows what could be recorded on it, so I will see if I can get it going again