Author: peterb51

11th November 2019

There was about four inches of snow on the ground when we awoke, this was early, and maybe an indication of the winter to come.

We had some jobs to do in the garage, I had a lot of sanding and Kelli had to make some finishing touches to a dresser.

For once my fingers were not cold, the insulation seems to be working well, therefore working out there would not be hell on a stick. I managed to finish a prototype “PooStick” a device to mark the dog shite in the garden. What is unique with the design is that the poo is protected by a roof to stop the rain making it all mushy and difficult to scoop up.

I heard the tragic news of the passing of one of most charismatic people in Herman Miller.

Peter Lloyd was part of my generation during the most exciting time in the company’s growing UK business period.

He was alway a good sounding board for me during the development of new products, as his depth of knowledge was amazing.

9th November 2019

Party cleaning day, alway the anticlimax, but lots of messages from people saying they enjoyed the evening, including the British guy dancing with a flat queen.

I thanked Kelli for putting that out there, so my credibility as the debonair Englishman has gone up in smoke.

I completed the clearing of the leaves, and fitted the A/C fan protector, which is just in time as more snow is predicted.

The dogs haven’t got used to the second sliding glass door to the sunroom. They are so eager to chase the squirrels that the moment the first door is open they “splat” into the second one. By now they should have flat faces, but they never learn.

We ventured out to get some supplies, and I needed a lopper to cut up all the broken branches that need to be cleared.

I am impressed by how the house stays so warm, it’s great to walk in after a stroll outside. All it needs is a pan of hot soup on the cooker to make the scene complete.

Our dinner consisted of left-overs from the party which still tasted great. It is often the case that the foods are not “tasted” properly, because of all the distractions, so left-overs always taste better.

8th November 2019

We collected all the food for our party from The Farmhouse Deli in Douglas. It was a variety of salad dishes, and three tubs of the finest macaroni cheese in the whole world.

I couldn’t wait for the party to start.

Kelli had everything in hand, whilst I swept the fresh drop of leaves in the front garden.

The party was due to start at 6.00pm which is an unusually early time, but bearing in mind most people here are in bed by 10.00pm it was appropriate.

We had catered for about thirty people, hoping that they brought a bottle with them as instructed, as our feeble choice of booze was limited.

The first people arrived, so soon the place was starting to buzz. Kelli took a phone call from someone wanting to buy a TV stand that she had posted on Marketplace. They wanted to collect it within the hour, and Kelli explained to them that we were having a party, and if they brought a bottle they could join the festivities.

Well, the lady arrived to pick up the furniture with a bottle of wine in her hand, which she handed over with the money, but she declined the offer to join the party.

That was the weirdest thing, we got a bottle of wine from someone buying furniture from us, we should do that more often.

We never got round to opening the bottle, maybe it’s one that gets handed around from party to party and never gets uncorked.

By now the party was in full swing, Kelli, suitably lubricated with a couple of glasses of wine was dancing wildly with a couple of her friends, also well intoxicated. I remember from the wedding that the floor show was something people usually pay money for, and this was no exception. I mingled with our guests keeping a low profile, occasionally raiding my secret stash of beer.

Then it was the downing of the “ Fireballs” small bottles of whisky mixed with cinnamon. Kelli’s friends quickly swigged those down, suddenly the entertainment was turned up to “11”, and although Kelli was reluctant to drink the liquid, she was shamed into it.

Now apart from just dancing to the music she was singing at the top of her voice.

The food was disappearing, so I jumped in and grabbed a plateful, it was good stuff, the only meat available was two pieces of poached salmon (which was delicious) this was the token meat dish available, but everyone enjoyed the vegan feast.

By 11.00 the last guests left, taking the remains of the bottles they turned up with.

That is so un-party like, but I guess I should get used to the strange habits of Americans.

We looked at the apocalyptic scene in the kitchen, empty bottles stacked in the sink, and most of the food gone, we felt exhausted, Kelli’s voice was faint, I just wanted to sit down an chill.

However, there is video evidence that I was dancing with a cardboard cut-out of the Queen, she was not amused.

We had over twenty people turn up, and they had a great time, I met some new friends, but I’m not sure if we will have a party like that again soon.

7th November 2019

There was more snow on the ground, the cold snap was causing the leaves to fall even without a breeze.

Kelli noticed a damp patch on the floor in the furnace room. There was drips of water dripping from a crack in the plastic casing.

Kelli made a call to the maintenance company noted on the furnace cover, whilst I went on-line to investigate the problem.

Everything seems bad when you don’t know the cause. Was it the heat exchanger, would we need a new boiler? I went down every worm hole trying to reassure myself that it wasn’t serious.

The furnace was a high efficiency model which created a lot of condensation and that was what I was seeing. There was a part that collected the water before piping it to the ground. The plastic tank had a crack in it, so I placed a dish under to collect as much water as I could and waited for the repairs man to arrive.

Eventually a van turned up and I explained the problem. He shone his torch on the dripping area fiddling with the pipes causing the damaged area to break off. Now instead of a small crack there was a bloody big hole.

He explained that it had been repaired before, and it needed a new part.

What were the chances of that?

There were alternative places to connect the pipes to drain the water, but the large hole needed to be filled.

He went off in search of some epoxy putty whilst I worked on some furniture bits in the garage.

He returned with some material that is mixed together in the hand and then applied to the part to fill the hole.

His boss was trying to find a replacement part, but in the meantime the temporary patch would stop the leak.

He advised me to wait about three hours until the putty had fully cured before turning on the furnace back on.

After the allotted time I switched in on, nothing happened. The pilot would try to ignite the gas but the furnace would not fire up. I read all about possible causes and was fully up to speed on lock-outs but I could not figure out what was wrong.

Kelli was poised to call the guy out again, I went through the start up process again just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten something.

Still no success, so the engineer was summoned again.

The same guy turned up again, he resumed the position on the floor in front of the furnace wiggling things and muttering into his phone. I didn’t stand over him, I just left him to it. After half an hour or so the boiler burst into life. He had to fit a pipe into the area he had filled earlier as it had something to do with pressure sensors or something or other. Anyway the system was working again, so hurray for that.

Just before bedtime, I checked the repair again, there was a drip coming from the pipe he had just fitted. He had left some of the putty, so I will look at it again in the morning.

6th November 2019

Snow was falling as my eyes flickered open, not heavy, but leaving a dusting of white on the newly fallen leaves.

I continued my work in the garage. The insulated walls and ceiling was a vast improvement over the last place where even my breath froze.

Kelli had to go to Saugatuck leaving me alone to amuse myself. I had the second shed door to work on so I was set.

Later I walked up the Dave and Georgia’s house. This was the first time I had visited them since I arrived. They were having their continued health issues, which had caused concerns for Kelli, as their frequent requests/demands conflicted with the difficult situation I had put on her shoulders.

It was a awkward visit, they were a bit frosty to me, the house that once rang with laughter and fun, now had none.

Dave has given up hope, and refuses to seek medical help with his legs, and it is only a matter of time before his whole body is poisoned.

Both Kelli and I have talked at great length about the situation, but we are unable to determine the best way forward. I believe in speaking my mind, but Kelli’s family culture does not include talking openly about personal matters. Which means there is no way of expressing the frustration at Dave for not wanting help for his condition, and also Georgia‘s irregular heartbeat.

There has to be an end to this impasse, but like the weather it’s going to get icy.

5th November 2019

We invited Mike and Lesley, our English friends for a Guy Fawkes dinner at the Black Sheep restaurant just along the road from our house on South Shore Drive. There wasn’t enough time to organise bonfire and fireworks, so this seemed the next best thing. The wine flowed a little to easily, which meant that sleep took hold very quickly, and I missed the end of the programme I started to watch.

Several hours later I awoke, my neck stiff from being in an un-natural position for so long. I looked across at Kelli who had also fallen asleep. To anyone looking in from outside, the two of us, fixed in our strange poses, must have looked like victims of a crime scene.

4th November 2019

The shed door was a sad sight, it hung on with one hinge. I took it off and carried it into the garage to start work on its renovation.

We had driven to Menards to get the correct length timber, so everything was ready.

I eased off the old rotten frame, I was hoping to re-use the plywood backing. The door was in a pretty bad state, but with careful fitting of the new frame it could be saved.

Whilst the adhesive were curing, I swept up the leaves that had dared to fall on the grass I had swept a couple of days before.

A guy up the road was using a blower, someone else was sucking up the leaves with a ride on tractor.

There is nothing better than the good honest rake, these machines may be quicker but I don’t have to fill up with petrol every ten minutes. I am following Kelli’s example of non polluting, and the use of renewable energy. Well my energy is always renewed, once she feeds me.

3rd November 2019

We moved the rest of the leaf mountains to the side of the road, awaiting the city trucks to collect.

There is always the dilemma of whether to sweep the neighbours leaves whilst I’m doing mine.

I solve that by letting them do it themselves. My reason is they have a large Maple tree that sheds most of it leaves into my garden. Now I could be awkward and make piles under his trees, but I’m not petty.

These are the people I never see. He arrives home at the same time every night and once the door is closed that’s it. They may have to plug themselves in every night to recharge.

Later we took the dogs to the beach and walked to the lighthouse. There was a flash git kite boarding on the lake. Back and forth he skimmed the waves, twisting and changing direction like he knew what to do. Kelli just thinks I’m jealous, of course she is right in a way. If I was to have a go, I wouldn’t know how to control it, and would probably end up heading for Wisconsin.

2nd November 2019

What better to celebrate returning home to Central Bay by sweeping up the leaves in the front and rear gardens.

I did think that when we moved into the house there weren’t that many trees to shed in Autumn. How wrong I was, the trees must have grown extra leaves so that we didn’t feel left out.

I attacked it with gusto starting strong. The rake scraping up small piles growing into larger piles that grew into mountains. The term “moving mountains” was very appropriate.

We made our first trip to Menards for timber for the shed doors, the start of the jobs had begun.

1st November 2019

My son Damian had always remarked that his brother Ryan wore more wheel bearings out than tyres. I can now testify to that.

He had the job of driving me to the airport in the Shogun, so I could experience at first hand the “G” forces he put on motor vehicles. I was convinced he was a pupil of the Super Mario School of motoring.

I had allowed for a gentle drive to Heathrow so that he could get used to the truck, as he was not used to driving an automatic, but he took off like a scolded cat and didn’t slow down. We got there so early the check-in staff were still getting dressed.

The flight was good, and although it was quite full I did have an empty seat next to me.

When I got to immigration, there was a heart thumping moment when the officer led me to a side room to check my visa. Was I going to fail at the final hurdle?.

For the next ten minutes, which felt like hours, I wondered if I was going to have an interrogation, and then sent back. I tried to remain cool, as I suspected I was being monitored on cctv, and any suspicious body language would give me away. I was overthinking it more than I needed too.

Eventually the officer returned, and handed me back my passport, I was in.

There was the usual flight delay to Grand Rapids even though the gate was in a new part of the terminal, it felt like I was walking half the way on foot.

When I finally got off the plane, and walked towards the arrival lounge, Kelli was waiting, there were no tears, but her smile made the last three months worth the wait.

I was back, now just the jet lag to get rid of.