Author: peterb51

27th February 2025

Not the best nights sleep, Kelli managed five and a half hours, which she was not happy with. She was due to have a day out with Greer, but that changed because she was called into work.

So hopefully that will take place next week.

I had a list that was bursting with jobs. I had three pieces on the go, but I’m hoping I will have two finished before I leave tomorrow.

It is alway a tense time for both of us, Kelli, because she doesn’t like to be on her own, and me being aware that she doesn’t. I have my list of things I want to achieve, but I’m not confident that I will get them all done.

She did set out some clothes for me to pack, she is much better at choosing things that go together well, although it will be me that will forget everything and probably match the wrong colours.

26th February 2025

New revelations are coming out every day from the Trump administration of even more fraud and waste within the government. The latest was that all employees were emailed asking them to list five tasks they had done in the last month to be sent back by midnight on Monday, but extended until midnight Tuesday. The uproar that it caused throughout the main stream media was explosive. They missed the point, it was all about checking if everyone who received an email actually existed. It is thought that some might have died, or left employment, but the records hadn’t been amended.

It also emerged that Obama had been receiving a royalty cheque for $2.7 million dollars a year for the last ten years for Obamacare, it sounds a bit crazy to me, but nothing surprises me anymore.

I was busy in the garage priming as many pieces as possible, time is slipping by. I managed the two side tables and the corner entertainment unit that we have had for ages. 

Kelli finished the piece we grabbed from the rubbish, it was pictured and posted straight away.

Then we met up with Lloyd and Nancy for dinner at the Curragh. It was supposed to be just a beer session, but the girls came along as well.

25th February 2025

It was a beautiful springlike day, it was up in the top thirties and the snow was receding. It was a pleasant change to see the grass appearing again, although it looked sad and dejected.

It was a great day for shopping, I couldn’t wait.

Due to my forthcoming departure back to England, we could reduce some of the items we usually get, however it didn’t make much difference to the totals.

On the way back we stopped off at a local flower shop, Kelli was looking for a particular plant that she wanted for Valentines Day. Luckily for her they had just the one she wanted. It’s a succulent, the type of plant I dislike, they remind me of the plants that grannies have, mainly because they didn’t need much watering.

This specimen was quite small, and succulents are mostly inexpensive, so I was quite shocked when the assistant told me it was twenty nine dollars!!! That was extortionate for such a puny thing, thank god Valentine’s Day only come round once a year.

We managed to sell the nine drawer dresser to the people who bought the other one a couple of days ago, so there was the last minute rush to get that one ready.

We also finished the piece we pulled out of the dumpster bag a couple of weeks ago. It’s a solid piece, but we done expect to get much for that. 

There was also staining and priming stuff going on, I’m trying desperately to get things in a state for Kelli to finish whilst I’m away.

24th February Monday

I bloody hate technology! 

All I wanted to do was watch something on Paramount plus, not a lot to ask. I logged on to the particular network, found the series I wanted to watch, clicked on it, the circle of death appeared and just kept spinning.

There are then a number of steps I take to try to overcome the problem. I often unplug the television, not sure if that helps, but has on some occasions. Then I repeat the procedure again, the circle of death appears and continues to spin.

Consulting Google adds another layer of confusion, “ Delete the app and reinstall”, how do I do that? Go to Google again, and a load more advice, none of it makes any sense, and my anger starts to mount.

I check other options, they work fine, so is it just the program I have chosen. I tried a later series, that works, so let’s try again. 

The circle of death reappears, once that is on the screen none of the functions on the remote work other than the power off.

In the end we carried on watching something that I couldn’t get into, which is why we tried to watch something else.

I can’t see this is an improvement over the old terrestrial channels, they were always there however dull some of the programmes were.

But like sheep heading for the slaughter, we converted to digital and look where it has got us.

This should be a lesson for us all, if we are given a rosey picture why we should adopt a more advanced system, we are being conned, we all become victims of the spinning circle of death.

On a lighter note, we finished another dresser.

23rd February 2025

Incontinence is prevalent in the US. Well that’s what my conclusion is after walking around Goodwill this afternoon. Stacked on the shelves were packs of adult nappies. I have spotted the same packs on most of the Goodwill stores I have visited. There is always a good selection of walking frames and sticks, it good to know, I might need these items in the distant future.

Whilst we were there, we checked to see what furniture was available, well, there was nothing at all, it is certainly a lean time for stuff.

Back at the garage we finished painting a nine drawer dresser, bringing the drawers into the house to dry. On our journey out to return yet more Amazon items we picked up some drawer pulls from an address on the north side. 

There was the regular stop at Kelli’s mums for ice cream, yes it’s still bloody cold and we are having cold food indoors.

The temperature is set to rise during the week, hopefully some of the snow will disappear.

22nd February 2025

There was more drama on Central Bay Avenue, with another fire truck pulling up outside Larry’s house. There weren’t the usual sirens blaring which is why we nearly missed it. A little later the Ambulance turned up, again without the flashing lights. Now this could have meant he had kicked the bucket, but fortunately he hadn’t. After a while he emerged sitting up on a gurney and being loaded into the back of the Ambulance.

According to the neighbour across the road Larry had complained of having chest pains. 

He was in the hospital for a few hours, and later released. And so it goes on, it is now every other week that the emergency services turn up. He gets visits from helpers everyday, and it’s a sad sight to see. I’m sure, at some time his insurance cover will change, and that’s the fear for a lot of Americans living on social security, sure, he is sitting on a prime piece of land, large enough for three decent size houses, but when he is no longer around it will change everything. We are used to him riding on his mower cutting the grass, or collecting the leaves in autumn. The sounds that eminent from his barn when he is fixing cars will be a distant memory. The people that know him from his crazy days, are just as decrepit as he is, their vehicles have seen better days as I guess we all have, and he is younger than me.

21st February 2025

Another busy day in the garage. One dresser was completed and posted, another is well on the way, it’s going to be a busy weekend.

I made the mistake of thinking that stripping the top of another was going to be a doddle, how wrong I was.

Some of these budget pieces, mainly made from pine have a coated wood grain finish. These finishes have a base coat that is hard as granite.

I discovered this as I scraped away the two previous coats, but now I was committed.

It took me eight hours to remove this hard surface and get back to the raw pine. 

The top is also a fabrication of small pieces of pine glued together to form a base, then thin strips are bonded to those to make it look like a planked top.

After endless sanding to remove the white base coating, I felt that it was ready for a stain.

As I wiped the dark stain on the surface it became obvious that I hadn’t sanded it enough.

There were large areas where the stain hadn’t soaked into the surface.

So now I had to re sand the light areas, then re stain. That took me the rest of the day, but eventually I managed to to get an even stain.

Of course this weather plays havoc with my hands, they get so dry, even wearing gloves doesn’t seem to help much. I put cream on them every night but it still feels dry. Soon I won’t need sandpaper, I’ll just rub my hand over everything.

20th February 2025

There is a terrible wave of hatred blowing across America, and it’s worse than any viral pandemic.

I went on social media and what I heard shocked me more than ever. There are people urging others to kill the president, they are offering money and sexual favours to anyone that can do the job. 

This is going too far, the extreme left are being edged on by democrat politicians who are whipping up this hatred.

What I can’t understand is why?

Or should I say I think I have an opinion. 

It is Trump’s mandate from the American people to root out waste and corruption in all federal departments, and let Elon Musk loose to identify the wasteful spending and overstaffing in the government system.

This has identified billions of dollars of taxpayers money that has been mid-spent, now you would have thought that that would unite all tax payers, but no it hasn’t.

The US dept has reached 36.2 trillion dollars, If you were to take a breath every second of the day and night it would take you a million years to equal that number. That is a staggering amount of money.

What is behind all this unrest is all the backhanders that politicians have accrued, building their personal wealth that run in to millions, they are trying to hide this from the public, therefore creating distractions, and fuelling civil unrest.

I’m not a Trump fan as I have stated before, but I do agree with his policies of streamlining the government, improving the health of Americans and overhauling the education system.

Robert Kennedy Jr will be a key player in the improvement in agriculture, removing the dangerous pesticides and fertilisers that are destroying the soil. Controlling the pharmaceutical businesses, and stopping TV advertising. 

The truth about the Covid vaccine is starting to come out, finally.

There is so much to do, and so much information to absorb, but this would benefit everyone, it just makes sense, but so many just don’t want to listen.

19th February 2025 

Well it was back to the doctor, this time it was my appointment. Yes the timing was off, but thats what happens.

I had an issue with my left shoulder and neck, so he got started right away. Immediately he recognised places that were tight and started doing all kinds of manipulation. The session climaxed with the loudest crack of my neck I have ever experienced. I had to make sure that my head was not in a bucket on the floor. The doctor was smiling in victory, that was what he was trying for.

Now it is funny, that there is no apparent change, I don’t feel any different, I’m not sure that my joints are any more flexible than they were before I went in, I suppose I have to take his word on it. 

Can I reach that itch in the small of my back that I cannot reach without rubbing myself against a tree? I will find out.

As the appointment was early I was able to get stuck in on some jobs in the garage. One was cutting a top for the corner entertainment unit that I had laid up yesterday. I had a drawer to rebuild from the one we rescued from the dumpster bag, and repaired a damaged drawer side panel. All the usual stuff, just a lot of grunt work, trying to keep warm.

It was snowing again today, so more activity for the snow blower.

18th February 2025

There was the monthly visit to Kelli’s doctor, this was another positive result, but no reduction in her supplements. According to him, she need to clear any period for at least a year, so the stuff she is on is to balance her hormones and support her digestion and kidney functions, all of which takes a hit during this transition.       

After all that, we had to stop for fuel. There are so many garages that have fuel pumps that have a trigger lock, where you can set it and walk away. These are great because you don’t get fumes in your face, even though there is a rubber sealing shroud to reduce that.

The pump was trying to push more fuel into our tank than the it could cope with, so it kept shutting off. Therefore I had to stand with my finger on the trigger controlling the flow of fuel, in the freezing cold. They build these places in open areas where the wind whistles through, and it’s bloody unpleasant.

Once the feeling had returned to my fingers, we had to do our weekly shop.