Author: peterb51

3rd October 2024

My first full day in old Blighty, and my first encounter with the local bus service.

It wasn’t good, I had arranged to meet up with my old school friend Steve in Bath.

I had taken pictures of the bus time table by the town bridge, so I was prepared. I arrived early to catch the alleged 10.50 joining an already formed group of people.

There was a lot of extra traffic due to various road closures, so I expected a bit of a delay.

I watched the display that showed bus arrivals, as the time came and went, the particular bus I wanted, disappeared from the board, no explanation, just vanished. it was replaced with another 30 minutes later, the crowd was growing restless. By the time the thing arrived I had been waiting over an hour, meaning that my precise plan had to be adjusted, fortunately there was no timing conflicts.

Steve was the friend that I had back in infant school, the only one I remembered, or could pick out in a line up. We reconnected a few years back through a mutual friend.

He has great comic timing, and his story about a tick on his arse, and his attempts to remove it had us in stitches, much to the amusement of the other customers in the coffee shop.

Afterwards, I headed for the bus station which was crawling with people. The place is poorly designed, queues waiting to board the buses block the paths of anyone wanting to get to the other end of the building. By now the place was filling with school children and students, making things even worse.

Finally the bus arrived and the mass of bodies clambered on board, I even managed to find a seat. The journey back felt long, and I was glad to get back. My feet were hurting, caused, I think by the boots I wore. I don’t think my feet were shaped right for American shoes, nothing like a pair of Russell and Bromley’s.

2nd October 2024

The long flight was uneventful, unless having the battery die in my noise cancelling headphones counted.

With two and a half hours to go, I saw I had a spare one in the case, so I fitted it, only to find it was as dead as the other. It wasn’t the end of the world, almost.

Breakfast arrived an hour before landing, actually it was an insult calling it that. They presented me with a pot of yogurt and a packet of granola and a fig biscuit. I regretted not going premium, at least the food is slightly better.

The landing was a bit heavy, the loose ceiling panel that I observed when I boarded almost dropped down. Boeing are having quality issues, but this doesn’t help their case, I was glad the doors stayed attached though.

The walk to the passport control was not as long as last time. That long walk is an endurance, if you can survive that, you deserve to be let in.

There is another long walk to the bus station, and I even managed to suss out the menu ordering system in the cafe, a result for me.

A two and a half coach journey later it pulled into the Bath bus station.

Nicola was waiting with a smiling face, it was what I wanted to see. A short walk to where Colin had the car, and we then headed for Bradford. It was the first ride in their new Hybrid vehicle, it was a smooth journey.

Nicola had already left some supplies in the fridge including lentil soup and a blackberry and apple crumble, she is a life saver.

As we walked up the steep path to the cottage I noticed some of the foliage had grown back, even though I had applied stuff to kill the roots.

In the cottage itself I was greeted with a dripping kitchen tap. I had been prepared for that, and a button had come off the Eames lounge chair seat. I think the thread that tightened the button had broke, hopefully it’s not too difficult to repair.

I was not impressed with that, so I will be moving that into the bedroom where it will get less use.

After a cup of coffee and a cake, Nicola and Colin left, and I took stock of things I had to do.

I was due to pick up the Shogun from Ryan and Louise who had invited me to dinner, another life savers. 

On my way down I decided I would visit an old school friend who lives by the canal. He had dropped off Facebook: I didn’t know why.

I found his house, knocked at the door, and eventually he answered. He looked a bit dishevelled, but I remembered he alway looked that way. We chatted for a while, he told me he quit Facebook because of many unpleasant comments he received. I was relieved that he hadn’t kicked the bucked, so we made plans to meet up again.

Dinner at Ryan and Louise was fabulous, they worked together and produced a tasty chicken and rice dish.

I didn’t realise that Louise was the reader of the blog, I felt bad that I didn’t mention all the thoughtful things that they had done over the years, especially during the cottage renovation period. So now I will broaden the scope of my daily ramblings to show my appreciation.

I picked up the truck, petrol tank empty(as usual) this will be the last time I will be able to use it, as it will be sold. It’s an expensive beast to run, but it’s had its usage, so I can’t complain.

I tried to get an early night, Kelli didn’t have a good day, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

1st October 2024

“We’ll be in the air for thirty one minutes for this flight into Chicago O’hare” the pilot announced, what he didn’t say was that there was another fifteen on the ground. It was like we were on the highway, we were overtaken by a couple of trucks and a dozen cars. Eventually we disembarked, at the end of an interesting journey. The flight attendant did not want to be there, it was showing on her face, she would have been happier on the cotton fields of the south. 

I guess this was part of the inclusion policy by American Airlines to bring in anyone who isn’t really qualified to do the job as long as they belong to the  Diversity, equity and inclusion culture. I have no problem with that as long as the pilot of my aircraft has been trained, and not used to driving an Uber taxi.

Why do people choose a window seat, then immediately shut the blind? That is one of my pet hates.

The guy next to me wasn’t used to sitting in a seat with a back, because he spent the whole flight leaning forward, so I couldn’t look out the window. Also when reading messages on his phone, he was mouthing the words, all this and I hadn’t even got to Chicago yet.

O’Hare airport is a hive of weirdness, there are a few who still wear masks to match their luggage, the rest are just loud.

I had a chicken sandwich served by a Rasta man, he didn’t look happy, he slinked about like a puma stalking his prey, although he was quick.

There was a few loose ends to finish before we left for the airport, including getting pictures of the coffee table, work doesn’t stop even though I’m going away, it all down to Kelli now.

30th September 2024

Today is when I remember the passing of Michael Elliott, I don’t know why it affects me so much. I think it’s because it was someone I knew who couldn’t face life anymore. Most of us don’t make that choice, we follow a different path that will take us to the same ultimate place.

It was a day of preparation, finishing jobs that I can leave for Kelli to finish, and folding up the pool and pressing it into a storage box. Deflating the floats took longer than inflating them, but they went into another box.

We sold and delivered our latest dresser to someone on the north side of town, that came in under the wire for September leaving it a better month than I thought.

There is some talk on the alternative media about a dockworkers strike starting tomorrow.

It’s about pay, as usual, they want an extra five dollars an hour. The talk was about the knock on effect, because so much comes through the docks, could be devastating.

Kelli was worried about my travel, will I be able to get back?

This is not about me, this is about the whole bloody country, the dumb shits in this government should not let this happen, and I refuse to panic about it.

29th September 2024

It was time to drain the pool. I rigged up the pump with a long hose to start the slow process of emptying the water.

There is a moment of sadness because, for us it’s the end of our excuse to chill.

There was some activity in the garage, Kelli wanted to paint the top of the coffee table.

It was a warm day, maybe even a pool day under different circumstances.

It was a lazy day, I moved some pallets that have been stacked at the side of the garage for a year or so, I hadn’t found the time to break them up. Matt was looking for some that he could use to fence in a space for their puppies to run around now that they are moving in with Georgia.

It was a dirty job, and we only managed to fit three into the back of the truck. Maybe tomorrow we’ll move the other one.

There was drama in Holland in the early hours which included a shooting, a high speed car chase that ended with the two occupants dying.

All this happened fairly close to us, but we heard no police sirens or anything.

Like most of the roads around here they are straight, the one they were on had a tight bend at the end and obviously they didn’t realise that.

Out of a morbid curiosity, we drove along the road and saw the tree they hit, fortunately it was not badly damaged.

Brenda, Matt’s wife was on that road, at around 2.30am when this all happened, she could not sleep and decided to take a drive to the nearest petrol station for some cigarettes and a cup of cocoa, yes it was unusual, but she is from the Netherlands, so quite understandable.

28th September 2024

We had sold the small television unit that we collected from Grand Rapids last week, it was not a quality piece and it was a relief that someone wanted it.

I had a bit of work on it before it was being picked up. That involved loosening the screws that connect with the cam fittings. The top was loose when we collected it, that was due to the screws inserted so tight that the cam fractured when it was tightened. I was hoping to re use one from another joint, but as I loosened the cam it fell apart. I was lucky to find one complete, others I repaired using superglue and baking soda.

I managed to complete that job when Kelli found a free dresser, I couldn’t turn that down, so we set off for the wilds of Holland. It was quite a way out, even past the shooting range. We arrived at a mobile home park, my heart sank. Driving through the myriad of roads we found the home but no dresser, obviously snapped up by some other, but we did find a couple of side tables that we took as consolation.

The next stop was to collect a garden arch on the north side.

Honestly that was a piece of crap, but Kelli wanted it so somehow we squeezed it into the truck, then we had to rush back to meet the buyers of the tv unit.

Quite honestly it wasn’t worth the money we paid for it, although the only work we did was repaint the top. There were some scratches that Kelli matched the colour perfectly.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sanding another dresser to get it ready to be worked on and finished whilst I’m away.

27th September 2024

Another Friday at the range, we’re getting quite proficient at it now, however I still get my thumb in the wrong place and it gets hit by the sliding bit. So with blood dripping I kept going.

The range we used was a bit worse for wear, some inconsiderate person had shot through the structure that hold the panels on to which the targets are pinned. That is the main thing that is mentioned during the new members introduction meeting, these are difficult to replace especially the vertical ones that are buried in the ground.

Kelli’s shooting was a little better than mine, although we have improved our grouping.

There is talk about what disruption might happen in the coming months. It is suggested that neighbourhoods should organise amongst themselves to store and possibly share food, and even protect each other. We have started to collect extra tinned foods to store in the room off the garage. I can’t believe this kind of action is needed in the twenty first century, but this is a strange and troubled America.

A lot of the independent media are warning of criminal gangs that have been allowed through the southern borders are make their claims in certain large cities. The mainstream media say nothing of this, it’s like this is planned by the Democrats, they have allowed millions of undocumented migrants into the country, and it’s getting out of control.

On a more positive note, we did finish something.

We took pictures and posted the latest dresser to emerge from the garage.

26th September 2024

I finally took the truck back to the tyre place to get them to check two of them for pressure loss.

I had all four replaced back in June but over time the two on the driver’s side kept losing pressure.

Fortunately I have a small compressor that I keep in the truck, so I was able to top it up when necessary. I needed to get it sorted before I flew back to the UK so Kelli didn’t have to worry.

I explained the issue to a technician, he had a quick check, couldn’t find any nails, then booked it in to be looked at.

I took a walk to Lowes to get buy some materials, when I returned I was greeted with some worrying news.

Being in the US means, (to me,) that they will always find something to relive me of money, whether is be replacement windscreen wipers or a new vehicle.

When there is a slight intake of breath and a sad eye expression, I know something is up.

I was told that the seal between the tyre and the rim was where the air was escaping. This was because the rim had corroded. I had a suspicion that it could be the problem even before I drove to the place, but tried to convince myself that it had never happened to me before. Anyway, the short answer was four new rims, so with that and the tyres I’ve doubled the value of the truck.

I attempted to pay with my card, although I didn’t have the physical one, I had a picture of it allowing me to enter the details. That was fine until I came to the postal  code, or zip code.

It did not recognise the English one, so the transaction failed. The next option was to use Applepay. That went well, but was declined at the end. My last option was Mastercard on Applepay, I didn’t hold much hope on this, but to my surprise, and the tyre man’s delight, it worked. He then instructed his men to change the wheels.

Things were not over, I then received a voice mail from Barclaycard to call regarding a potential fraudulent transaction.

I then spent over half an hour sorting all that out and getting my card reinstated, talk about a traumatic day, and it was only twelve o clock.

25th September 2024

Bang!  Came from the kitchen area, I was sitting in the living space, and Kelli was in the bathroom. This time it wasn’t a power module exploding, but I didn’t know what happened. I had visions of something falling on the glass hob top, but that was intact. We both looked around looking for evidence of some catastrophic disaster.

It was Kelli that found the cause, the cork had rapidly exited a bottle of sparkling wine and hit the bottom of a wall unit. We did have a good laugh over that, and a sigh of relief.

Apart from being a shopping day we went to get a new screen for Kelli’s phone. It had a crack on it for a while, and it did affect the workings, but as she didn’t want to get a new one, this was the next best option.

It was repaired in the time we were doing our shopping, which now means there won’t be any moaning and bad language when the thing doesn’t do what it should, that, in itself will be worth the money.

24th September 2024

Not a good day, it rained all day restricting what we could do in the garage. 

The chap turned up for the drawer I repaired, that saved me a trip.

The rest of the time I spent stripping some drawers.

In the evening I discovered that my email was not sending out any messages. It must have happened when I changed my BT password.

I went into my email account and changed the password to match, but it didn’t verify. I checked the web site and followed the instructions but still it would not get past that spinning ball.

By the end of the evening I was frustrated and angry with myself, because I’ve done it before, and fixed it, but I had forgotten,that’s what made it so maddening.

I guess I will have to call someone tomorrow.