Author: peterb51

18th January 2025

The newspaper headline could have read, “ Furniture removal guy killed by renegade dresser”. It may be a bit dramatic, but when we had to get the piece down two flights of stairs, the threat was there.

It’s not that it was heavy, just awkward. The best way to get it down the stairs was to lay it on its back and let it slide down with me at the bottom controlling its progress. It started out okay, as I was going down backwards I missed a step.

Suddenly the dresser gained momentum and carried me down to the first landing. The second set of stairs was met with far more caution, and far less risk. The only issue left was getting it to the truck without slipping on the ice.

Now that was the first of the days tasks. Kelli had found another two dressers, one in  Hudsonville and another in Allendale . The stairs drama was the first, an apartment block in Hudsonville. Of course it had to be the top floor, but it was part of the job. The person was moving out of the place, and the dresser was the last piece. Generally the owner of the furniture is not concerned about how you remove it, they are just glad to get rid of it, so at least we didn’t have an audience.

The next stop was a mobile home site in Allendale, there is alway apprehension about what we expect to find, most of the time, we sigh at the sight of the piece. We almost did at seeing this one, but we were committed. For its size it was bloody heavy, it took a lot of effort to carry, and to load it into the truck.

we have now three furniture pieces to work on, as well as the wreck that I’m repairing. I have used so much epoxy to glue parts together it will have doubled in weight.

No doubt. These new pieces will be quick and dirty, there are no redeeming features that will make them stand out, just a good clean, and maybe a few new drawer guides and that’s it, and with the weather next week dropping to single digits, it’s going to be hard work.

17th January 2025

We took a risk and drove to the range, it had been a few weeks, so we needed the practice.

One of the ranges was occupied, but the best end one was free, so we jumped on it.

There was still about four inches of snow on the ground, but I cleared a space with a broom from where we would shoot from.

We fired off two hundred rounds between us, I was better than I expected, but Kelli was a bit off. It’s easy to get despondent, but that what practice is all about. It’s all about analysis and adjustment, but what do I know? I just point and shoot, sometimes I hit what I want and other times I’m lucky to hit the target at all.

We were determined to finish the large dresser today. Kelli had given it a final coat of paint before we went to the range, so once we got back I peeled off the masking tape from the top and set about applying the oil. That brought out the fabulous cherry colouring, it looked like it was on fire. On the drawers there was an octagon detail that we covered up before painting. When those were finished I peeled off the tape and oiled that detail, it really set off the piece, I really hope it goes quickly, as we have the big oak monster still in the car.

16th January Thursday

There was another three inches of snow last night, it seems that we’re getting it in small instalments, but I had to blow the driveway in order to push the rubbish bin to the edge of the road for emptying.

There were a few chores we had to do, mainly returning online purchases, and collecting a required supplement. 

I continued to repair the dresser we got from South Haven. I completed one side, reglued the joints, and then started on the other side.

I removed eight small nails and a couple of screws. As I removed the front corner post I could see all the cracks and broken areas. This will require a lot of epoxy to assemble all the loose pieces.

Kelli was busy painting another large dresser, the temperature today was in the thirties, quite a heatwave compared with what it’s been the last couple of days, but to me it was bloody cold.

15th January 2025

I missed a bullet today. I had a dental appointment to fix my dislodged crown, as the crown itself had a small hole, I was expecting them to say I needed a new one. The thought of having to pay in excess of twelve hundred dollars for a replacement was not something I was looking forward to.

So I entered the surgery with trepidation, I carried the crown in a small polythene bag, the receptionist placed my application sheet into a box ready for the team to call me in.

After a short wait, I was ushered into a small treatment space. These are not rooms, just spaces with walls, it allows the dentist to scoot from one patient to another.

I showed the nurse the problem, so she scurried off to talk to the dentist. A few minutes later the man appeared, he said that he wasn’t concerned about the hole as it would be filled by the adhesive, he wanted to check there was no decay on the tooth. Then adhesive was mixed and the crown was back in place. 

One hundred and forty dollars later I was back in the car heading back, slightly relieved.

I had to stop off at Natures Market to take back a jar of mayonnaise that didn’t seem to have been sealed properly, anyway that was sorted out, now, I went home.

After a tasty lunch we headed off to Grand Rapids to check out a couple of free dressers.

The highway was pretty much snow free, so we made good progress, and found the house with the dressers outside on the porch. 

As I have said many times, don’t expect much when they’re free, and this was fairly true on what we found.

One had a solid oak top, there were a few bits of trim missing, but it was soundly built. The other was a cheap wood printed vinyl skinned piece of shit. It drooped the the middle, a sign to me that it should just be burnt, and if I had a match I would have done it.

We managed to get the heavy piece in the back of the truck and drove back to Holland with the loose drawers banging together at every application of the brakes.

14th January 2025

There was another two/three inches of snow overnight, the dogs found out as soon as I opened the sliding doors in the sunroom.

They sank up to their bellies, boy! That must have been a shock, they pissed as soon as the cold hit them, I know how they feel.

All this extra snow meant that I was back out with the snow blower. There is nothing more satisfying than blowing snow to the side and having it come straight back at you. I was like the snowman when I returned, but that woke me up quickly.

It snowed on and off for most of the day, but it didn’t deter us from doing the shopping.

We had a bit of an oversleep, because we both didn’t get off until 3.00am, but ending up with about seven hours wasn’t the end of the world.

All I managed to do in the garage was repair a couple of drawers from the dresser we collected yesterday.

The new is still dominated by the fires in Southern California. The number of homes owned by celebrities that have been destroyed grows by the day. A shortage of water to fight the flames has been the real issue. One large reservoir feeding the Palisades had been empty for a year, and stories have surfaced of a company that owns a lot of the water that’s used in its manufacturing business, doesn’t help.

There are many homeowners that have lost their house insurance due to insurance companies leaving the state because the risk was too high.

Some will never be able to rebuild their homes, it’s a human tragedy, the land, will no doubtably be bought up by developers who will be the few who will make a bloody fortune.

Just imagine, the payouts for this disaster will run into billions, I hate to think what next years premiums will be.

The question is, why haven’t the homes been designed with fire in mind. They occur virtually every year, why haven’t codes been tightened up to meet this threat? It will take years to rebuild, many mid century houses have been destroyed, all that history that will never be replaced, heads must roll for this incompetence.

13th January 2025

Off we drove to Fennville, about half an hour south, to collect a nearly free dresser. Nearly free meant it was five dollars, well within our budget.

It was bitterly cold again, even the petrol flap on the truck froze, which was slightly inconvenient because we were low on fuel. Fortunately I was able to prise it open with a key, cursing as the wind rattled my bones.

Then we set off, the roads were icy in places, but not bad enough to stop us on our journey.

We did encounter a steepish hill leading into the outskirts of the town. This we took carefully, and at the bottom was the place we were looking for.

It was a small hotel, out in the wilds, one wonders if it’s a place where lost travellers end up. 

Kelli knocked on the door to be greeted by the lady of the house, she had already removed the drawers making it much easier to handle the dresser carcass.

Then packing everything in to the truck we headed off back up the hill, and back to Holland.

Today was another good day for sales. First we finally sold the bureau, and also the two side tables, meaning there is only the small desk left.

I started on the repair to the oak dresser by inserting new wood into the damaged front post.

I want to get that finished soon as we are picking up two more dressers tomorrow.

12th January 2025

Something happened today that hasn’t happened in a long time, we sold two pieces of furniture.

Considering the economic climate over here, and with Christmas just passed, it was a bloody miracle. Sales have been slow for quite a while. These past four years have been slower in terms of sales, that we have experienced before. Certainly after the “pandemic” belts have been tightened, with less money available for discretionary spending. Recently I’ve even questioned why we are still doing this, we’ve lowered our prices and that has helped, but it’s not sustainable at this rate.

However my faith in human nature proved positive when the TV stand was picked up this morning and the large dresser that we just finished today, and listed at lunchtime, was snapped up and collected this evening.

Okay, it’s not going to allow us to indulge in a champagne lunch, but it showed that there are people out there with a bit of dosh. We still have three pieces in the store room waiting for new owners, and we are out tomorrow picking up another large piece.

I did start on the one we picked up from Grand Haven. I quickly discovered that it was in a bad state, the victim of a bodged repair. There were screws everywhere holding it together. I removed them all and got a true picture of what needs to happen to make it good again.

I was not going to repair the bits that I knew about and leave the rest in the state it was because it would reflect badly on us, so I will do the necessary work to get its integrity back, then decide how to prepare it for sale. 

Kelli finished a big heavy dresser, keeping it safe with a light stone finish.

11th January 2025 

There was a decent amount of snow last night, enough to give the snow blower a hernia.

Anything over three inches puts a strain on the batteries. The hardest area is where the snow ploughs covers the end of our driveway with all the crap from the road, hitting that with my machine sounds like I’m shredding rocks.

We both did work in the garage for a while, I repaired a drawer and Kelli put on a final coat of paint, then we turned the heaters on to dry it. 

There is no fun to working in the cold.

We took a walk with the dogs, Dharma seems to be having a bit of trouble with her back legs. We had the same trouble a couple of years ago, it’s like sometimes she can’t control them, and she falls. It might be the cold, or she might have strained something. 

We will keep an eye on her, and if it doesn’t improve take her to the vet. Last time he gave her a course of muscle relaxant, which spaced her out. Sometimes I feel I should have some of that stuff myself.

10th January 2025

Bloody hell! Now, this is not my usual start of the day outburst.

It started fine, snow was on the ground, I had started breakfast. The coffee was pressed, the bacon crisp, and the eggs were in the pan. It was a normal day.

We have our breakfast in the sunroom, watching the birds flying back and forth to the feed trays.

I was happily munching away when I started chewing on some hard. I spat it out only to find it was a crown from my tooth. It had come unstuck and was staring at me.

That is what prompted the angry cuss. I thought all my tooth issues were over. Since I’ve been here I have paid a small fortune for treatment, and now the thought of spending even more pissed me off.

My first reaction was getting it glued back on. There was no tooth fragment in the crown, it must have been an adhesive failure, so a blob of glue and it’s back on.

I had to go out to get dog and bird food, so I went to the dental clinic to get some advice. 

I was shocked and annoyed to find the place closed with a note on the window advising callers that it would reopen on Monday, bugger!

I then went on a quest to get the dog food. Aldi had run out of our usual stuff went we did our shopping, so I thought that they may have restocked. No such luck, the shelves were bare.

The only option was to go to the shop I despise, Dollar General. Not sure of what to get I was taking pictures of what they had and sending them to Kelli, for her to make the choice.

Finally she made a choice that I, inadvertently ignored and picked something else.

Then I had to go to the area that most men avoid like the plague, the “Ladies” section.

Like the dog food, I took pictures of the various types of products on the shelves with Kelli making her choice.

By the time I got home I was worn out, it had been snowing continuously, and all I wanted was a hot cup of tea.

“That’s not the dog food I told you to get” Kelli remarked. 

“But it’s the beef one” I replied 

“That was not the brand I told you to get, it’s got grain in it, and that is not good for the dogs”

I grunted, picked the bag up and walked out back to the truck.

Another drive to the store, and I found myself staring at the same bags of dog food.

More pictures ensued, until the correct non grain food was selected, then back into the snow, and the drive back, fortunately a cup of hot tea was waiting for me.

9th January 2025

The sun did return today, giving a bit of relief to the gloom of the week. It gave a small window when some snow thawed, but it didn’t last long. It was still bitterly cold when it wasn’t there.

It was a good night for sleep for both of us, a rare and pleasant experience.

We had an appointment with a lawyer along the road to sort out the estate planning, in other words setting out Kelli’s last will and testament.

The main issue was setting up a trust to stop her children getting hit with capital gains tax.

The lawyer was also the town Mayor which led to some interesting conversation about property taxes, and general services. The meeting lasted nearly a couple of hours, which didn’t give much time to do any work, but we did manage to get one coat of paint on the large dresser.

There is a lot of chatter on the various independent media outlets  on the issues of the Covid Vaccines. Certain states have banned the use of the MrNA vaccines, and are taking Pfizer to court over the excess deaths that have been reported globally.

Being non vaccinated, I was concerned about the lack of testing, and long lasting side effects that were becoming known. it showed that  governments, medical institutions and the Pharmaceutical companies all lied to everyone.

I expect long after I’ve gone, the real impact of this drug will be known.