Another Lifetime to go

10th February 2023

We took the finished ten drawer dresser outside to take pictures. We probably spent too much time on it, but that’s what we do, polish the turd.

I’ve been working on another piece we paid more than we should have. It has taught us to look more closely at things before we buy them.

This was a prime example, it was old, and proper wood, it wasn’t until we got it home that we found that it had been badly repaired, and quite frankly it was a wreck.

Most of the drawers were warped and useless, so I made the decision to repurpose it.

It has been a back burner project, a thing I pick up when I get the urge.

I scrapped the two large drawers and made doors to replace them.

This morning I discovered that one of the small drawers, that I had intended to keep, was badly twisted.

The next part will be to make a new drawer box, at this rate it will be summer before it’s finished.

We’ve had several inquiries about the dining table, two of them thought that the 48” diameter was too large for them, too large! This is bloody America, everything is supposed to be big here.

However we managed to sell the big dresser, the challenge now is how we can deliver it without scratching the paint.

9th February 2023

The downpour today certainly melted a lot of the snow, I had forgotten that there was grass under the white stuff.

I had fun trying to trim all the drawers on the ten drawer dresser. I can’t see how any of them ever fitted correctly. There was up to 2mm difference from one of the drawer sides to the other. I tried adding a strip of wood to the offending side, that worked up to a point, it was certainly better than they were, so I drew a line under it and said “ Sod it! That’s the best I can do”.

This took most of the day, I would have preferred something more rewarding, but it swings that way sometimes.

Mike the English guy from down road had to have a colonoscopy today. He had described his pre procedure routine in graphic detail, and it was something I wouldn’t want myself.

8th February 2023

Back on the road for another furniture collection adventure. First stop was Jenison, a place that looks just the same as Hudsonville. The two blend together, it’s hard to distinguish between the two.

Anyway, we were there to collect a black dresser. The GPS guided us to a new housing estate that contained the largest man made lake I have seen. These estates gobble us so much green land that I guess the developers have to put something of beauty back, well it certainly isn’t the buildings. They are all the same arrangement of styles, subtly changed to avoid being boring, but that failed.

The dresser was outside in a porch. Money was placed under the mat, then we loaded the piece into the truck.

We then headed back to Zeeland for the next part of our trip.

We were there to collect a desk that had been made by the seller seventeen years ago as part of a craft class at school.

This reminded me of my school years when I made my first piece of furniture. It had dovetail joints that were the best my woodwork teacher had seen during his time at the school. All the rest of the class must have been jealous because most of them couldn’t be trusted with anything sharp.

Anyway, there were two possible ways this desk episode could end.

First it could be a masterpiece, with wonderfully crafted joints on beautiful figured timber, or a piece crap, which is why he was happy to get rid of it.

So it was a piece of crap, it was better then any of my classmates could have done, but it will need a miracle to make something out of it.

7th February 2023

I cancelled my flight this morning, I am optimistic that by May America will have sorted themselves out.

The disappointment is still with me, but I have to remain positive and focus ahead.

I had a few jobs to do on my own, but some involved Kelli. I had to take two packages to the Post office just down the road and I had to collect a package at the main Post Office in the town. Kelli had expected the delivery yesterday but it must have fallen down between the seat in the van, anyway it was traced, and I had to retrieve it.

I parked outside and walked inside. It was the same as any post office in the UK, manned by people who didn’t want to be there, hated the public, and ate a bit too much.

I went to the window the had a young black girl who didn’t fit the usual profile meaning she was friendly. I explained what I was there for, of course she asked for identification to check that my address matched the package.

I showed her all the identification I had and none had the address, anyway she asked me to write it on a scrap of paper, then she disappeared around the back hopefully to find the package.

After a bit of a wait, just enough to read every poster in the place, she returned, package in hand, my quest was complete.

I stopped off at an stationarys to buy a sketch pad. I have wanted one to draw up the kitchen doors, and as my laptop with CAD is in the cottage back in the UK. I will have to resort to the old fashion method of using pointed wooden sticks.

I got home to see a disaster. The television unit that Kelli decided to paint was all blotchy where either the stain, or wood tanin reacted with the primers. So the quick and dirty project has significantly changed into a rescue mission.

6th February 2023

The thaw here takes a really long time, the temperature improves this week but the progress is so slow, I’d rather watch paint dry.

The dining table is finally finished. It was awkward to move around so we decided to take pictures outside.

We used two pallets to create a stage over the snow. We then assembled the top to the base and added a few props then took the pictures.

The customer of the tall dresser came to collect and was happy with the purchase, good news.

We have three pieces going through the garage.

Kelli decided to paint the television stand as she didn’t have any takers, and little patience.

She attempted to remove the doors by unscrew the screws holding the hinges, but the wood was so hard most of the screws sheared off. That is going to be fun putting the doors back on.

The piece originally was made in India and sold through World Market, a store that specialises in third world furniture, that in itself is a problem.

From my experience a lot of Indian made stuff is made from whatever is laying about at the time. They are masters of recycling.

It is going to be a challenge painting this bugger, or how the so-called stain blocking primer did not do its job very well.

The whole piece had tanin showing through, this is going to take some heavy duty primers to stop this, so much for a quick job.

5th February 2023

Where do I start?

Well I’m pissed off, angry and disappointed.

We were checking the latest news related to COVID-19 and international travel.

It now appears that I can fly out of the US with little problem, but I won’t be let back without a proof of me being fully vaccinated.

Now that is a problem because I didn’t have the vaccine.

It was my choice not to, I didn’t like the idea of having an untested chemical in my body.

We even asked Kelli’s doctor about it, and he strongly advised against taking it for the same reasons.

The US government issued new guidelines at the end of January stating that all travellers arriving into the states must be fully vaccinated, a review of this will occur on April 10th when it is hoped that these restrictions will end.

So that leaves me having to delay my trip again.

There are over one hundred and seventy countries that have relaxed their policy, but the paranoid Americans chose to keep it.

I don’t understand, the vaccine does not stop people catching the virus, and if they do they build up a natural immunity to it.

I was looking forward to seeing my friends and I even had new clothes ( picked out by my darling wife) to bring along.

On a lighter note, Kelli finished the tall dresser she collected yesterday, we carried it into the house to take the pictures and post it on Marketplace. By 8.00pm it was sold.

So one good thing happened.

4th February 2023

I had to cast my eye over the ten drawer dresser. Nearly all the plastic guides are broken or missing which is essential to the smooth running of the drawers.

In my opinion there is too much lateral movement with them, therefore I have to come up with an alternative method that doesn’t cost anything.

Kelli went off to pick up a tall dresser kindly donated by a recent customer whilst I carried on cussing and tripping over offcuts that kept getting in my way, I think it’s time for another fire, if only I could find the pit, it’s under the white stuff somewhere.

3rd February 2023

So 2000 days since I retired, so many things have happened since, it’s difficult to imagine how I fitted it all in.

Retirement should mean slowing down, but I feel that is detrimental to my belief that we have to have a purpose, that helps to have a long life.

Well that is what I have heard, so if I stop posting then you know it was all bollocks.

I finally got round to putting the handle the correct way on the snowblower. I had it on the hunchback mode instead of standard human.

It was a quick alteration, but as we have had no more significant snow fall I haven’t had the chance to try it out.

We drove up to Kelli’s mums to collect another furniture piece, this time a television stand.

It was a typical Asian made piece, stained dark and heavy. Rather than do anything with it, we cleaned and polished it, then posted it as it was.

The dining table and the leaves were given a second coat of finish, that takes an age to dry, the downside of furniture refinishing in winter.

2nd February 2023

The task ahead was to remove the enormous ten drawer dresser from the back of the truck.

It was one that we got free, I don’t think we would have bothered if we had to pay for it.

It was made from melamine faced MDF which is not the best quality furniture, and made in Indonesia, so two strikes against it already.

There were a few blisters on the top that had to be sanded down, then sealed with polyurethane. The drawers all had something wrong with the guides, either they were loose, or had the plastic runner broken or missing.

The cost of buying replacements parts is really prohibitive. To get the proper parts for this piece would be about $10 a drawer, that would be $100 total, no way! so I will be making repairs and alternative guides.

I finished sanding the dining table, and applied a pickled oak stain over it, next I will start the finishing process.

We went out for an early dinner with our friends John and Patti. They run a similar business to us, so there is a lot of discussion and sharing of experiences.

We went to a small pizza restaurant in the downtown, it’s a fine family run place with a good atmosphere and great food.

Note to self.

A new bar of soap lathers better if you remove the cling film first.

1st February 2023

We drove to waukazoo to deliver the two side tables. It is a deeply wooded area where most of the houses only see the sun during winter, but despite that, it has one of the most expensive real estate in Holland.

While we were over that side of the lake Kelli suggested going the the Eagles nest thrift store. It is much smaller than Goodwill but sometimes there is some stuff worth grabbing.

Kelli wanders around the clothes racks while I look through the books and CDs. I have come to the conclusion that Hollanders have fallen out of love with Kenny G, and just like Goodwill, there were a number of his albums in the racks.

An alternative reason could be that his fan base are no longer on this Earth, that would certainly put the mockers on any future releases that Kenny is planning.

I was keen to get back to continue to strip the round dining table, but first we stopped off at Kelli’s mum to load up a heavy dresser. This is a monster that should keep her busy for a few days.

The base and skirt for the table received a coat of paint and will be stored ready for when the top is ready.

I managed to assemble the prototype door and drawer front, the next step will be to mount it in the kitchen unit.