Larry started work replacing the two rear disc brakes, I could tell, the sound of frantic hammering echoed across the avenue.
We completed another dresser, this one was the heaviest I think I have ever tried to move.
We couldn’t face trying to carry it into the house, so we shot the pictures outside.
Kelli posted it on Marketplace, and an half an hour later it was sold, and collected a couple of hours later.
This was the second piece that Kelli had worked in and both sold this week, so it’s great to have her back.
I continued work on the chairs that have to be re-finished. These had been hand painted and showed all the tell tell signs of a bad brush job.
There were bad runs and areas of pooled paint, these have to be removed.
I have concentrated on the areas that are the most tactile, the seat, and the back, these are sanded back, the spindles and the legs are just lightly sanded.
The dreaded day arrived when I had an appointment for another root canal filling.
I knew the procedure, I was there on time, and it was pretty much routine. I had a bit of an infection in the tooth a couple of weeks ago, but I had a course of antibiotics and it seemed to clear it up. However there must have been hidden cavern in my gum because the amount of stuff they sucked out was enough to collapse half my face or so I thought as I watched the muck flowing down the clear tube. The dentist then got on with filling the hole, then came the painful bit, the bill. It was just over a thousand bucks, but a small price to pay for saving a tooth, and not to have to eat my food through a straw.
Later on, with half my face still numb we had to deliver a small dresser to a lady in Holland.
I put it into the garage next to another dresser that was going to be sold or thrown away. Kelli jumped on it quickly, giving the lady eight dollars for it. I loaded it into the van and saw that it was nearly identical in construction to the one she had just bought from us.
So watch out for another quick turn around dresser.
On the way back I was able to pick up the parts for Larry to work on the truck, and the inevitable visit to Nature’s Market for another magic potion.
I had a hairdressing appointment at 10.00 so it was an early start. A quick shearing and it was done. There is a shortage of licensed hair stylists in the area, most were laid off during the quarantine, and have not returned, choosing to take the $300 dollars a week Covid support payment, they have learned that they can live without working.
Kelli had found a free corner unit very close that we had to collect. It was a bit sad, with a door that was barely holding itself together.
Then it was back to the garage to finish the dresser that I have been working on for ages.
We took pictures outside and Kelli posted it on Marketplace. I’m not happy with the final result, the door alignment is not right, so I might play around with that tomorrow.
Kelli had her first experience with the sprayer on a large dresser, and she did great.
I asked Larry to look at the rear brakes on the truck, he concluded that I needed two new discs and pads, so not a cheap job then.
We finished another small dresser, and Kelli started on another beast of a dresser.
I was spraying parts for the grey dresser that feels like I’ve been working on for ever.
I also repainted the parts I missed on the chair.
I set up a spray area outside so I can see things better, that was much more successful.
I managed to apply a clear coat to the chair to help protect it from wear, and it provides a satin finish.
Once that was done I took a walk up the road to knock on the door to tell Mantesh (the chair owner) how things were going.
Unfortunately I had lost the card with his address and phone number so I had 626 in my head, so I set off looking for this house number.
Of course there was no such number, there was a 624 and a 627, and as I knew the person at 624 it had to be the other one. Just to be sure I checked with the guy at 624 who happened to be out in his garden.
“ Oh the professor, yes that’s his house over there.
The house was the only one without some flowers of landscaping features, it was plain and dull. The windows at the front had shades pulled down, and generally it looked deserted.
I rang the door bell and Mantesh opened the door just wide enough to squeeze his head through, being careful not to allow too much of the inside of his home to be viewed.
I explained what I had done, and invited him to come and view the first chair.
He was excited, and promised to come down the next morning, and that was it.
Speaking to the neighbour, he said that they keep themselves to themselves, and even their children weren’t allowed to mix with local kids.
It was going to be a hot one. I had to get into the garage early to cut some patterned paper to line the drawers of the dresser that was going to be collected this morning.
I needn’t have rushed as they turned up around mid day. They were excited, “It will be perfect for our cabin” as they loaded it into their SUV.
We had to go out to get some “real” chicken for Phoebe, she had gone off her regular food, and the vet suggested giving her chicken and rice, whilst we were out we collected a free dresser from a storage facility on the north side of town.
It was big, it’s length just fitted into our truck, I didn’t really want anymore pieces at this time, “But it’s free” Kelli exclaimed, “ I don’t know where we’re going to put it” I replied.
I guess it will go on a trolly so we can move it in and out of the garage to make space.
I wanted to get a coat of black paint on the chair, it went okay for a first attempt, it was later that I found that I had missed a few spots.
The light in the garage is not perfect, and I don’t want to use the work lights as there is enough heat without adding more.
We made good progress on another small dresser, a lot of the drawers needed repairing and the top had to be finished, although the profit on these pieces are small, we have no problem selling them.
It was expected to be thundery for most of the day, but this is Michigan, which means that everything can change by the minute.
There was no rain, but the humidity made the heat almost unbearable, as I was spraying primer on to the chair I was working on, my perspiration was trickling down inside my respirator and filling up the place where my nose rested, it was really uncomfortable. I was drowning in my own nose sweat.
Kelli finished the first dresser she’d done for months, it was a cute unit, with a shelf where the missing drawer was. It was posted in the afternoon and sold by the evening, good result.
I was spending half my time repairing drawer boxes for another small dresser.
The sides are made of thin softwood that mostly crack below the rebate where the floor panel fits. This can be tricky to repair, and usually takes a lot of time to do.
I have been following a Canadian lady who does the same as we do,on YouTube. However the quality of the furniture she finds at the side of the road is amazing. There is never anything damaged, no drawers broken, certainly no disasters that we find.
She does make a good job of them, and sells at three to four time that we can get for them.
Maybe there are more affluent people in Canada unlike the skinflints of Michigan.
There was a torrential rainstorm later in the afternoon, followed by bright sunshine.
There was a bit of drama in the house when Kelli, who was trimming Phoebe’s nails cut one a bit short causing it to bleed. There was panic, as we searched for something to stem the bloodflow. Of course dogs never understand that things wrapped around the foot are there for a reason, she kept tearing it off then preceded to leave a trail of blood around the floor.
We called the vet, and they suggested a powder that did the job, so we drove to the surgery to collect it. In all my years, I didn’t realise that dog nails could bleed. I hope no one asks me to clip their dogs nails, I would faint at the thought. I would have to get them to wear them down on a sandpaper covered treadmill.
It was very thundery with humidity at 92% making it difficult to work in.
I had my list of small repair jobs to work on, plus I did a bit more stripping of paint from the first chair. I was hoping to give it a quick sand to give a key for the finish coat to adhere, but the existing paint was thick and impossible to feather in, so I had no option but to scrape it back to bare wood.
I had an amusement thought, whilst I was India, I would often see men sitting cross legged in the street doing a repetitive job, like stripping paint from a chair, and here am I doing the same bloody thing for an Indian bloke in America.
Kelli continues to make small progress, and is now more enthusiastic to overcome her issues.
It’s great to have her working with me in the garage again.
We needed black ink for our printer, Kelli has been selling lots of things that required a printed label. First we tried Office Max, but no luck, all sold out, apparently there is a shortage of HP black ink, or at least the sales assistant, who had the worst fitting jeans ever, told me. He shuffled towards a terminal to check. The guy didn’t have an ass, the seat hung down past his knees and flapped as he walked. He confirmed that there was no stock, but could order it for me. I nearly offered to order him a pair of jeans that fitted, but only my instinct for survival stopped me.
I decided to try somewhere else.
Next place, Best Buy also didn’t have any black ink, we should have known.
It had to be Amazon then.
I started work on the dining chair, sanding the drips, they were everywhere, this is going to be harder than I thought.
Between the work on the chair, I was working on a small dresser, finishing the top and shelf. The garage was full of jobs in progress, and I was glad that I had bought more trolleys.
I had the first opportunity to use my portable dust extraction for the first time, it was wonderful, no crap to clean up.
I had a lot of paint to buy, so I had Menards on my radar, but first a stop at the doctors to collect a new supplement to help treat Kelli’s ocular migraine, either that or it’s the only bottle of stuff the she hasn’t tried.
When I got back I saw three dining chairs outside, these were left by an Indian chap down the road who wanted me to repaint them black. They had been hand painted , and they looked like it. Now I had four of them waiting for my attention.
Mike and Lesley were off to Pind, the Indian restaurant in Grand Rapids and stopped by to see if we wanted anything bringing back.
“Oh yes” I cried, “bring back some samosas” I thrust a twenty into her hand, and off they went on a mission.
When they came back, I was salivating at the thought of tasting these divine works of art.
And they didn’t disappoint, there were eight of the beauties, and I scoffed one down straight away. Wow it was spicy, but fabulous, I would probably dream of those tonight, if I don’t get up in the early hours for a snack.
I had plenty of jobs on my list to work on. I wanted to make progress on the dresser I had used as my test piece for using the sprayer.
I was surprised at the amount of paint I had used, I had a quart, and that wasn’t enough to finish. I had read that on average paint usage is increased by twenty percent using a spray gun, that needs to be factored into our costs.
We sold the four upholstered dining chairs we had bought at Goodwill for a decent profit with nothing done apart from a good clean.
There were hardly any beetles in the trap today, that doesn’t mean I had caught them all, but it could be the wind direction that made the difference.
Today it was announced that Herman Miller will be changing their name to Millerknoll.
DJ DuPree must be spinning in his grave.
Personally both brands could have continued, they had history and the value that has should not be lost or cheapened.
Another Lifetime to go 