Another Lifetime to go

21st March 2021

It was a wonderful morning, just the weather to work outside, and boy did I have plenty to do.

I wanted to make a start on the main decking. First I had to apply the tape to the joists, a tedious job but essential if I want the structure to last. Of course I ran out of the tape, but I managed to cover over half the joists, so another visit is on the cards.

I found an old electric drill that Dave had given to me along time ago that I hadn’t used because I am in the 21st century and use a battery driver. As I was swapping between drill and driver, I thought it would be an advantage to have two devices going.

The corded drill was an old Black and Decker at a time when they manufacture them out of cast alloy, a heavy beast with variable speed.

I fitted the drill bit in it and proceeded to try to drill holes. It ran so slow, I laughed out loud because that was just like Dave, I never saw him move faster than a snail. The story goes he only ever seen moving quickly was when he was chased by a swarm of hornets, I wish that had been filmed.

I fiddled around with the variable speed control that didn’t appear to do anything, but at last I managed to get it to turn at a proper speed that was able to puncture the timber rather than tickle it.

20th March 2021

I drove to Menards on my own to get some timber to finish off the decking structure. I wanted to reinforce the back corner in case we want to fit a cantilevered canopy.

I am hopeful to start laying the main decking area tomorrow.

The main job of the day was cutting the holes for the lights in the cedar trim and the frame structure.

I had worked out the spacing and drilled the holes in the longest trim piece. When I came to mark the holes in the frame, using the trim as the template, I found that two of the holes lined up with the support posts. So instead of drilling through just two inches of wood, I had four inches to bore into.

I had the brilliant idea to bring my ship vac outside to clean up the wood debris caused by my drilling. Unfortunately the bits were a little on the big size causing jamming in the pipe. It took longer to unclog than if I had used a dustpan and brush.

However the end result was good with the mitres fitting well.

19th March 2021

Finally put the finishing touches to the large entertainment unit that I’ve been working on for ever.

The two dressers are progressing slowly, my mind was pre-occupied with finishing the decking, so I tinkered around with that for a while, cutting the cedar trim to size. I had bought some LED lights to fit into the trim boards to illuminate the step, but it required a 30mm diameter hole. I checked the website for the main places that I know of, but no metric cutters. I can order one from Amazon but it wouldn’t arrive until next Wednesday, I was hoping to finish most of the decking by the weekend.

Kelli had another rotten night so she crashed out for most of the day

18th March 2021

Kelli had another sleep deprived night, I could tell, the tv in the bedroom was on most of the night. I could tell by the muted sound and the flickering on the wall, because it kept me awake most of the night myself.

This leads to another low energy day for her, which I know she hates.

I carried on working on stuff in the garage watching stuff on YouTube to break the silence.

I watched a documentary on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. What a masterpiece that was, a building that had so much detail I don’t know how he could think of them. It hurt my head just looking at all the intricate design.

What was sad was the building was demolished in 1967 to make was for a much larger, taller building and much of the furniture was thrown away.

Then I listen to the news and hear about murders in Georgia, bickering about the relevance of mask wearing (still), and something about cancel culture, whatever that is.

17th March 2021

The projects in the garage were rockin and rolling. I had things in a sequence that flowed like a well oiled machine.

I also managed to rip down a length of decking to complete the yoga deck, I just need to figure out how to attach it.

All the YouTube videos I watch conveniently leave that bit out, or, have made their deck the exact correct size, but even then do not explain how the last piece is secured.

There are starter clips, and double clips but not end clips, which is really maddening.

Kelli had a better night, getting a few hours of sleep.

She is also losing weight through not eating, so she takes pleasure in trying on the clothes she wore last year.

I guess I will see a lot of parcels arriving with smaller versions of her “much too big now” clothes.

16th March 2021

Kelli had another sleepless night, and this time it was not my snoring.

Insomnia is another condition I don’t fully understand. I’ve had a few sleep issues over the years, mainly when I’ve had problems with work, and maybe a few whilst I’ve been here.

A lack of sleep is certainly the trigger for how the rest of the day plays out.

This is something I cannot do anything about, which drives me crazy, and sometimes I let it out, which doesn’t help.

All this is wrapped up in this endless loop of mental torture that I cannot be a part of.

I try to be supportive, I want her to get back to her old self again, but this is like a nightmare that I haven’t woken up from.

The projects in the garage are progressing slowly. I have two dressers in progress plus the large entertainment unit that seems to be taking an age, but I fitted in the back panels, so it’s getting there.

15th March 2022

It was too cold to work outside, the temperature fluctuates to extremes in March/ April it’s a wonder that the plants know what to do.

Kelli didn’t have a good night, probably due to my snoring. There are certain positions that I lay in where this happens, and I’m aware, but it sometimes is beyond my control.

Lack of sleep is a problem for her, it wrecks her day, and doesn’t help with condition.

It’s hard for me to see her laid out in the sunroom lacking the energy to do anything.

She did have to force herself to meet up with Greer, maybe not the best decision.

I spent the day working alone in the garage, it is definitely not much fun being by myself, and the output is dramatically low this month.

14th March 2021

The clocks went forward today, signalling the start of spring, or at least slightly longer days.

I started laying the planks on the yoga deck.

Having splits on my thumbs didn’t help, as I was using hidden fixings it was a painful experience. My knees also took some hard treatment, reminisce of the floor laying in the house. It took all afternoon to lay 16 strips, and at the end I felt like I had been kicked around the garden.

Just when I thought I had finished, I needed to move 36 strips from the deck that I had stacked lovingly on Friday, to the side of the house where I stacked them again.

Kelli found enough energy to cut my hair, she had got fed up with my southern preacher hairstyle.

It was during this that she mentioned that I’d caught the sun on the back of my head, so I have to go around with a baboon’s ass for a while.

13th March 2021

There were a number of jobs to do in the garage, Kelli is still suffering, so I tried to keep things moving.

I had shelves to sand and prime, and I really wanted to start on the decking.

I had bought rolls of tape to stick to the joists to protect them against rot, this is a belt and bracers solution.

That took ages to do, getting through one and a half rolls, so I underestimated the amount once again.

I moved the twelve foot lengths twice trying to think ahead, but obviously not thinking smartly.

I wanted to set the key pieces in position ready for another onslaught tomorrow.

To keep my brain from sinking into the abyss, I listen to a lot of documentaries by Adam Curtis. His latest series focuses on individualism, but the content swings between the USA, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.

Living in the US as I am, I have asked questions like “ Where is public transport?”

If you want to take a train to Chicago, it would be quicker to walk. In China they have 40,000 kilometres of high-speed rail, and America has none. China has build five hundred and twenty new cities from scratch. They built new factories that just made one product, and they flooded the world with cheap goods. They have made so much money, they have bought up much of the debt in the western world.

America is incapable of doing anything quickly. It gets locked in litigation for every single thing.

Soon after we moved into our house, we put up a low fence at the side to stop the dogs from running off. Later we learnt that we needed a permit for it. Needless to say we didn’t apply for one yet.

I thought America was a great place, I was conned, it is full of fools who cannot make a single decision, doesn’t give a shit for the poor and working classes, but still thinks that the American dream exists.

God knows, I bet I need a bloody permit for the decking.

12th March 2021

My decking boards arrived today. I was in the garage when I heard the “toot” of the delivery truck. I opened the door to see a huge vehicle with a fork device on the back, and balancing on the fork was my stack of composite materials bowing on the forks.

I moved our truck to allow the driver to dump the load closer to the garage.

Then all I had to do was to move each piece through the garage and set it down on the structure. As I was moving the sixteen footer I found five that had been damaged. At over forty bucks a length that was significant. I took pictures of the damage intending to get them replace.

I then counted everything just to make sure it tallied with the order. The short pieces were correct, but I found that I had seven extra strips meaning that even with the damaged pieces I still had more than enough.

I was then faced with the dilemma, should I go back to the store and get a credit for the damaged pieces? Kelli frowned at the suggestion, her point was I had enough good pieces so I should be happy with that.

In turn I could use the extra strips for something else.