Another Lifetime to go

3rd February 2020

I started stripping the large round dining table using my trusty half inch chisel. I have been apprehensive to start in case the lacquer is armour glaze, fortunately the piece was made in Malaysia so not only was the finish thin the wood is soft also.

I had the whole round top stripped in about an hour and a half. All that is left is the extension pieces and the under frame.

We drove to Harbor Freight to buy a skill saw. They sell some of the cheapest tools around but the quality is very good. They may not stand up to construction site use, but for me they are perfect. I was recommended them by a few friends who uses them for their projects.

Unlike the tools in the UK the blade is not included, fortunately I saw the notice on the box before I left, so I was able to buy one, or two as it happens, because two packs were stuck together and I didn’t notice.

Kelli dropped me off before going on to another store, so I had to wander around until she returned to pick me up.

I must have looked at every item on the shelves at least twice. I felt the staff looking at me checking I wasn’t “casing the joint”. More than once someone came up to me asking if I could find everything, if only they knew I probably knew where more about where things were then they did.

Eventually she turned up, and I was able to escape.

The new saw made a good job of cutting the tops for the pedestals, so just sanding and edge machining to do.

2nd February 2020

We had a lady coming over to look at some of the small items Kelli had put on Marketplace.

I was in the garage giving the pedestals a second coat of primer, and marking out the new tops ready for cutting to the correct size.

It was supposed to be a casual day, but like most times there is always something to work on.

We took the dogs for a walk along the beach, the water was high leaving a lot of debris on the sand. The wind was biting, and even the coat I was wearing had gaps that the cold breeze could pass through.

There were areas of sand that were very soft, and I sank down to the depth of my shoe, which was a bit of a shock.

We got back and I lit a fire to burn up scrap wood that was littering up the place. Now walking around the garage with be a little less hazardous.

The weather has been remarkably mild compared to what it should be, and the longer evenings helps wave goodbye to winter.

1st February 2020

Not much done today apart from going through the various forms I need to apply for residency.

It’s all so boring, and I printed out all the instructions so that we could go through them line by line, making doubly sure we filled them out correctly.

The instructions have more pages than the forms, the printer was red hot, and it nearly used up a complete cartridge of ink.

We noted all the other documents we would need to copy, and printed all those, the whole episode was exhausting.

The most depressing aspect of the whole process is learning I am only 5’ 9” and not 5’ 10” which is what I always thought I was. Learning I was short sent me into spiral of self doubt.

Kelli’s rock hero, Justin Hayward is over six foot, so I would need heels of over four inches to even compete.

I will be in the garage making something out of some old scrap wood.

We had a fun evening with Mike and Lesley playing dominoes and drinking wine. They had just returned from Canada freshly stocked with packets of Walkers crisps, Kitkats and Curly Wurlys, a taste of old Blighty.

31st January 2020

Kelli had a clutch of sales to set outside the house for the people to pick up. I think the neighbours are used to all the cars turning up, stopping for a few minutes then leaving.

At last we had our first delivery from “Imperfect foods”.

The FedEx truck turned up and deposited the box outside our front door. This is no surprise, because there is often a courier, or mailman dropping off a box or two. We have more “Priority Mail” boxes in the garage then anything else, if there is a shortage of cardboard, then we caused it.

Anyway the food box was due yesterday, but it didn’t arrive, so Kelli was on the phone trying to sort out when we would expect it. She was told of a delay in Chicago, but they gave her a $10 refund and took away the delivery charge.

That was a good result, I didn’t fancy driving to Chicago and sticking my face in front of their fists.

I finally got some primer on the two desk pedestals, and took the new top blanks out of the clamps.

Kelli went off to deliver the bookcase/ storage cabinet we finished yesterday.

It really has been a good month for sales, nearly doubling last years number.

We had another person who wanted our free doors, so once again I carried them outside and leaned them against the wall.

It was getting dark, so once again I carried them back inside thinking dark thoughts about we could not give things away without being let down.

About nine the guy turned up, I was in the shower so Kelli had to help load them into his car.

30th January 2020

There is nothing worse than people saying they will come at specific time, and they don’t turn up.

We had someone coming to collect some old doors we were giving away, these have been littering the garage up since we moved in. Generally if something is posted as free, it goes pretty quick.

The other thing Kelli has been trying is ordering food on-line. This is from a company known as “ Imperfect Foods”. They offer fruit and veg that is not perfect for supermarkets, but avoids them being thrown away.

We were eager to get our first box delivered, by FedEx during the morning.

I set out the doors by the front door, and we waited patiently, however neither the person or the food box turned up. Typical!

I was busy machining the work tops to thickness, making more mess on my freshly swept floor.

We dragged the sideboard out of the truck, we couldn’t face doing it last night, so feeling strong, we grunted in unison, just managing to get it into the garage before our strength gave out.

There is now a lot of stock to work on, I am seriously considering putting blinkers on Kelli to restrict her peripheral vision.

29th January 2020

Today started off just like any other, a bit of wood cutting and some painting. We then drove to the Habitat for humanity store to look for some cabinet handles and knobs for a dresser we are working on. The place is stacked out with surplus building materials, and, if your life is sad you can rifle through boxes of hinges, knobs and handles to your heart’s content looking for the impossible, matching parts.

I have spent many an hour looking for a pair of cabinet hinges that were the same.

I separated all the different styles, makes and types into piles hoping that I would find two the same.

I get excited when I do, then I have to look for the correct mounting plates.

When I leave, my fingers are sore and dirty, was it worth it? Only if you are suicidal, and need something to take your mind off death.

Kelli found what she needed, so on the way back we stopped off at Goodwill. We wanted to check if they had reduced the price of a dresser they had on display. It was marked at $65 with is very expensive, and way above what we are prepared to pay. Kelli tried to get a deal with the help of her “insider” but to no avail, there were too many managers about.

It was still there at the same price, but we did find another dresser that we grabbed and loaded into the truck.

Next stop was Menards to get a length of timber I needed to finish the tops for the pedestals.

As we were driving back, chatting as we do, Kelli suddenly turned the steering wheel hard, causing my head to slam against the headrest. I recognised this driving manoeuvre, she had seen something by the side of the road, and like a dog chasing a bone she was determined to take another look. The drive back was rapid, the skin on my face distorted, as the truck accelerated to overtake a jet fighter.

The traffic lights were red, so she had to hit the brakes hard. As my internal organs shot forward, we could see another car had stopped and the lady driver had got out to look at the two pieces of furniture by the roadside. The lights were still red, they were taking ages, I could sense the mist in Kelli’s eyes, she was willing the lady to leave, which she did, as our truck screeched to a halt.

We decided to take the dresser and carried it to the road. We had to rearrange the one we had got at Goodwill, but we managed to get other dresser in as well.

We then drove home to unload. Kelli kept saying that she wanted the other piece, which was a sideboard, as well.

After a quick unloading we tore off back to pick up the other piece.

Would it still be there? always a risk with free things at the side of the road. Who would dare take it?

Kelli’s heart was beating, I could hear it, she plotted the fastest route, and we sped towards the same traffic lights, they were green.

“Stay green” she uttered, and they did. Now was the sideboard still there? it was,

hallelujah!

This was a heavy beast, it was six foot long, the adrenaline kicked in as we lifted it towards the truck. I’m not sure how we managed it, but I’m sure we will feel it in the morning, but we had a good stock pile of product to work on.

I spent a bit of time rearranging the garage so that we could store everything and still have space to work.

I like these ordinary days when nothing really happens, but there is nothing ordinary when Kelli spots a Freebie, other motorists look out.

28th January 2020

Well the person who wanted the dresser failed to make contact or turn up, so there is someone else to get added to my “Hate” list.

I made a mess all over the floor of the garage thicknessing some timber for the tops for the pedestals. I was able to fill a large black dustbin bag of wood shavings, if only I could find a use for this. I then glued up some wood strips into slabs ready for final planing.

It was a day for havoc, first the extension lead shorted out. I was moving the heater when the plug went bang with a puff of black smoke. I stripped it down and found that the live cable had split and must have arced, and finally went “phut”

I was able to clean it up and rewired it so it worked again.

Throughout the day I would knock things off shelves and my workmate. Kelli kept hearing all the crashes, and just looks bemused at my attempt to navigate through the day.

We went to New Holland for dinner and saw Don Goeman the ex VP of design and development, he must have stopped in for a quick drink on his way back from Alcoholics Anonymous (joke).

I introduced him to Kelli, and afterwards she remarked how tall he was. She laughed how short I was in comparison, although she thought I was still sitting down and didn’t realise that I was actually standing.

I alway felt I was standing in a hole when we used to meet.

27th January 2020

We set off to make a delivery and pick up stuff that Kelli had found yesterday.

The drop-off of the ethnic stool in Zeeland was to the same person who lived next door to the Max DuPree house, so I had another chance to check it out.

Next we had to pick up a small book case also in Zeeland. The person left it on their porch, so it was easy to see as we pulled up.

“ It looks a bit small” I said, “I thought it looked bigger in the picture, did you check the dimensions?”

“No” Kelli replied “My fingers were engaged in the Marketplace twitch, so I just bought it on instinct”

We stared it for a few minutes, then Kelli went to look at it in more detail.

She came back, and threw the truck into reverse.

She had asked the seller if it was made out of wood, but got no response. This is the problem we encounter so often, no one can differentiate between real wood and particle board, just because it looks like wood that’s what it is.

We have taken that type of furniture before, but there is little that can be done with it other than paint the thing.

Disappointed at the size and material we drove off to our next stop.

There are many dodgy areas in Grand Rapids and we found one of them.

The dresser was covered with a white sheet and left on the front porch. The money had to be placed in an envelope and left in the mailbox, this was extremely trusting, considering the building next door was a burnt out ruin. For once we kept the engine running as I whipped the sheet off expecting something gruesome underneath, and there was, the dresser. It looked like it had been painted by someone colour blind.

We quickly loaded it into the back of the truck and sped off for safer territory.

We ourselves had some interest in a dresser that we got for free last week. Kelli had listed it as a project piece, that is, not re-worked. The person wanted it as it was, with no work to be done other than fixing the bottom drawer, so potentially a good money earner.

I had done some fine adjustments to the joints on the doors for the drawer less dresser, and managed to get one glued up.

This is a slow project, it is a race between me getting it completed, and the cabinet rotting.

26th January 2020

We had prospective buyers for our dark blue and stained wood dresser due to visit in the early afternoon.

This was the piece that we thought we would never sell. There had been a few false alarms, which made us question if we should change the colour, but when the people turned up to look at it, they wanted it.

We agreed to deliver it to their static home later in the afternoon.

I had been working in the garage cutting the timber for the doors of the drawerless dresser.

I chose to use some old wood that had been used in a wall decoration in the old house.

I decided to join the rails and stiles using half-laps, and it was fun cutting them as I hadn’t cut them for long time. It tests your ability to cut in a straight line, a skill I do not usually have no matter how hard I try. But today it was different, with a lot of care and patience I cut them all fairly well. They will just need a bit of fine tuning on assembly.

Kelli was working on a small rustic table she found at Goodwill. It had a bit of damage to one of the corners which she fixed with some cellulose wax.

We made our delivery to the grateful customers, stopping off again at Goodwill just in case there were other furniture pieces waiting to be transformed. Unfortunately we were out of luck, but during the evening Kelli found a dresser on Marketplace in Grand Rapids, and a shelf unit in Zeeland. We also sold an ethnic style ottoman to a return customer in Zeeland, so tomorrow will be another busy, varied day of delivering and picking up stuff.

15th January 2020

We cracked on with our furniture. There are three pieces in progress, but I was running short on finishing materials but we made some good progress. We had a pair of white bookcases that had some damage to the bottom plinth that I had added a piece of trim to neaten and hide the defect.

I had forgotten that these units could be positioned side by side, but I had added the trim to the bottom stopping them from doing this. So the first job was to remove this trim.

I alway have problem with dark staining the tops of our dressers. I haven’t been happy with most I’ve done, most of the time I have to sand them back a number of times.

I had just finished the latest top when I found a blemish in the finish. The rest of the cabinet is finished, so Kelli in anxious for the final pieces so she can post it.

Kelli heard back from the person who had asked if we could re-finish five small tables.

She had decided to go with someone else, which pissed us off. These things will happen all the time, and although de-moralising are a fact of life.

We had given a very good price for doing it, and it would have got February off to a good start, but will will find other things to do.

In the evening we went to New Holland and had dinner with Don and Julie who are neighbours of Kelli’s mum and dad, and have had to bear the brunt of the fire engines and ambulances turning up at all hours. We wanted to thank them for looking after her parents during the difficult time.

I didn’t realise how loud Don talked, it was close to being eleven on the loudness scale. He gets very excited and animated, and I’m sure the other people there could hear what he was talking about.

I made the mistake of having another stein of beer, although I did promise myself never again after last week.

It all added to the laughter of the evening.

We had borrowed Dave’s old truck that had been give to Matt, to get around whilst our vehicle was being fixed, but it is much larger all round. You feel you have to use a phone to communicate with each other, and it’s so long it’s difficult to park.