Another Lifetime to go

28th March 2019

This was the day to lay up the various pieces of wood into the different panels to make windowsills and steps. I machined up a oak threshold using my trusty router, covering the place with wood bits. There aren’t any jobs that don’t make shit fly everywhere. I sweep the living room floor every evening and there is alway a pile of dirt. I am getting obsessed about how dirty the place gets everyday.

I have been thinking of writing to James Dyson to see if he could invent a static charge machine that would attract the dust, therefore concentrating it in one place rather than deposit it over a wide area. However my son pointed out that the device would have to be so large and powerful that everyone’s hair would stand on end, so maybe I’ll have to stick with sweeping.

27th March 2019

My friend Dave came over to help with some audio issues. I had my Electician wire in cables to connect the upstairs with the downstairs.

I finally got round to plugging everything in, and got nothing, except a loud hum. Dave’s analysis was the problem was bad earthing. He quickly removed the outlets to prove his theory, and he was correct. It got a little worse, all the wires were the wrong type. Instead of shielded cables, they were just speaker wires. This meant a lot of work unsoldering and re-soldering, plus Dave like to talk out loud to himself, checking that he was connecting things correctly. The number of times he declared “Right! That will work” and it didn’t, but he persisted, and finally it all worked , although it was about six-thirty by the time he finished.

I managed to get to Windebanks for the last time to get my timber, as I drove up the hill out of the yard for the last time it was really sad.

26th March 2019

I continued the backbreaking work of digging the path. Why is dirt so heavy?

I broke up the hard work by fitting the slats to the bed frame, so my side is finished.

I still have a lot of things to get rid of including a large printer, but at least I can get into the shed now.

25th March 2019

The end of civilisation as we know it, came a little bit closer today.

I had to get some hardwood for window sills, and stair treads so drove over to Windebanks in Box to get it organised. I was horrified to learn that the place was closing down. It has been my favourite place to get my timber being so close, but that all comes to an end.

There was not a lot of stock left, but after scratching around managed to find some that would work.

The chap was telling me that the site will be demolished and houses will be built on the land.

I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had turned up a week later and found the gates locked, I probably had a little eppi.

So another local landmark will disappear, fortunately the few staff have other work, but you can tell they were really pissed off.

I took my sixteen pieces back to Wickes and got a refund. I did not pick any replacement as I didn’t want to draw any attention, I will go back later in the week to select new pieces.

I started digging the new path, I plan to have that completed this week, leaving next week to break up the old concrete.

24th March 2019

You know when it’s the weekend, there are no large carts at Wickes. I had to scout around to find an abandoned one.

I needed timber to make the slats for the bed I am making. I bought three packs of ten pieces, and eagerly drove back to start cutting.

I opened each pack and pulled out the first piece, there was a large knot, so I set it aside. I am fed up with paying for material that wasted. I went through all the strips and out of thirty strips, I could not use sixteen of them.

I guess I should have gone through them at the store, but as always I didn’t think, anyway I’ll take them back in the morning.

23rd March 2019

Took a drive to Whitney on Wye to see Martin. He had underwent shoulder surgery and has been in a lot of pain, so I though a visit would cheer him up. Unfortunately I was not in the best mood after being greeted by his enormous Newfoundlands. They are so powerful and the youngest was lovely chewing on my hand. There was no attempt to control him, and it was bloody painful. The whole thing made me angry, and Martin was getting angry at my anger. I was ready to leave, but his wife calmed him down.

It made me think about the price of friendship, and when it ends. I have know him for twenty-five years, I have followed him through his many traumas, he has been close to death so many times I am hardened to it, I not longer feel guilt at being healthy, I am not ashamed at having a job I enjoyed, and I am not embarrassed at having a successful son. All these elements always come up in our conversation, and quite honestly I’m tired of it.

He is incredibly intelligent, but at the same time totally naive, his points of view, are often controversial, and at odds with my own.

22nd March 2019

I continued to create more holes, the postman thought I was digging even more graves, which gave me an idea. I should contact the police and claim there was a body buried in my garden and wait for the forensic team to dig my hole for me. Only the thought of going to prison put me off the crazy plan.

I fitted the legs that I had made in the US on to my bed frame. These have to be the most traveled pieces of wood ever, well not counting ships, and planes. I can’t imagine what the x-ray looked like at the airport.

21st March 2019

I collected the truck from the garage, with it’s fresh MOT, and working windscreen washers.

The hole at the bottom of the garden was getting deeper, I was having problems finding a place the pile all the earth that I dug out.

The area looked like a cemetery, various mounds resembling mass graves. It kept the local cats, who had taken to using it as a toilet, away in droves. As soon as it got dark I locked the door, and stayed inside.

20th March 2019

One of the main features for our wedding reception was a pallet wall with “Cheers” painted on it. Kelli found it on Marketplace and thought it would be a cool thing to have. I am used to handling pallets so I felt strong enough to handle them. The tricky bit was loading them into the truck. Of course once the wedding was done, we were stuck with them.

They had rested in the garage ever since. As part of our big clean up they needed to go, so this was the incentive to get rid of them.

So just as she found them, she posted them on Marketplace and soon got a buyer.

As I am in the UK at the moment, Kelli had to move them about on her own. These particular pallets were heavy duty buggers, so a bit of a struggle for her, however she did it, and the buyer picked them up in the afternoon. We didn’t make any profit on them, but at least we got our money back.

19th March 2019

Not much about work, more about family. My elder sister Evelyn was visiting from her home in Germany. This is the first time in twenty seven years that she’s been to The UK, as you can tell, we are not a close family. She has lived there since she was a child, so her first language is german. The story is complicated, but needless to say the communication was difficult as she doesn’t use email or social media.

She came over for a Paul Carrack (who, you may ask?) concert in Brighton, and wanted to meet up. Paul Carrack is a singer songwriter, who was also in Mike and the mechanics, apparently Evelyn is a big fan.

Nicola arranged a lunch at The Cosy Club in Southgate.

My car was still in the garage being fixed, so they picked me up on route.

It was wonderful seeing her again, her English was good, and I could understand what she was saying. She talked non stop all the way to Bath, about her trip, her home and he hobbies.

It was the first time I had been to the Cosy Club, it had interesting decor of a time gone by, but was let down by the raw concrete ceiling. The waiting staff were a little flamboyant and the food was okay, but as we were so busy talking I forget what the food I was eating.

Kelli on the other hand was doing what she does best, buying stuff. She was collecting a mirror or so she thought. When she got to the house, the mirror was two mirrors with attachment posts. This was too large for the truck, and the seller was not there to lend a hand. The tool box that usually lives in the truck was not there, so she had nothing to remove the posts.

Just then the postal delivery van turned up to deliver some mail, Kelli asked if the post lady if she had any tools in the van. Unfortunately not, but she seemed interested in the mirror, so Kelli gave her a card, and carried on trying to find something she could use to get the metal things off. Eventually she used brute strength and tore them off, yea! Just don’t make her angry.

Somehow she got them loaded in the van and drove home.