Another Lifetime to go

19th July 2024

Today we experienced the flaw in Marketplace.

If a seller fails to change their location when they move home it can lead to utter confusion.

Kelli intended to purchase three wicker screens that we could use as a background for taking pictures in the winter time.

She entered the address she was given into the GPS and off we drove. We followed the instructions but there was no house with the number we needed.

A quick message to the seller cleared up the confusion. Although his old location was Holland, he actually lived in Saginaw one hundred and fifty eight miles away, so no we were not going there.

It does get confusing when the same street number appears for many different towns, you have to be vigilant.

Fortunately we had to deliver the children’s hutch to a house on the north side. Whilst I was there I helped the small lad to fix his pedal tractor where the chain had dislodged. Pleased with my good deed, we headed off to pick up a free desk to collect that was also on the north side ofHolland.

We managed to finish the coffee table before the draw of the pool was too great.

18th July 2024

It was a typical Thursday, the refuse truck trundled down the street gobbling our rubbish and leaving our bin like it had been mugged.

Larry, who had just returned from a hospital stay was walking slowly towards his jeep, no doubt going on his cigarette run.

It wasn’t so hot today, but good enough still to work outside. Although the summer feels short, being just three months long, I do enjoy wearing just shorts and a tee shirt, my legs have never been so tanned.

We were working on a coffee table, I have lovingly stripped and restrained the top, and prepared the base pieces for painting.

Kelli did the honours whilst sitting on her wheely seat, shuffling from front to back, she is the painting robot.

Then we took a ride on our bikes, something we haven’t done as regularly as we should. We stopped at an old friend of Kelli’s who she calls Baker Dave as he used to be the bread baker at a local Italian restaurant we used to frequent, sadly no longer there.

Baker Dave is a collector of old tractors, which is evident by the number he has in his back garden. He is also an avid collector of all things big and rusty. His large back yard is full of objects of all kinds, from old farm equipment to spur gears. He has great plans to do things with them, but he would need two lifetimes to realise that.

17th July 2024

I am amazed how my wife’s political position has changed so drastically. Four years ago we watched the Biden’s victory over Trump as a triumph, but slowly all that changed. Everyone knows how corrupt politicians are, and often they don’t try to hide it. Most of them sit on millions of dollars, which certainly doesn’t come from their salaries. Top of the list is Joe Biden, his fingers have been in so many pies he could open a bakery.

The pandemic brought into sharp focus the lies and censorship from his administration, it’s now all plain to see, but the secrecy is still there.

She could see how the Biden family were all in it, taking bribes from China and Ukraine thinking more about themselves than the county. His words were hollow, he quietly wanted more power, but there was someone who stood in his way, and that was Donald Trump.

Kelli is one hundred percent behind the man. She believes that he will dismantle the corrupt parts of the government that add no value, he is the outsider, and that’s why they hate him so much.

Biden has lost, he is too old, his faculties are disappearing, he can no longer talk coherently, and his decline will only increase.

I stand on the sidelines, watching, and listening.

It is expected that Trump will return to the White House, it is going to be interesting what the Democrats or the deep state will do next.

We did finish the large dresser, it’s is solid and therefore heavy, getting it off the trolley to take pictures is a task and a half. So without crushing my feet we got it into position and took the shots, then it was just as difficult to get it back on the trolley.

16th July 2024

Kelli called the vet to get some advice on how to help Phoebe with her wound. They suggested antibiotics which should clear up the infection. It looks bad with a noticeable hole in her shoulder not unlike a blow hole on a dolphin.

It was a strange day, humid, making drying of the paint slow.

Our neighbour from across the road came over to ask us why we called the police to complain about his lodger. He had a loud vehicle, and left every morning at five thirty. Kelli tried to explain that we didn’t, and hadn’t been affected by it, but he didn’t want to listen, he had his say and walked away. I went after him to further explain, but he warned me away. I was not taking any chances, with the number of people that have concealed weapons, and can use them if they feel threatened, I wasn’t going to push it.

There was a weird feeling, I don’t want to fall out with anyone over something we didn’t do, but Kelli later messaged him and defused the situation.

We have continued with our nighttime Tai Chi session, this appears to help Kelli sleep better, I hope it is, touch wood.

15th July 2024

The skies were noisy last night, storms hitting us during the early hours, we heard them, even felt them, but we slept through it.

The humidity was high when I let the dogs out, like the blast of heat when the oven door is opened.

We had breakfast in the sunroom, then planned the day.

At the top of our list was a trip to the range, our first on our own.

Picking up some training rounds from the local hardware store, and drove out into the wilds.

The car park at the sports club was empty, I used my entry card for the first time.

It was nice to have the place to ourselves, and between us we fired off just under a hundred rounds. Kelli did better than I, her grouping was more central and mine was biased to the right.

I need to try to over compensate to the left a bit more to see if that makes a difference.

I did manage to skin my thumb because it was not in the correct position when the carriage slammed back. I must remember that next time.

We were out for just over an hour, and needed to get back to get some work done.

Club rules stated that we should collect all the brass casings and place them in a container, then we headed home.

During the evening Kelli called to me to come and look At Phoebe’s shoulder. For many months she had a hard lump under the skin. We did have her checked by a vet who wasn’t concerned, he said that it might reduce over time.

Well what I saw was nasty, somehow the lump had opened up and some horrible stuff was oozing out.

I had the job of cleaning out the wound, Kelli was not feeling good looking at the goo I was pressing out. At times I was using tweezers to pull thick muck out, and all this before dinner.

Phoebe handled it very well, it must have hurt, but she didn’t snap or growl.

Well that was the excitement of the day, and the anticipation of more thunderstorms was still to come.

14th July 2024

The story that everyone in America has been talking about was the attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.

All the media does what it always does is speculate and regurgitate. They were having a field day, calling on any “expert” they could to beat the story to death.

What this has shown how close America was to a civil war, in fact, about half an inch.

This is because has tried every trick in the book to stop him running. From his court cases, and the financial strain, death was the only option left. It is a sad reflection on America and its politics that this is even considered.

What this had done is effectively handed the future presidency to Donald Trump.

We had to drive to Hudsonville to deliver a dresser, a pleasant drive ending in part of the new suburbia, an estate of perfectly crafted houses, landscaped to blur the edges of newness. There is no old charm about these developments, all the concrete driveways are the same colour, the lawns are flawless, with no grass variations at all, but, they bought our dresser, so hurray!

We also sold the small dresser that we finished yesterday. I had to rush to fix and polish the top before they got here. The customers had bought a couple of things before, so we are always glad to see them again.

13th July 2024

Another hot day, we had breakfast using up the last of our eggs, so a ride down the road to see if the chickens had laid anything for us, was necessary.

Riding a bike in this weather is bliss, the air is warm, only cooled by increasing the speed.

Of course Kelli rarely has the correct choice of clothing, it’s either too hot or too cold, this time it was okay.

We were disappointed that there were no eggs there, so we turned around and went back the way we came, but continued on past home and on to the next portion of our ride, to Dollar General.

These are the cheap stores I hate, and I don’t know why, a lot of the items cost a lot more than a dollar, but there is crap stuff that is. Kelli loves the place, she can get dog treats and her shampoo and also in this case, bird seed. She was also tempted to buy a new floatation device for the pool, and was even more delighted when the cashier announced that she could get two for one, oh joy.

We stopped off at the cemetery to check on the flowers on Dave’s grave. It’s sad that no one else seems to bother, we try to keep some colour going.

Then it was back to the house. We finally sold the dresser that has been hanging about, but the inside of the drawers were a bit tatty. To tidy them up we had some self adhesive lining paper that I carefully cut to size.

Now I hate fitting this material, it takes so long to fit without getting air pockets, and I was trying so hard. I think it took me half an hour to fit three pieces, thank goodness I did it inside where it was cool, because I was getting very hot.

Que for getting into the pool and having a soak.

12th July 2024

It was a hot day, the AC was working well. This is the time of year when the fireflies come out in abundance during the evening. It’s a fantastic spectacle of flashes of light without an explosion at the end of it.

It was too hot to do much other than float in the pool.

We had to meet Nancy and Lloyd for dinner. We chose a Gastropub in the town where we could sit outside. These five o’clock dinners are a sign that we’re over the hill, although Kelli likes to have her chill out time in the evenings.

We sat talking for ages, well after we settled the bill. The establishment must have got concerned because they sent across the largest guy I have ever seen. He was so wide that he cut out the evening sun, plunging our table into darkness. Slightly embarrassed, and glad he didn’t ask for rent, we got up and left. It was our cue to say our farewells, tentatively making plans for our next get together.

We also managed to take pictures of the latest dresser off the production line.

The piece we finished earlier in the week still hasn’t sold, although there has been interest, it led to nothing. It’s bloody typical. What usually happens is people save it, and watch to see if the price goes down, then they make an offer.

Although Holland is an affluent town, most residents squeak when they walk.

11th July 2024

The night was again doomed to end in disaster, Kelli couldn’t get off even though she was tired.

We lay in bed for an hour trying to establish what her problem was. In a desperate attempt to change the trajectory of where this was going I suggested getting up and doing a tai chi exercise to aid sleep. This lasted twenty minutes but was very relaxing. We went back to bed and both of us fell sleep quickly. If it was coincidence or an effective distraction, I don’t care, it worked.

Kelli had a doctors appointment, so it was fortunate that she felt good.

He was interested in what triggered her bout of rage a few nights earlier. We established that the worst was the forth of July fireworks. Not that these were particularly bad or loud, but he believed that it stemmed back three years ago when she was really bad and not sleeping at all.

This was born out by the flicking of her eyes as he tracked them from side to side. I have seen these for myself, and it’s wierd.

So he spent time trying to calm these movements, he talked about re-programming the brain to remove the trauma that she carries around with her. I still can’t get my head around some of this, my brain has been trained to see a tangible result, not an invisible one.

I’m interested in seeing if we can help her sleep problem by distraction and calming the mind with tai chi.

Before the appointment, we arrived a bit early so we went into Goodwill. Now I expect the Zeeland store to be stocked with God merchandise, but to my surprise I found an old dresser for eight bucks, a bargain. The trouble was we had a piece in the back of the truck, so I had to drive back later.

Once the appointment was over we headed back to Holland, and to stop off at Plato’s Closet.

We dropped the piece we had in the back to Kelli’s mum’s garage, then went home for some lunch.

I was due to meet up with Lloyd for a beer, at three, so I had to drive back to Zeeland to collect the other dresser.

I parked the truck outside the donation doorway, and a young girl came out to meet me.

I explained what I was collecting, so she disappeared back into the store.

Many minutes later she appeared pushing a different dresser. I told her it was the wrong one, then helped to push it back into the store and found the one we had bought. Fortunately it was on castors, but when I asked for help to lift it into the Toyota she answered that she was not allowed to, therefore I had to struggle by myself.

Driving back to Holland, I arrived at the bar with three minutes to spare, boy, I needed that drink.

10th July 2024

We had another bad night. I find it hard to understand any logic when it’s difficult to go back to sleep after having only two hours of slumber.

Kelli gets uptight and angry at not being able to resettle. To me it’s counterproductive when she should be doing the opposite.

So after two more hours of non sleep she got up and started pacing the rooms getting herself more worked up, she went outside and drove off in the truck, as she has done many times.

I try to suggest things she could do to help calm herself down, but she doesn’t want to hear them, so I shut up.

Once she returned, I moved out into the living room to the old trusty couch, hoping that the peace would allow her a few hours of rest.

I was rudely awaken at eight in the morning by the city boys trimming the trees away from the power cables.

She may have dozed for a time, but still emerged with a face like thunder.

This set the tone for the day, which of course was shopping day.

That was a treat, she refused to go to the checkout because the cashier was someone she had the confrontation with a few weeks ago, leaving me to do the deed, not very embarrassing then?

Aldi faired a little better, the expression of thunder has eased to just chewing wasps, a hopeful sign.

Once back in the house, I got on with some work in the garage, I needed to get my mind of the grimness of the day.

I know it’s not about me, she is fighting a demon that I can’t intercept, and it’s frustrating, this that’s been going on for the past three years, and every time I see a little light at the end of the tunnel, a bloody train blocks it.