As a white dude - I am a minority - kind of

This might be a touchy subject for some.

May even offend, feel free to counter the argument . . . 

 

Much is being made in USA and parts of Europe of white people and ethnic minorities . . . impacting job hunts, preferential treatments etc.

Which goes begging the question  - what is a "WHITE" person actually exactly ??? Given that the USA is counting Hispanics (or whatever the current labeling says) as different from "white"  - would that mean any person residing / being native to or from Spain / Portugal - even Italy is now counted as non-white???? Turns out that even Jesus was - nicely tanned - yes?!

Interestingly - this website ----->  https://www.infoplease.com/world/social-statistics/ethnicity-and-race-countries

talks about the difference between Race and Ethnicity!!! If you scroll though you will see that there are native "Austrian" or "Germans" etc - BUT only the USA and the UK and oddly enough Uruguay/ South Africa/Cuba/Brazil count "white" in their population data sets.   Yet most of Europe is generally being described as White!    A few South American countries count Amerindian+white as Mestizo . . . 

Russia of course has a very mixed population with most of the Siberian / Asian population (in their territories)  being from well -- ex-Asian descent!

If we are talking about REGIONS  - then

Rank	Region	Share of Global Population (%)	Population
#1	Asia	60%	4.5 billion
#2	Africa	16%	1.2 billion
#3	Europe	10%	729 million
#4	North America	7%	534 million
#5	South America	6%	424 million
#6	Central America	1%	47 million
#7	Oceania	1%	42 million

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_world

Australia + New Zealand are listed as ZERO . 39 percent and given that we only have about 5 million people vs Australia with some 26 million . . . NZ would be even less on its own!!  Spare a thought for the Cook Islands with some 11000 folks . . .

Anyhow - if you brake it down and broadly accept Asia as mostly non white and same for Africa and most of the (south and middle) Americas - then that leaves just USA/Canada and parts of Europe and that is some 14% - less if you discount the resident 'colored' Hispanics or other colored immigrant communities etc . . . There is certainly a melting pot argument to be made for both UK and USA

75% of the world population live either in Asia or Africa!!! Just stop and think about that one for a minute!! 

North America AND Europe combined (forget for a moment their racial makeup) EQUAL the population of Africa - give or take a few thousand folks!

 

 

 

Given my fair haired freckled sometime sun burned tanned skin - I am definitely in the minority!!  Hmmm wonder if I can get that job on the DEI program after all????

Where is the local tanning bed ? ? ?  - I need to "blend" in . . . . . 

PS - Non of this is even remotely a NEW thing - watch www.The Secret of my Success where the hero of the story gets denied a job because the one thing he could not be was:  being a ethnic minority and the firm had a hiring quota for those!!  The film reflecting the current reality - was made in . . . . . . . . . 

Drum roll please

ratatatatatat

 

 

 

1987


 

Have fun!

Oldest brewery in the world

Naha

I am not a beer drinker! Many of my cousins are - not me thou - I am more - *cough*  urm yeah - Avant-garde??? Cultured??? drinker?!?!?

Meh - I never liked beer - and wine seems so - cool - to drink!!

THAT said - there is this Brewery in Salzburg (my old stomping ground) and after some  research - voila

https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/12-of-the-oldest-breweries-in-the-world/

 

 

YAY --- Fourth oldest continuous brewery in the WORLD !! 😇 😜 😇

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Excellent: So in order that  is: Germany /Germany /Austria /Austria- in my birth-town (Salzburg)! 

 

 

First brewed there in the same year as Columbus sailed for "West Indies"

I used to cycle past there almost daily . . . . . . 

 

Okay - so 2040 - to get there I need another (uses toes and paws to count) - urm - 15 years!!!

So God willing - 

I shall be 'round for that (hopefully), and no doubt will raise a glass of --- WINE in its honor!!! 

Prosit!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.stiegl.at/die-brauerei/privatbrauerei/geschichte/





Have fun!

I am dreaming . . . . . . .

Yeah - head in the cloud stuff this is!!

Major pre-note - O N L Y - if ever - we win some lotto . . . 

That does not stop me from drooling . . . . . 

 

Meanwhile - in a land down under - I had this conversation with my wife (she of freak fame) and asked her to name all the license plates from all the work cars she had driven . . . And she could recall all 9 of them - all in order from oldest (Oct 1987) to current . . . .

Damn - some wife I got!!

Ok; it helps that almost all of them were Toyota Corolla's of some sort, with a very fondly remembered Honda Shuttle in-between the various Corolla's - which we eventually bought off work, for our own private car!

THAT got me thinking about the cars we owned ourselves . . And we had to do some digging and searching - 

For myself - I owned a little red 800cc Mini - followed by a much loved Citroen (which I had to sell to make the Airfare for my supposedly one year long sabbath in NZ).  

We got married and the Vauxhall Viva family car was 'donated' to a good cause - us; as a wedding gift!! Don't  worry - it was an ancient beat up oldie - but reliable car, ok - for Christchurch! Once we moved to Wellington and the City council bus overtook us going up the hill on the Ngauranga Gorge - that was it!!! 

https://Ngauranga_Gorge

We upgraded to a yellow Toyota Corona! It had grunt!!!! That then got sold in order for us to make our first big 6 month long OE trip - and we came back car-less - something that lasted (some 10 years)  'till we picked up the Honda in June 1996 - ish! 

Crashing that and having written it of - next  in line was a white Mazda (Feb 2003) automatic - which got upgraded to a MANUAL hot red Nissan (so the boys could learn on a manual car) and once that was done, we bought in April 2017 a Black as out of Africa Toyota Fielder wagon -mainly because it had the biggest boot lid - entry (for my woodworking timber purchases!) 

However that is not all of it - as for our Euro trips we "bought" twice a Renault and once a Peugeot! Actually, it was a rental agreement - with a pre-agreed re-purchasing price! Legally though, we did own a brand new car for the 5 weeks we were in Europe!! Check this out - its still a thing!!!

www.Eurodrive.co.nz

 

 

Then there is a VW based Motorhome (the original Bearmobile #1) and of course the current Bearmobile #2 ( A Ford based model)

MEANING - we had 5 Japanese cars and 7 European made cars/vans and a singularly USA made version!!  We should spread our wings a bit and aim for more US made vehicles - 

and luckily for me . . . . . 

I just    K  N  O  W    which  one!!!!

Hubba hubba

 

 I so could see myself driving one of those!! Even better if they come in the purple - or Gold - or Ferrari Red!!!

Sighs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A56HyoAEBsk&ab_channel=ICON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnhm2V7V4VY&ab_channel=ICON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNceug04-Cw&ab_channel=ATPMonsterGarage

The notion of an old design - muscle car no less along with the Mod cons - (power steering, new engine - disk brakes and USB electric connections etc etc - D O E S  have a lot of merit!! I could easily see myself in a .....  yeah - that too!!!!

I also fancy a very first ever  original Jeep made - the very first design the Army commissioned - it is indestructible and just perfect for the various beach hops - urm outings!! 

 

 

 

 

NOW - what are my chances for a Steering wheel column shift and also the gas pedals etc to the right hand side, and once it's all built - shipping to NZ?????

Where is my lotto ticket ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 

Have fun!

Well this is just nuts!! Whatever happend to Morality????

 

 

Dang

 

 

Compare the written articles from NZHerald and Stuff:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360549327/police-probe-former-mp-after-complaint-shoplifting

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/police-investigate-paknsave-shoplifting-complaint-against-former-mp/F54FO2HDCFG3BC43YV3C45DBGQ/

Clearly the Herald site was more restraint! Have to admit - my thoughts were going directly to a certain former MP!! 

It goes begging 2 questions:

1 ; -- Who squealed to the news-media in order for them to go and ask both the Police and Foodstuffs for a confirmation of the name???? And why did the Police confirm that name in the first place - on what grounds???

2 ; -- FAR more important is the numbers of reported "retail crime incidents"!!!

Think about that for a minute;

That is some 20 000 for the year - laid over 300 stores! That works out at near enough 55 incidents per DAY!!! If you want to be generous and say that's near enough a quarter of stores one incident-- per day  ( I am sure some stores will have more then one a day). . .  No doubt that is one reason why grocery prices are so high (cost recovery??)

Morality is the thing you are doing when you think NO-one is watching you!!!  

 There is a reason why Abraham-ic faiths have the -- "Thou shall not steal" tenet!!!

Given that less then 47% of Kiwis admit to be adhering to ANY religion let alone
Abraham-ic faiths - this is what we can look forward to - an increase in NO morality along with  the 'I can do whatever I want to' attitudes . . .   Sad times are ahead!!

Have fun!

Annual Christmas Epistle 2024

2024 Christmas letter

Howdy,

There is almost a feeling of de-ja-vu as I am sitting here and type! We have gone away again in our Bearmobile #2 – and yup – we left Christchurch in teeming rain – just like last time I drafted the letter! The alpine passes and certain parts of the McKenzie district all got snow – Twizel had some 15 cm of new snow! Not unheard off – certainly rare events for OUR spring.  To put this in European terms – imagine if snow falls in Salzburg in the middle of July!!!
And where has the year gone????  Last March, Pam and I quietly celebrated the 40 years since I first grabbed her hand during a stroll we took at a Church Picnic – and she never has let go of said hand since!!!  Amazingly you can still find us strolling along various places holding our hands! How romantic!?!?
Longevity is something that also happens at her place of employment – although in April we said goodbye to her former boss who passed away after a long battle with various health issues! Thirty-six years is a long time to be working with someone! He was missed when the company celebrated 100 years of operating – and Reinhold had to dress up in order to attend the “birthday” party!

In July I started to receive some txt’s on my cell phone that just did not feel right. In the end, it turned out to be from one of my many cousins – daughters – so that makes me an hmmmmm – grand/once removed/ something!!  We hosted Leah and her partner Immanuel and had a great time catching up with family news!

Michael had saved enough $$$ living on the cheap with us – and managed a 4 week trip to Austria in September!! He had a great time catching up with some of the many relatives, including his Oma as well as re-visiting Legoland!! A wonderful experience for him given the health issues he had to put up with in the last few years!! He was kind enough to bring back a treasure trove of Mozart kugels – ex Groedig/Salzburg!  Given that the factory is shifting to someplace near Prague post this Christmas, me thinks that will be the last ever treat we will have here– so are rationing them out to make them last as long as possible!! I trust Pam enough, that there will be no secret midnight raid on my stash . . . . .

Jonathan is settled with his two jobs. In the winter season he works on the ski fields – repairing the ski gear that the tourists hire and break! In the summer he is a tourist van driver – taking a mini van with folks to either Milford Sound (a place he knows too well – so lots of anecdotes and jokes to tell) and to Mount Cook!  He came and stayed with us for a couple of nights picking up an additional van and drove that back to Queenstown – saving the company Motel costs and gracing us with his presence!!    
We keep using our Mobile home from home – and had 11 trips away this year including a 2-week journey south! We booked ourselves into a Camping site at Frankton – a mere stroll away from were Jonathan lives and caught up with him for a luncheon meal! The planes go overhead (wind depending) at certain times – and so low – you can almost touch them!! From there other places were conquered – including a place called NIGHTCAPS! Yes that is an actual village – and it is a very appropriately called place! It was also very warm – some 33c at 9pm, perfect for doing some house-keeping/washing!! Most of our trips away are weekends mostly – although sometimes we can squeeze in an extra night away IF Pam takes a day of leave from work.

We are both keeping well – mostly, apart from the usual old people aging folk’s things! We now have a competition, who has more pills to take, in order to keep well!! Touch wood we will both stay healthy long enough in order to enjoy our old age life! Pam did find it hard once she celebrated her 61st! Suddenly there were unusual memory lapses; – so much so, that I keep joking who is she and what happened to my wife!!

A good buddy of mine is a fisherman – and he never caught anything (yet) so the two of us went for a weekend fishing trip to Twizel in the bearmobile#2. His in-laws own a holiday rental that we used as a base and visited all Canals – where it is rumoured that there live some gigantic Salmon! Yeah right!! We came home empty handed!! We made up for it with some red wines and good home cooked meals – so not all was lost!

We are looking forward to 2025 for a number of good reasons (40 of them to be precise)! We trust this letter will find you in a good place and life is peaceful and prosperous for you!

Wishing you all a festive Christmas season and a happy new year (the same procedure as every year)!

Pam and Reinhold 

Have fun!

The old bear saw some stars

Howdy

Yeah - it is not what you might have thought - I DID NOT bang my head on anything - recently! Even though I have a scar ala Harry Potter (just not as descriptive) - that was from a VERY long time ago!

Still

In NZ the matariki stars are visible from sometime June on-wards - and so everyone says are clearly visible with the naked eyes! Well - I have, thanks to my previous birthday present - seen them with strong binoculars! Naked eye???? 

Yeah nah

 

I am to lazy and old to get out of bed and go outside in my dressing gown - in mid-winter no less!! So out the bedroom window I keep looking -  I F - I happen to wake up at the suitable time!!  With all the street lights and sometime moonshine and somewhat clean double glazed windows - not to mention the various cloudy condition it is really a potluck event that may or may not happen.

Today - after a warm-ish Nor-west wind (similar to European foehn-winds) which tends to blow out to sea any and all mucky pollution not to mention making the air less humid and the promised rain-clouds holding off just long enough - I got lucky! So I grabbed my cell phone and tried to do the impossible - taking a picture through the window - yup - you guessed it - reflections from the glass!!

STILL

For the first time ever - I have seen the faintest of faint stars !! You can clearly see Orions belt and Jupiter and Taurus - leading to a fuzzy Matariki.

Go me!!

Ok now I am awake - better keep quiet and let mamabear carry on sleeping!!!

PS - for those star nuts - there is this very fantastic website that will give you an up-to-date star map from your location!!




Have fun!

Can - or should the whole world have a say in USA elections ? ? ?

This is sooooo

I n s a n e

No - really - this is insane on so many levels!!

I did not listen to these blokes chat away - the raw data presented was enough.

 

Snip snip ---  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyGz3MEZ3Ro&ab_channel=TheHeartlandInstitute

 

Heartland recently commissioned some polls with our friends at Rasmussen Reports – together, among the only organizations doing serious polling research on election fraud. Our latest finding: No less than 62% of likely voters are concerned that cheating will affect the outcome of the 2024 election in November. And why might that be? Maybe because nearly 20% of those same voters said they received multiple ballots in the mail in 2020. Committing voter fraud has never been easier in America. It’s a national crisis few are brave enough to talk about, and fewer with the power to fix our elections are lifting a finger to stop. 

 

 New Poll Shows Americans Are Very Worried about Election Integrity https://heartland.org/opinion/new-pol... 

 

Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: Large Majority of Voters (62%) Are Concerned Cheating Will Impact 2024 Election 

 https://heartland.org/opinion/heartla... 

 

Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: One-in-Five Mail-In Voters Admit to Committing at Least One Kind of Voter Fraud During 2020 Election

https://heartland.org/opinion/heartla... 

 

Heartland Institute Poll Shows Nearly Three in 10 Voters Would Vote Illegally in 2024 Presidential Election   

https://heartland.org/opinion/heartla...

 

According to the poll, conducted by Rasmussen, approximately 44 million Americans would vote illegally in 2024 election “to prevent other side from winning” (three in ten as per poll = 44 million) 

17% of mail-in voters admit that in 2020 they voted in a state where they are “no longer a permanent resident”

21% of mail-in voters admitted that they filled out a ballot for a friend or family member

17% of mail-in voters said they signed a ballot for a friend or family member “with or without his or her permission”

8% of likely voters say they were offered “pay” or a “reward” for voting in 2020.

Taken together, the results of these survey questions appear to show that voter fraud was widespread in the 2020 election, especially among those who cast mail-in ballots.

 

End snip

 

 

How crazy is this???? 

 

 

You would have to ask the question why the Democratic Party of US is fighting tooth and nail against tightening up the election rules etc????  Further you would have to ask why so many Republicans are quietly acquiescing to this as well?!

Oddly enough Donald Trump may have a point here when he talks about election fraud?!?!?!  

Lastly - as whoever wins the races to the Presidency / Senate / House DOES make policy that does (in-) or directly affect the rest of the world - should therefore the world not have a say in this too ????  oooooh - that would put the cat among the birdies!!! 

ANYONE from NZ - I encourage you to become an election poll/worker at our 3 yearly election cycle for parliament!! It is an eye opener in terms of election integrity!!  If as a nation / country the population has no faith in the integrity or fairness of the election - well - guess what the outcome of that might be....

Look at last Venezuela elections . . . . or previous Uganda . . . . 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ypOZk7Jhks&ab_channel=CBCNews

Oddly enough some of the systems used in Venezuela are "sold" ex USA - ponder this for a moment . . . . 

Have fun!

World Famous Gardens

Oh yeah - oh Yeah - OH YEAH

3 out of Ten!!!

so a link send me to a link and so forth - you know how this online browsing works - and I found this

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/2-most-beautiful-gardens-world-us-others-scattered-globe

OH YEAH

2 From Austria and 1 from New Zealand in top Ten Gardens in the World

Go us!!!!!

Mirabell Garden is of course my old stomping ground!! 

 

Snip

2 of the most beautiful gardens in the world are in the US, the others are scattered across the globe
Google searches, social media posts, Tripadvisor reviews and more helped drive the list
By Brittany Kasko Fox News
Published June 22, 2024 3:58pm EDT


Now is the best time to plant a garden for ‘supercharged growth’: Gardening experts!
This summer, people are on the hunt for the best outdoor activities to enjoy.

Visiting a park, taking a swim and enjoying a walk through a botanical garden are popular ways to get outside this season, assuming the weather cooperates, of course.
With this and more in mind, a travel service agency, Titan Travel, has put together a list of the top 10 most beautiful gardens across the world based on an array of criteria. 

The company compared Google searches over the last two years, the number of gardens tagged on TikTok and Instagram, Tripadvisor reviews and more to build this list. 

Of the top 10 winners, two of the gardens are located in the United States — and one of them has the most expensive entry cost of all.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden came in 10th on a new list of the top 10 gardens in the world. Can you guess the rest of the winners?

See which colorful gardens made the ranked list.

Here's the countdown …
World’s Prettiest Flower Gardens :

10. Brooklyn Botanic Garden — New York City
9. Gardens by the Bay — Singapore
8. Mirabell Palace — Austria
7. Botanic Gardens -- Singapore
6. Dubai Miracle Garden — Dubai
5. Volksgarten — Austria
4. Kenroku-en — Japan
3. Pukekura Park — New Zealand
2. Shinjuku Gyo-en — Tokyo
1. Longwood Gardens — Pennsylvania

The Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, ranked first on the most beautiful gardens list for its 1,077 acres of florals and meadows.
Titan Travel noted that the gardens are home to over 10,000 species.
The space has a five-star rating with 19% of reviewers classifying it as "beautiful.
It also has the highest volume of posts on social media with over 300,000 Instagram posts and over 6,000 TikTok tags.

The Shinjuku Gyo-en gardens in Tokyo were ranked second on the list for its high number of social media mentions — with many people pointing out the gardens’ cherry blossom collection.  It costs just $3.23 to enter the gardens, which makes it an inexpensive place to explore nature.  Shinjuku Gyo-en was also ranked among the best gardens in the world.  

The third-place selection, Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, New Zealand, ranks high for its positive Tripadvisor ratings, according to the new list.
The gardens include two lakes; guests can rent rowboats to take on during the summer.

Titan Travel also found that four of the gardens in the top-ranking list had no admission fees: Mirabell Palace (No. 8), Singapore Botanic Gardens (No. 7), Volksgarten (No. 5) and Pukekura Park (No. 3).

The Dubai Miracle Garden experienced a 265% increase in annual search data over the last two years, according to Titan Travel.
The gardens have over 150 million flowers in full bloom and over 775,000 square feet to explore, per the Dubai Miracle Garden.

Brittany Kasko is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital.
 

Have fun!

Nevermind Mars or Venus - Moon is the thing to be racing round with

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whoooosh - did you see that???

The Moon raced past you so fast . . . . . 

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350235656/moon-needs-its-own-time-zone-says-nasa

Space missions are based on Earth time, but time on the moon moves around 58.7 microseconds faster each day!

How dare he? ? ? ?

 

 

Strap yourself in - its going to be a very fast race!!





Have fun!

Women wanting to return to Venus?!

Motherhood is a trap. Marriage is a bad deal’: Feminist Corinne Maier on learning to be selfish

               Screams the headline (from a copied NZHerald article)

The French feminist provocateur’s ‘indecent’ insistence that women should prioritize themselves is jubilantly liberating.

                 Byline

How is that working out for you???? Be honest - You REALLY happy???

What kind of society do you think we would have if everyone is "selfish" ? ? ? 

What kind of living conditions would we have if everyone works on that me, me, me first and first only, philosophy??? 

We don't need men screams the feminist. - OKAY then do not complain when you need someone else to help you out of a difficult or trick situation.  Or do you want just another women to come to your  help????? Because according to your feminist thing - men are not needed - right?!

You don't need/want a male in your live -  but you DO need/want his sperm - so what if all males on planet earth withhold theirs for 100 years - what then???? 

If Men are from Mars - (yes THAT book) and Women are from Venus and they have worked out how to live on Planet Earth in harmony - and some have a nostalgic longing back to being on Venus -   BE MY GUEST!      Do not let me hold you back - here is your ticket on the next star-link rocket out of here. . . .  Let me remind you of the reasons why men and woman left Mars & Venus in the first place and moved to planet earth - they worked out that their lives are infinity better jointly together - complementing each other - then being a singular thing!!

Lastly - being selfish is not something new -  it happens ever-since the first apple bite!! You can boil down all Jewish/Christian scriptures into one thought:  Think of other people first before you think of yourself!   

Here is a bit of wisdom:

A story from the Confucian Tradition:

One night Confucius dreamed that he was taken to visit the damned in hell. He was very surprised to see that hell was a beautiful banqueting room, with the damned sitting around the table, groaning under the weight of the most delicious food he had ever seen. They were allowed to eat anything they liked, but they had to use chopsticks, and the chopsticks were five foot long. The damned were starving, staring in agony at the uneaten food before them, knowing that even with all eternity in which to solve the problem, it could not be done. 

And then Confucius is taken to heaven. And heaven has an identical banqueting hall, full of delicious food. The people around the tables are happy and well fed, but they, too, must obey by the same rule. The food can only be eaten with chopsticks that are five foot long. 

Only in heaven, they're feeding each other.

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/in-heaven-we-feed-each-other_b_3181190

Think about that for a bit . . . . 

Have fun!

The Renovator strikes again

buahahahahah

I think I bought myself some junk - or a whole heap of trouble!

For those who yet to hear or know  - from time to time I buy a dilapidated old cranky piece of furniture and give it some loving TLC - then try - and try is the operative word here - try and on-sell it for a little bit of profit!!

Just enough $$$ to be able to buy the next project!

W E L L 

This particular piece was - urm - ancient!! Serious consideration was given to just turn it into firewood.  Then a little voice in my head told me not to be afraid of new challenges!!!- Sighs

Actually I should say - this came from a house that was build in 1915-ish!! I am sure it is not THAT old, probably close to it though!! So if you are close to a hundred years old and still walk upright minus a few scraps and bruises - Well done you!!!

How do I know this is an ancient piece - well - the glue originally used is an old horse-glue type - strong and clear! They stopped using that in 1950's I think!! Awful stuff to work with - yet extremely strong.

This is how it came - split and uneven and opened up. I had a hell of a job re-aligning - this. . . . let alone removing it in one piece without breaking anything!!

 

I should say that one major decision made right at the start, was to re-cycle as much of the original material as possible.  It is made mainly from Oak - and has some Rimu for structural support.

 

 

 

 

 

Everything was wrong with this unit - requiring a deep dive into the bone structures, some Osteoporosis treatments. Several broken bones needed to be - well - re-broken (kind way of saying that I ripped them apart), then re-aligned and put into plaster.  The top of the dresser was removed and while bowed and crooked was re-glued with the help of eight dowels - to keep it aligned.  At this point a consultation took place - for if the wood-doctor failed right here to his magic - -  -  then there was no point in carrying on! As luck would have it - the panels held together and stayed reasonably true - or flat! 

The runners of the drawers had been used so extensively - so much so that in one particular case has completely worn away - it was - literally - running on thin air!!!

The drawer-stops had been worn away as well and no longer doing their job (of stopping the drawers of being pushed to deep into the cabinet!) , so were gently pried away and been replaced with some new stops!! 

All drawers had a piece of timber fitted on their respective sides - so that was something solid for them to slide along. All running guides had been taken off - and being Rimu - simply turned upside down and then re-attached in their respective places.  (gotta say - I must have done a sterling job - those drawers are now so smoothly going in and out - it would be easy to drop them if not careful enough) 

I spent some considerable time to find one of the washers that was missing from the tear-drop handle. Alas - it is so ancient that not even Musgroves (our major recycler hardware/timber specialist) had one - at least - simply none to be found. 

Consideration was given to replace all of them with a new modern set - alas at $7 and more - that will be left to the new (hopefully) owner to be done if so wished!! I did find a sort of similar thing - that with a bit of filing and coaxing was able to be fitted!  In similar vain - it sits on the original steel rollers - slightly bent and oxidized (dang - were they copper originally???)  but perfectly function-able. They can easily be pulled out and the unit would just sit on a furniture glide of sorts!

The backing timber was an old piece of crappy 2ply-wood that was getting frayed and came apart at the seams - so I hunted for some suitable timber re-placement!! Luckily - I have not needed to buy some (starting at $50) and recycled an older sheet I had stashed away for another project!

 

 

 

The last job was to bring it to a tanning saloon for a skin graft and new tan! At some point someone decided to stub out some cigarettes - leaving a 3mm deep black hole - and some horrible round black oil stain on the top! LOTS of sanding!!! The very last act was to add a new tan - Linseed Oil!!

 

 

 

I think it came up nice. Best of all - the aimed for "distressed ' or should that be "rustic" look was achieved or maintained! Sure it is not 100 % perfect - (in fact it was never built 'square' to start with), has some scraps and dings and is - well - not 'factory-new'. Yet it is rock solid and looks good.

Well -I lost count after 10 hours of work - so will not get paid for my efforts "by the hour", hopefully more then what I bought it for!!

 

 The deep black hole

 Oldstyle Dovetails - you do not see that very often these days!! - Nice!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It had one on the left side fitted - but the right hand side piece was missing - obviously knocked off a looong time back - so luckily for me I had some Oak T&G plank left over from a previous job - so was able to re-cycle and fit a matching piece!! 

Now for me turning into a sales person . . .

Jack of all trades I have to be . . . .

 


Have fun!