The Ikea boxes were delivered on Tuesday, as planned. We thought we would clear the office and put them up on Sunday, so we did. When I came back, Him Indoors help me carry the bags into the kitchen to put things away, hands me a cup of tea (I should have known he was up to something!) and said "by the way, make sure you don't go barefoot in the living room". I asked for the reason why and the answer was that while he was moving the shelves away one of them fell on the mirrors and there was some breakage. That's ok, I said, we have a spare somewhere (or so I thought). "Well, the thing is, the shelf fell in the middle of a row and broke 2". Then starts the strop. The Boy's father would have joined in and there would have ensued a mighty row. Him Indoors knows better and deflected it quite cunningly. As I pass him the bags of flour to put awayhe says :"I can see why you were complaining about the Ikea jig not being very well set up. If you thought you had trouble puting the shelf together, you ought to have tried puting together the next one". I brace myself for the next strop. What the hell was he doing taking initiatives and not following the work schedule I had given him. Men, take note. However much we say we would like you to show initiative from time to time, we do not actually mean it. He answeres that I should have put it in writing and that he had done his bit appart from the desk because he did not know where to cut exactly. I answered that cutting on the line I had marked out would have been a good option (Yes I know, I am a domestic tyrant). And if really he wanted to be helpful he could have made a start on The Boy's homework. And then I see the shelves he had put together... Before I met him, Him Indoors was described to me by my manager as "a clever cookie". He is smart and practical. He got at least 20 points more than me on the BBC test the nation IQ test. Amongst other things he can do rewiring and he can do plumbing. However, he cannot do flat packs. They say the key to getting the girl is to make her laugh. He certainly did. One lok at the 2 shelves and I could not keep a straight face. How could I carry on with the strop when I saw the result of his efforts (bless!). He had only put half of the bits the wrong way around (no wonder the wholes did not line up). Whe he saw he did not look quite right, he did not think of trying a different way. He just assumed they were faulty and carried on (I suppose I should think myself lucky he did not get carried away and drilled new holes). In the process he had managed to give his thumb a blister with the alum key. I was still laughing about it when we went to bed.
It did not even seem like a good idea at the time #2
I organised the schedule of work according to abilities.
Him Indoors was to do most of it as expected. He was to: find a space out of the way for the replacement toilet and cistern. Empty the current shelves, take them down, unscrew the legs of the desk and saw it off where I had put a mark, replace legs according to new size.
I was to build the flatpack items. So far so good.
I started with the first box of shelving (1 of 6) in case Him Indoors was very fast at clearing up. Then he would have something to do (drill the walls and put them up) while I built the bookcases. Built the shelf and complained the workmanship was a bit shoddy. It is Ikea after all.
Things were still going fine.
Then Him Indoors pointed out we were in danger of running out of milk so maybe the big shop can't much longer and really I ought to go shopping before the shops closed. So I left him to get on with things. He had after all plenty to do and had been left simple instructions. Things could not possibly go wrong.
12.1.04 22:17
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steve (13.1.04 09:46) Ah the joys of DIY. I actually like DIY myself. Just need to read instructions before starting job. |
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(13.1.04 10:06) Him Indoors is actually quite good at DIY. He can even do basic plastering which I consider a bit of a black art. There are just a few things at which I think I am better than him: flat packs, wallpapering and painting for example and he should know better than try and attempt them when I said I would do it. |
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Jiiiiim!!! (13.1.04 13:56) If you think IKEA stuff is tricky to put together, you should try taking it apart again. I helped my brother and his girlfriend move house last year and had to dismantle their wardrobe-cum-dresser thing to get it out of his flat. Fortunately, he put it into storage. I just hope he never has to try to put it together again....... |
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(13.1.04 21:19) We have just got a Home base bed for boywonder after 1 week it has started to squeek. Rotivator man was trying to errect but didn't read all of the instructions first so kept loosing bits |
