Living alone does have its drawbacks. I mean, the peace and quiet is nice. And the being able to do whatever you want is cool too. Oh, and not having anyone nagging you, that’s great. . . Huh? Oh, right, the drawbacks. Sorry.
Sometimes it’s nice to have an extra person around the house. Especially when you’re trying to build something. Take yesterday. I ordered a sideboard display cabinet from Plummers. When it came in, my friend was nice enough to help me go pick it up in his Volvo station wagon (no, it wasn’t sx70). But that’s the only help I asked for. So after we lugged the three boxes up the stairs and into my place, I gave him a bottle of water and sent him on his way.
Then it was time to get down to business. I carefully tore open the largest box and discovered to my delight that most of the cabinet was already assembled. All I had to do was lay the sideboard on its back, screw on the legs and slide in the shelves. Easy peasy. Or so I thought.
I tilted the cabinet back very carefully and screwed on the legs. Then it came time to tilt it back up right. I got behind it and attempted to do a quick power lift. No luck. I ended up almost tearing off my fingernail. The problem? The legs are located just inside the frame and are too long to use for leverage. It seemed there was only one way to get that sideboard back on its feet: I needed someone else to help me lift it from the other side. But who?
Well, I don’t have a lot of friends. My fault, I know. But that didn’t make my situation any better. Neighbors? Are you kidding? I hardly see them. No, I was stuck. So for the rest of that night, I just sat and watched TV, occasionally glancing over at that sideboard lying on its back on the cold cement floor. I went to bed that night disappointed and depressed.
But as I was waking up the next morning, I started to think: Why did I need someone to come over and help me? The answer: So we could lift up the cabinet and set it down on its legs from a higher angle. Well, if that’s the case, what if I just stuck something underneath it? A cardboard box maybe? Then I would have more leverage to tilt the cabinet upright.
It seemed to make sense. So I got out of bed and I did just that. I lifted up the cabinet from one side and shoved a long, shallow-but-sturdy cardboard box underneath it. I got behind the cabinet from the other side and I gave it a lift. And you know what? It actually worked.
I know, I can hardly believe it myself. But the sideboard cabinet is all assembled now and nicely positioned against my wall. It really looks great. All I have to do now is figure out what the hell I’m gonna put in it. In hindsight, I suppose I should have thought of that before I bought the damn thing.
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