A tale of unhelpful help...

So, I needed to get my yogurt and wanted another cup of tea. But I had to play queen first. I left my mug w/ tea bag on the break room [makes it sound so grant… it’s just an office] table. When I came back, my mug was gone. Ok, I know I can be forgetful, but I knew I’d put my mug on that table.
I walked down to my office, hoping to find my mug. My lights were out, so that meant nobody had been there in awhile [motion sensors]. Yup, there was my mug, sitting on my table. I know the walk between my office and the break room isn’t long. It’s just aggravating to know that someone felt they had to return my mug, instead of leaving it where it was.

And that’s my tale of unhelpful help.

RTA: reason to argue

Well, RTA really means 'ready-to-assemble', but it might as well mean 'reason to argue'. How many pieces of RTA furniture have you and your SO assembled? And how many times have you argued over some part of the instructions - or argued about even reading the instructions? Those numbers are the same, aren't they? I thought so.

We've had a 50" plasma TV since Circuit City announced their stores were closing. (THAT was a fiasco! DH spent oh, six-hundred dollars more at CC than he would have spent at Best Buy for the SAME TV.) The box - unopened - has been hanging out in the DR ever since.

We finally settled on a TV stand. BTW - try not to get a TV bigger than 48". The price jump for TV stands is huge once the TV exceeds 48"; just sayin'.

The TV stand arrived. RTA, by Sauder. We have a long pallet with three or four packages w/ long wood pieces, all wrapped up with that plastic stuff that reminds me of Glad Wrap. Just needs a bow to complete the ‘present’ illusion. NOW the fun will begin.

I'll provide a yell-by-yell report once we're done arguing. Well, putting the beast together.
Adding to the frustration will be: moving all the VHS tapes and DVDs, running the tangle of wires from point to point, and my DH's perfectionist habits. The ultimate argument may occur when he realizes the current entertainment center is headed for the basement.

I don't think I'll tell him that ultimately, the two will swap. Nope, that tidbit of info can wait.
How much ready to assemble {RTA} do you have? We’ve got four desks, bookcases, loft bed, small armoire, filing cabinet, dresser, credenza, two TV entertainment centers [plus the new one], a table for my craft studio that still needs to be assembled, and a standalone closet. I’m probably missing something. Yup, the tall hall bench with baskets in cubbies at top, and bench is storage.

This is what we'll be assembling this weekend:

Tale of the Traveling Dining Room Set

Our current china cabinet

We discussed the lineage of 'the junior dinette set' at Easter dinner. (Each piece is smaller than the typical dining room set.)

• A young married couple bought the set - table w/ butterfly leaf, six chairs, buffet and china cabinet.


• Their son, years later, married my mom's sister.


• My aunt's in-laws [the orig buyers] bought a new dining set for their 25th anniversary.


• When my aunt & uncle declined the old set, it was offered to my parents.


• It was our kitchen table until I was in HS, when we moved into a house with a DR. At that point, it became the DR set.


• While I was in college, my mom bought a gorgeous old full-size DR set from an old man whose wife had just died. The family was thrilled that another family was going to enjoy it. The junior set went in the basement.


• When I graduated from college, my mom and I painted the entire set gloss black. The six chairs were down to two. I picked up four bamboo chairs from a Goodwill-type place.


• It became our DR set after DH & I got married.


• Years later, when my dlilsis was graduating from college, we bought a DR set. The old set moved to my parents', temporarily.


• Dlilsis painted the set cream and rag-washed the china cabinet with brown. She got rid of the two remaining chairs. The four bamboo ones are in our basement.


• When she bought her condo AKA tiny place, the china cabinet moved into our basement.


• DD is agitating for the table and buffet since she's graduating in May.


• Dlilsis says DD has to wait until she and BIL buy a house. I'm guessing we're talking two years at the most.

My parents think the young couple bought the travelling set soon after they married in 1938, so it's around 70 years old.

DD says that NOBODY she knows in her age group has travelling furniture. She finds that incredibly sad. I do too. Yes, we have more furniture that's been passed around.