Nothing Happens At Ten 2010

Surprise!

We spent this past weekend doing what we have done for the last four weekends, moving heavy stuff in 90 degree temperatures and high humidity.

This weekend we were surprised with a special treat as well.

As with many New England houses, our second floor is built in the attic in a dormer with knee walls covering the eaves. Not having grown up here, I do not understand the propensity that people have to want to live in their attics, but it is a long standing New England tradition. Back where I grew up all the rooms are rectangular boxes, and the attic is a barbaric space for storing stuff that you really don't want but don't dare throw out. New Englanders find living in the attic cozy; I find it claustrophobic. But I digress; that is a discussion for another time.

Having no proper attic to abuse with mounds of stored stuff, we stored our stuff into the eaves behind the knee wall. The eaves are accessible only through a panel in the knee wall that is behind the bed. So, to get into the eaves, we had to move the bed.

So far so good.

But, in the process of moving the bed, we heard a snap and a crack, and the wood of one of the legs splintered, dropping the rail onto the floor with half of the mattress and box springs along with it. The bed had broken.

"No problem" I said, "I will take it all apart and glue it back together in time for the Big Move (B.M.)".

"Not so fast", said Murphy... who stalks me.... "where do you think all the glue is? Where do you think the clamps are?".

And yes, indeed, I remembered that all of the glue and other fix-it supplies had already been moved over to the apartment. Who knew? Also, all the wood clamps had already been packed into the depths of the POD. I put them way in the back because, after all, I was not going to be starting any woodworking projects any time soon.

So we unpacked the POD and finally found the clamps and did a run over to the apartment to fetch the glue. I glued the broken wood back onto the foot of the bed and we stuffed the rest of the bed into a closet. We did not have the energy or patience to put the bed back together for only four days of use, so we are sleeping on the mattress on the floor.

This is quite an adventure. When you are 20-something, this might be exciting, but when you are 60-something it is something else.