Last Monday I sat down to build my new bar cart. It had been sitting in its box in the den since Wayfair delivered it in October of 2020. One thing after another delayed my building it – laziness, Thanksgiving, all the stress of work projects in December, Christmas, being sick over Christmas, then more laziness. That Monday, though, was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and I had a holiday. (I realize this isn’t how most observe the day. Hey, you celebrate your way, I’ll celebrate mine.) It was time to put together that bar cart.
I LOVE the items I’ve purchased from Wayfair over the years. The beautiful wooden and metal bookcase in the den is perfect for the space. And then the end tables – I’ve got three of them, two matching end tables which complement the den’s color scheme and another in the living room. (Tangent: The living room end table is made of wood and looks quite traditional but comes with a special USB charging outlet and a hidden electrical plug for the entire table.) Each of them looks fantastic. And the mid-century modern chair – just listing all of this makes me realize how much I’ve bought from that company.
And everything was so easy to put together. Except for this last piece. The bar cart defeated me. Everything started so well – the Christmas tree was down and all the ornaments in the boxes; I swept up the corner where it was, which includes the wall where my bar cart would go. I carefully maneuvered the huge box into the living room. Even more carefully I removed all pieces and put them on the sofa and coffee table, accounting for each piece. I read all the directions. (Like a woman!)
And then, in the attempt to put item K (long screws) into item H (side) from item C (bottom) – I realized, I don’t have enough hands to hold all this together. I tried it again. Propping the pieces against the couch didn’t work. Putting the thing on the floor and trying that way didn’t work. After two more tries, each time dropping a heavy piece – it’s real wood – I knew this wasn’t a one-woman job.
“I wonder how much Wayfair charges to do in-home installation?” One quick search later – I got the answer: too much. After some mindless browsing on the site, I sent off a message to my favorite handyman, Jerry, and let him know I had another job for him. Several hours later, I still haven’t heard back from him. He is so popular he’s usually booked up for four to five weeks. I don’t think I can leave the parts sitting all over the living room that long. But then again, what with COVID still rising, no one’s coming over – maybe I can? Why not?
Notes from Aunt Gem 