The Big DumpTruck

I am not a handy person. We should get that out of the way early. It would be a lie to present myself as the kind of person that Home Depot would ask to write a "How To" guide. More likely, I would write the kind of guide that they were selling at Lowe's that will apparently cause you to do something that could burn your house down.

But one of my hypothyroidism side effects is the whole clutter thing, and my addiction to buying storage materials that don't always solve the problems they were intended to solve. My most recent purchase was not storage bins, interestingly. It was actually a small metal shelving unit thingy that I bought to put in the hall closet so that I can store some of my "I have no place to put this" pots and pans.

This shelf looked to be a good size to just tuck into the closet, and the box said "No tools required!". I have some tools, but any time I don't have to use them, I'm happy.
Today, while the oil company guy was doing my annual burner cleaning [no cavities!] I decided to put the shelves together. After all, the box had been sitting in the kitchen for a few days now. All the parts appeared to be included. More than enough, in fact. There were 3 extra snap-one-y things, and there were 8 little caps that served no known purpose (they weren't listed on the parts list, nor did they logically have any place in the assembled shelving.) Speaking of the parts list, the drawings for parts C and D were indistinguishable. So that was helpful. Imagine two 2 inch lines. That's basically what they showed me. Lastly, there were 4 parts missing, I believe because between the instructions being printed and the materials being packed up, they decided to go with a different model for C and D and there was no longer a need for a separate part to connect them. They had built-in connectors.

Okay, so I figured out all the parts and pieces. I started to read the directions, which clearly said "2 people required for stable assembly". You know, there are a lot of different ways to interpret stable assembly. I'm pretty stable. Would doing this alone make me unstable?

The directions also highly recommended I use a rubber mallet to complete the last steps of assembly. Okay, show of hands: who here thinks a rubber mallet is actually a tool and therefore the "no tools needed" claim on the outside of the box is pure crap? Ya, that's what I thought.
It was getting to be time for me to go to work, because the oil burner guy was done. My shelving was pretty much the most unstable thing I've ever built at this point. I didn't have time to get a rubber mallet before leaving, so I'm just hoping the dog doesn't try to climb on the thing while I'm gone.

If you want to try to simulate the stability of my shelving, get 4 sharpened pencils and a piece of paper. Jam one pencil into each corner of the paper. Stand this up on your table. Voila. You have a paper shelving unit from Target, with no tools required!

Labels: cranky, DIY, shopping

Saw an article on FoxNews.com (I know, I know) that totally enlightened me on how awful my life must be.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A judge has brushed off a Connecticut woman's claim that
L'Oreal Inc. ruined her social life when she accidentally dyed her hair brunette with one of its products.
Charlotte Feeney of Stratford said she can never return to her natural blond hue, a shock that left her so traumatized she needed anti-depressants.
She says she suffered headaches and anxiety, missed the attention that blonds receive and had to stay home and wear hats most of the time.
A Superior Court judge dismissed Feeney's 2005 lawsuit Monday, saying she never proved her allegation that L'Oreal put brown hair dye in a box labeled as blond. The company also had disputed the claim. Feeney's attorney, David Laudano, declined to
comment and she could not be reached after the judge's decision.

I had no idea that my life sucks because I am a natural brunette. I seriously had no idea. I mean, I pretended I was blond that one day, but it wasn't like I was making a major life change.

So I'm just going to start staying home and wear hates "most of the time." Because obviously, having brown hair is a horrible, horrible affliction. I did not know this, but any headaches I get from now on, I'm going to just know it's from brunettitis.

By the way, someone will have to explain to me how a woman who was buying hair dye and using it is concerned that she cannot ever get back to her "natural blond hue". How natural was her hue if it came from a box? Besides, I'm pretty sure a halfway decent salon could resolve that issue.

Okay, off to go hat shopping!

Labels: cranky, News, odd

Lots of reasons why, but the least of which is that Target did not have my deodorant in stock when I went in there last week. That is NOT COOL. I will be swinging by CVS to see if they still carry it, and if they don't, all hell is going to break loose. I CANNOT wear baby powder-scented deodorant. It does not and will not work for me.

Also, my right foot hurts. A lot. I don't know what I did, it feels like a combination of a muscle problem and a bone spur or something, but it's impacting my ability to walk like a normal person. Unless normal people have an inability to walk normally because one of their feet has raging heel pain. That could be, I really don't know.

Lastly, I'm mad that last year at this time, we were just starting our Cape Cod vacation. Seven glorious ocean-view days. It's breaking my heart to not be standing in that living room, looking out at the sea right now. And I haven't even been to the beach since it officially became summer, just that one trip in the spring. I sat in one of those little chairs you use at the edge of the ocean, you know, to dip your toes in the water, but I had no reason to buy one, even if it was comfortable. Sad. Very sad.

So yes, I'm cranky today. It's Monday, and it feels like it's been Monday for a couple of days in a row.

Labels: cranky, sad, summer