April 8, 1994
Dear Everyone:
“Jeannie” has taken to her crochet lessons in a
big way.
Having mastered the art of making
"granny-squares", she has completed an honest-to-God, handmade (or
Aunt-made) baby blanket for “Alice” & “Kelly's” soon-to-arrive TK (The
Kid). In fact, I am mailing it
off to them this morning, along with my own offering.
It will be interesting to see if
they can guess who did which one.
In the meantime, “Jeannie” has begun a
new masterpiece, an afghan
consisting of squares (sometimes called "motifs") in bright, primary
colors, which will be sewn together at a later date.
The advantage to making small
squares is that you can finish them quickly (27 down, only 373 to go).
The disadvantage is that the
afghan never seems to get any larger no matter how long you work.
It's only when you start putting
the squares together that you begin to get the feeling that you're
accomplishing anything. Another
disadvantage is that you always need a pair of scissors so you can cut
the yarn when you complete a square and start a new one.
“Jeannie” brought her work over for Easter Sunday.
We exchanged baskets; she gave me
earrings and Ghirardelli eggs, I gave her three kinds of bunnies and
assorted eggs. We had the
"traditional" Easter fare: Bagels,
cream cheese and smoked salmon. I
wasn't sure that “Jeannie” would like the salmon.
I was reassured by the way she's
sure-handedly inhaled the first two slices.
It was clear that I would have to
fight for my share. After
"brunch" (“Jeannie” didn't show up until nearly noon), we went to work
on our respective projects.
Hers was the afghan squares. Mine
was a computer cart. With wheels.
Every time I needed to use Ogden, I would have to go through the same
routine:
·
Get the folding table out
of the closet and set it up in the space "between" the living room and
dining room. This precludes
anything else occupying that space.
·
Get Ogden out of the
tallboy. Also, get Ogden's
power-pack and mouse. And the
other power cords. And the
extension cord.
·
Go down the hall and get
Mordecai, the monitor, and bring him back to the living room and put him
on the folding table and hook him up to Ogden.
·
If I need the printer, get
the antique tea trolley out of the closet, roll it down the hall, load
up the printer, bring it out into the living room, get the cable out of
the tallboy and hook the printer up to Ogden.
There is now an impressive array of cords, table and trolley, all spread
out between the living room and dining room.
To get from one place to another,
you have to go around.
Of course, if I need to do the ironing, or the bills, or wrap a package,
or just about anything else, Ogden and his little friends all have to go
back to their respective places…until next time.
It finally occurred to me that I didn't have to go through all of this
once or twice a week. I'd
received a catalog from one of those discount office supplies stores in
the mail and, while lusting over the Compaq Pentium on the cover, I
happened to notice that they also sell computer carts.
Now, this was an idea.
A cart has a place for the
monitor, the printer, and a keyboard shelf that Ogden can sit on.
And, most importantly, it can
roll.
I can move it into the living
room when I want it, and roll it back down the hall when I don't need
it.
So, with my trusty shopping assistant (“Jeannie”) in tow, I checked out
that store and two others and finally decided on the black one.
It was on sale.
It was in stock.
It was…RTA ("Ready To
Assemble"), three of the most dreaded words in the English language.
It was also incredibly easy
to put together. All the holes
and dowels and screws and strange little nuts fit together perfectly.
All I had to do was follow the
step-by-step instructions (in multiple languages, of course).
Meanwhile, “Jeannie”, who was following her own step-by-step
instructions, was exercising her
entire four-letter vocabulary because her squares were coming out
anything-but-square. Suspecting
operator-error, I kept to myself and continue to assemble my big, black
cart.
Did I mention it has a pull-out side-shelf inside the pull-out shelf for
the keyboard (or, in this case, Ogden)? And
another pull-out shelf for the printer, with his own little
paper-holder? And the back is
open, so I can easily disconnect Ogden when I need to take him with me.
And all these shelves and things
worked beautifully, which just astonishes me, considering that I'm the
one who put them together.
By the time I'd finished the cart, “Jeannie” had figured out what she
was doing wrong and her squares look pretty darn good.
She went home, pleased with her
progress, leaving bright bits of yarn all over my sofa.
And I had a new cart and a large
cardboard box in my living room.
And now, when I need Ogden, I just roll him and his little friends out.
And when I need the living room,
I just roll Ogden, et al, back again.
Ain't life grand?
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |