Saturday, February 24, 2018

Things don't dust themselves, who knew?

It's only when I'm taking things apart to make room for something more efficient, more aesthetic, more utilitarian, that I nearly fall over from the dust that collects behind the books, the files, the cords, whathaveyous.

I can't tell you how many times this has happened in my life. I can't say I get embarrassed, housekeeping has never been my strong suit, but I find myself surreptitiously hauling out a dust-cloth and shoving the dust around. In the old house, the fire was always the distributor of such largesse. Here in the apartment? I could say I burn incense and candles. The problem with my brain is I wonder where the hell this stuff comes from in the absence of fire ash and dog (she was handy also as a dust instigator).

Today I had kinda built-ins arrive from the furniture maker. His photos looked wondrous, his prices excellent but the end product?

Dear gawd, a bit of a shocker as to quality. I was disturbed a bit when he showed up missing some important teeth from his upper jawbone. We talked different languages starting immediately. I questioned the non-finishing of the pieces, it went like this:

"I was under the impression that you would furniture finish the two pieces."

"Ah, you'll have to give them a bit of a wipe to get the sawdust off."

"I don't mean that, if you look at the table here and the chairs, you'll know what I mean."

"No, I don't."

"A reflective finish, fine sanded like this table."

"You don't want that, it destroys the look of the wood."

"I don't think so."

"And I see you didn't use wood filler in the screws or the mistaken screw holes (there were several aborted attempts in drilling for screws) either."

"You might want to take things apart and move screws and you can't do that if they're glued."

"And the side of the desk is the wrong measurement. I scanned you my design."

"It looks fine, I offer a lifetime guarantee on my work."

"I wasn't expecting plywood as a desktop."

"Nice and light to move around."

"But it's permanent in the corner, no moving around."

"Ah, but you might want to move it around."

I gave up. Sometimes you just cut your losses, you know?

I don't want to see him again and frankly, I was a little scared to tangle with him. And I've sucked up my disappointment and adapted my office space and the desk fits nicely in the corner and the pullout keyboard drawer works well, it was his piece de resistance. He couldn't stop demonstrating it.

And oh, yes. Bonus: I dusted.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like a disappointment and a pain for you for which I am sorry. Perhaps another friend could take a look and see if anything can be done cosmetically under your direction?

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  2. Bonus is it's a perfect height. I don't think I've ever had a desk with a perfect height for ne before.before. And considering the initial shock, I'm coping quite well.
    XO
    WWW

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  3. Your woodworker sounds like the painters we had in to repaint our place last summer. "That corner - there - needs another coat. You can still see the brown underneath." "Aw no, Missus, it'll dry fine, don' wanna go wasting yer good paint now." (What am I going to do with it? Make soup?)

    There are half a dozen such places, which in his learned opinion would "dry fine" but have not so far. (Eyeroll) But all you can do is have a laugh and be happy that it's a darn sight better than it was before. I hope you enjoy your new desk as much as I'm enjoying my new 'wisp of pink' white walls - we face north and we needed a warm white. A world of improvement over the paper bag brown that was here when we moved in in 2011.

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    1. You're like myself, making the best of the bad lot. I've resolved to finish the living room trolley myself once I can open the windows here and let the fumes out. I've done some refinishing in my time. And the desk now that it's established and with a long piece attached that has followed me around since God was an altar boy (I actually hate it but it has proven over and over again how useful it is, go figure) the whole officey area is workable and tidy.

      I've had workers like these, and like yourself, it's like two different conversations are going on until you finally just give in.

      XO
      WWW

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  4. And did the finish improve after dusting?

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    1. Not really Ramana, I'm still laughing over the fact he didn't even bother to dust the pieces and they were in an open truck for a 100 miles you'd think the wind would get them but no. I'm going to stain and varnish them myself.

      XO
      WWW

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    2. They will look a treat when you're done, I'm sure.

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    3. Yes wood filler and stain and varnish should do the trick :)

      XO
      WWW

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  5. I know what you mean about two different languages, I've experienced that a few times. Did you pay for the desk in advance or after delivery? If you paid in advance, I guess you're a bit stuck unless it was a complete disaster.

    I think most dust is actually dead skin.

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    1. paid for. I paid peanuts and got monkeys as Daughter so aptly put it. Usable pieces but they have a warehouse look to them, visible screws and unrectified mistakes.

      I agree on most dust but the dust afflicting me is definitely timber, LOL.

      XO
      WWW

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  6. Oh well, WWW, your new pieces could be described as arty and 'primitive' - he didn't get creative but you can, word-wise, at least. ;-)
    Dust? What a pest - especially around computers and the like - it doesn't go away for more than an hour after dusting, so I say "feck it!"

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    1. Annoying stuff. With a dustcloth I went around and was shocked at how the lampshades attracted a layer all to themselves. Selfish creatures.

      XO
      WWW

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  7. They call themselves 'Tradesmen', but so often the 'trade' is somewhat one way. As for dust, I swear we get much more of it from these darned computers, modern TVs, etc., and it all settles on the smoked glass shelves of the cabinets we put them on. Dust them in the morning and by afternoon, as the sunlight strikes, they look like a landscape from Lawrence of Arabia.

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    1. So true, And pictures on the walls, etc. Fine layer. Trade, I agree, clueless he was. I don't think he knew what he was at at all.

      XO
      WWW

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  8. Gives you the perfect reason to dig out the tablecloth you kept as a memento to cover it. :)
    Oh, just trying to find a bright side to it all.

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  9. Glad that you’re coping quite well with this considerably disappointing incident. I’ve had the same experience when I was redecorating the apartment and choosing new furniture pieces. It’s really disappointing when your woodworker doesn’t understand a thing or two about what you want. Anyway, good luck with keeping your apartment free form dust!

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