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Many years ago, back when we were buying antique furniture, Mirinda decided she wanted a particular type of Arts and Crafts writing desk. She found one and bought it. While decidedly attractive, it was never particularly good for working at. This was mainly due to the fact that old desks are not really compatible with computers and associated hardware.
As well as a lack of space, the surface of the desk was not exactly what one would call level. This meant that every time I’d make Mirinda a cup of tea or coffee and deliver it to her desk, it would be undecided whether to stay or fall; particularly when it came to slippery coasters.
Well, those days have now gone.
Last week, while I was living it up in France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark, Mirinda was busy buying a new desk from IKEA. And today we went to Nyköping to pick it up.
I have no idea why we had to go to Nyköping to pick it up except that, if we wanted it delivered to the house, we’d have to wait until mid-January. It turns out that quite near to the Euromaster tyre hotel where our summer tyres are happily stored away, there is a big transport hub used by, among others, IKEA.
We drove over this morning, picked up a number of parcels, one of which was extremely heavy, and drove back home again. Actually, the really heavy box was handed to me by a young woman who said, “Careful, this one is heavy,” as she carefully placed it into my arms from the warehouse dock.
Okay, I know I’m old and not exactly stable on my feet but, seriously, she was incredibly strong. I do wonder whether she is strong because of her job, or she that has the job because she is so strong. I’ll obviously never know, but that doesn’t stop me wondering.
Back at home, instead of making my bread sauce ahead of Christmas, I spent most of the afternoon building the desk.
I am always amazed at people who can’t assemble flat-pack furniture. The drawings, the instructions, it all seems really obvious to me. Mirinda reckons I just have the right mindset for it; the same as the people who design the furniture and draw the little pictures. Though, I think a lot of it is because of the many pieces of IKEA I have built over the years.
Anyway, by the end of the day, it was finished.
Of course, the dogs will still make it difficult to type when they are both in the chair with Mirinda, but at least the hot drinks won’t slide off it.
By the way, a while ago I wrote how dismayed we were that IKEA was being made in China. Well, the desk above came from a little closer to home: Lithuania. It’s a shame that a Swedish company appears to not manufacture its products in Sweden any more, but I guess that’s what we get from globalisation.
