Thursday, July 12, 2007

My latest project

I have a desk that my parents bought me when I lived in North Bay in 1986. They got it, unfinished, at Consumers Distributing (Remember that place? I wish it had worked without the constant "Sorry, it's out of stock. Can you pick another item?" and was still around).

Anyway, I finally got around to finishing it, 21 years after the fact. Here's what it looked like:


And here's what it looks like after four coats of all-in-one stain and varnish, followed by a final coat of clear varathane:


...and where I'll keep it in my apartment, until I think of somewhere else that it might work:


Not bad, eh? Is there any end to my talents? My Grade 9 woodworking teacher, Mr. Romaniuk, would probably give me a C for it, because there are a few spots where the stuff ran a bit. But we didn't get to finish our coffee tables or salad bowls, because he was also a phys. ed. teacher and was away so often, coaching this team or that team. We were his only woodworking class. But I digress.

My next project will be the annual interior cleaning of my car. Yeah, I know, it sounds gross, but I live in an apartment, and it ain't easy to clean it. So every summer, I put one afternoon at the cottage aside to scrub that baby clean. Other than dust and the occasional spill of coffee from the cupholder, it doesn't get that grossly dirty. For one thing, I don't smoke...

9 comments:

Maria said...

OMG CONSUMERS DISTRIBUTING?? Hubby & I went shopping there on 2 occassions after we married 15 years ago and bought all the items we still needed. I remember that we spent $1000.00 each time. I still have a 3 piece knife set I bought from there popular brand... just can't remember the name now!

BTW, the desk looks really neat. I would hate to call you a procrastinator but holy jesus.

Maria said...

another thing

Lucky the table is in wood and not in a white lacquer that is no longer is style!!

I can't believe you finally put a table together 21 years after you received it. Don't think I can freak out at hubby anymore for not putting yesterday's laundry away!! LOL Can you imagine if your school age child was waiting for that table to do his homework on??

Maria said...

OK I SWEAR this is the last thing I will post --- or at least until someone else posts something.

Procrastinators Creed
1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done
already.
2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or to find excuses.
3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of
bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new
technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the
amount of time given.
7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though
infinitesimally small, is never
exactly zero.
8. If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change
my mind.
10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write
the first word, when I get around to it.
11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the
task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to
beginning the greater task.
12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is
wait/plan/plan.
13. I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
14. I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the
Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

Anonymous said...

Okay, Maria, Hon... STOP BOGARTING THE POSTS! Just kidding. Post away.

I plan to join that Procrastinator's Society... some day.

And give me a break! I didn't say I just assembled it. I finally finished it, 21 years after getting it as a gift. Truth be known, it wasn't an assemble-yourself thing, it came assembled.

JB said...

I think the most interesting thing about the desk is how the style of desks has changed since then. Now, when you get a desk, it will most likely have a pull-out tray for your computer's keyboard and mouse, and a tall cabinet where the drawers used to be to stash your computer's tower.
...like this one, for instance -
http://www.computerdesksnmore.com/Bush-WC53918-Stanford-Computer-Desk.htm
Your 21-year-old desk is made for a typewriter, for sure...and I'm pretty sure they used to sell those at Consumer's Distributing, too.

Anonymous said...

How right you are, JB, as usual.

The desk I actually have my computer on/in is an old-fashioned rolltop, but adapted to handle a computer. I bought it from Sears last year. Instead of drawers on the righthand side, it has a slide-out tray for the tower. The front door only looks like drawers, and the lefthand side is hinged and opens out, to provide ventilation for the computer.

And, oh yeah, it's called oak, but is just that damned pressed board with Mactac on it.

Sean Newbury said...

WOW! Consumers Distributing! That takes me back!

And what about their catalogues? And the 'HUGE one and the Sears Christmas Wish Book and Eaton's and and and

God I remember when I was a kid. I'd go through those suckers with a fine tooth comb and circle EVERYTHING I wanted.! HEH!

Ya did a bang up job on the dest too by the way...

Anonymous said...

DOH!
It doesn't take me a weekend to clean my air, just part of an afternoon.
I would edit my post, but I'm at work, and the g.d. WebSense netnanny won't let me log on to blogger.com.

Anonymous said...

DOH AGAIN!
I don't clean AIR I clean my CAR.
In fact, I DIRTY the air after a few beers and pickled eggs. I don't think men get enough credit for the depleted ozone layer and global warming.