Weighing In

 Zoe had a day off, so there was no need to get up early. I had a lie-in for 10 minutes... and got up anyway. After some coffee and the morning ablutions, I walked around to perform my school escort duties. 

With Ellie dropped at school, I headed off for my walk. Within a few minutes, I had received a call from Zoe. Their long-awaited, unannounced compliance audit was taking place, so she was going to work, day off or not! I continued my walk, having stirred things up by looping the opposite way around the estate from my usual route. I like to live dangerously.

Back home, Diane was just leaving for Pilates as I settled down for breakfast. Then, after a few chores, I went back to my coding project. This occupied much of the morning, but I think it's now finished (though I may do a little more documentation).

After lunch, I settled down and finished both my audiobook and my latest Kindle book. The phone rang. It was the delivery chappies informing me they would deliver our new table in the next 45 minutes. I sprang into action and dismantled the old table, removing it to the Orangery. 

The chappies turned up and brought the two boxes into the kitchen. It had been a long day for them. They left Leicester at 4 a.m. and made deliveries to Bournemouth, Southampton, and Portsmouth before coming here. Now, they have a long drive home in early evening traffic. 

I immediately started to look at the components and the assembly instructions. It was apparent that this would not be easy. It wasn't that it was a complicated process - there were only half a dozen steps. The main problem was the weight, which was similar to a WWII battleship. The base (hull?) was dragged out of its box and positioned. Packing screws were removed, and we were ready for the tabletop. This weighed the same as a modern aircraft carrier. Diane and I tried to position it - it was no good; it was much too heavy for her to help me manoeuvre. We called Zoe (who was home from work having achieved 100% compliance on the audit) and arranged for her to drop by when picking up Ellie. She duly arrived, and we fiddled, we faffed, we twisted, and we pulled. Eventually, we called it a day. The tabletop is in situ but not yet fixed, and so far, we haven't managed to find a way of extending the table the way it was designed. We have given up for tonight. This problem may need several sleeps and several phone calls. (It does look rather nice, though).