Ehlersism # 108

No matter how carefully you think you are following directions, there will always be pieces left over when ‘some assembly is required’
 


And

As size and quantity of the left over pieces equals the concern you should have. Example: 1) a few extra screws and washers…probably just included incase you lose a few
2) a giant 4 x 4 post and whole packages of bolts that look like they are used to construct suspension bridges…maybe we should read the directions again

This bit of wisdom comes to me after my parents came up to help assemble their birthday present for my soon-to-be-two-year-old. We spent last weekend carefully constructing a monstrosity of a swing set. My family is not the sort who enjoys paying for labor, when you can do it yourself. Call us cheap, but there is something to be said for building it yourself. I enjoy deckzilla that much more because when I sit on it, I know that I put it together (with a LOT of help from my family). So with that in mind, instead of buying the pre-fab swing sets, my parent bought a kit from Home Depot and drove from Clearwater, with tools in toe, to put it together.

My Dad and I went to Home Depot to buy the lumber (from a list in the kit) and then he got started cutting all the lumber to the proper specifications (again as laid out in the kit) while I…had to work. But early Saturday morning we started to put it together. Yes it was hard work and a little confusing at times (there is nothing worse than having to unassembled a part and start over because you looked at the picture backwards and put a board on the wrong side), but slowly Fort Ainsley started to take shape.

Late in the afternoon, when the heavy lifting was at its pinnacle, we came to the realization that we might not get it done in one weekend. But that is when (insert trumpet sound here) the reinforcements arrived. The great thing about my neighborhood is the people that live there. When someone has a project, be it laying sod in your lawn, building a deck or building Fort Ainsley, people just show up. The men all brought out their tools, the women fetched supplies, the kids and dogs play to the point that our yard looks like an Amish barn raising.

Now it is customary to provide beer and pizza if you are the recipient of such neighborly good will. And as the beer flows, and the men plan, Fort Ainsley gets more complex. We varied from the plans and fortified Fort Ainsley to the point that it could withstand a real military assault. But no amount of beer and pizza could thank my neighbors for their help, as a matter of fact; I seem to be the recipient of neighborly goodwill more often than not. Maybe that is why I always try to ‘build it myself’…because I never really do it by myself. Now if I can just figure out what I’m supposed to do with all the extra lumber and all these bolts…anyone building a suspension bridge?