Damsel in Distress

This Saturday, after my not so fruitful garage sale, Frannie and company came up to help me with packing and really getting things done. It was a great and productive day. We cleaned out all closets, Panya got to play tetris in the garage with boxes, and even little Jai helped me in throwing clothes into space bags. Jett, well, that's another story all together. He just walked up and down the hall following Frannie while she did things that would have never crossed my mind to do, all the while crying with Buzz in his hands. Geez kid.

Finally, it came down to the bed. I stood on the mattress and carefully took down the cross beams while Panya labeled them for easier assembly and Frannie folded the curtains that were on the bed posts. After I removed the mattress, it was time to take apart the actual frame. It seems that the Allen wrench which I used for the posts of the bed is not the same size that I need for the frame. And, just to add injury to insult, all the Allen wrenches that I own had arms that were too long to fit into the actual recessed hole that the screw was in. Ikea was really messing with me, huh?

Well, I searched high and low for the stupid thing. No where to be found. Then I thought that perhaps I might have mistakenly put it in my ex's tool box and forgot to take it out. Nope. Then I called Ikea and talked to their customer service rep. I asked her if there was a tool that was comparable that I could purchase. Nope. I had to drive 90+ miles to their store so that someone could tell me what tool of theirs I could purchase. Yeah, no chance in hell of that happening.

Finally, I cracked. I got in my car with said Allen wrench in hand, and drove to the nearest hardware store. I explained the situation in my airy, high pitched voice and even drew them a diagram. The older gent that was there pretty much told me that I was SOL. The younger guy stood there for a minute, stared at the wrench and stared at the drawing. He then asked me if I cared if he "experimented" with it. I said nope.

A few seconds later, he had stuck the wrench into a device that resembled the jaws of life, told me to stand back, and then I heard a loud snap and a short piece of metal went flying through the air. He then brought it over to me and asked if that looked about right. "Fantastic! How much do I owe you?"

His reply was "nada." Out the door I ran and back to my house. There, with baited breath, I crouched down and inserted the wrench. I squealed with glee when not only it fit, but when it turned the screw and seconds later actually removed it.

Now, the bed stands in multiple pieces up against the wall in the hallway. Thank you dear sir. You saved my sanity (if there is any left).  So, the moral of this story is, if you sound like  you are dying and that all the pieces in your life have come crumbling down around you and if only you could do this one thing, life itself could start again, some guy in a red smock will be willing to assist you, for free.