Negotiated Assembly Day Planted

I had some huge illusions put to the torch yesterday by my favorite Panamanian. We were supposed to see the new Entourage movie but that was before my wife took transplanting to a whole new level. I spent the entire day in extended contract negotiations with the union which is always a mood builder so I was in a perfect mindset for the follies that followed. My wife has a set of dahlias and gladiolas that she nurtures every year (usually with some grudging help from her husband) taking in the bulbs every fall so they don’t freeze over a New England winter and then replanting in the spring. One of the largest bones of contention over the move has been departing from her vast and ever expanding garden complex. Earlier this week she decreed that she refused to leave these two sets of flowers behind and we would re-plant them at the new house. Of course we haven’t even moved in yet so I was required to obtain permission from the landlord for some premature excavations at the new house.

My Wife's First Incursion into the Soil of the New House

He was agreeable so my wife uprooted her favorites yesterday and showed up at my office with some work clothes and a couple shovels. There followed the inevitable debate about where to actually dig. I came down on the side of we digging only in places we were sure were in the yard of the house. She had to reel in her vision a bit when confronted with this reality. The nicest thing happened during the mining exercise. Our future next door neighbor (and member of the Worcester Chapter of the Panamanian mafia) wandered over to help and then offered to cook us dinner since he was firing up the grill anyways.

The flowers were interred without further incident and we walked fifteen feet to our future neighbor’s back door. This is the coolest thing about moving back to an urban neighborhood – neighbors within shouting distance with the additional benefit of being good friends with them already.  I love our neighbors in our current home but this will be a move back to an environment we are more accustomed to. Country living is great but the driveway from hell broke all bonds of sentimentality. After imposing ourselves on the too kind Mafioso we were ambushed on the way to the cars by our host’s grandchildren who live across the street. They’re really excited about our move into the neighborhood, well at least about my wife’s (they kind of idolize her) and Buddy’s move. They are already huge fans of Buddy who will not lack for attention when he arrives.

Pre-Assembly Parts

We stopped on the way home to purchase a TV stand since my television will be coming off the wall when we move as I’m not sure this new house is structurally sound enough to take the weight. We settled on one and I was sent on my way by the wife who could not resist the siren call of a nearby Marshall’s (what was I thinking exposing her to this type temptation). I returned home to a hasty finishing of the lawn mowing interrupted by thunderstorms the day before and then loading the car up with another treasure trove of useless items we’re donating to local charities. I could then devote myself to assembling the new TV stand. I have a somewhat checkered history with assembly instructions which usually boast an author only remotely familiar with the English language. I could not contain my glee when I discovered a set of instructions that were not only well written but completely understandable – even by me (the acid test). Every part was lettered and all the hardware was numbered which made it incredibly easy not to mention time consuming.

End Result

The assembly continued through a depressing Red Sox game, a thrilling Stanley Cup finals game, the late night return of my shopped out wife, and some skinamax feature that had me diving for the mute button (windows were open and the neighbors aren’t that far away). I reached a point shortly before midnight where stubbornness overtook common sense and I committed to completing the assembly before going to bed. I finished shortly before 1am which made the early morning wakeup to attend the weekly meeting with the politicos all that more amusing. Long day, but some definite progress achieved at the cost of hanging with Vinnie Chase for a while.