When I was younger I had a Lego fetish.  The colored plastic blocks were pretty much the constant toy from my kindergarten years up through high school.  In fact, I still have them.  All two footlockers worth of them are stored safely, minus an essential handful that I had given to DJ awhile ago.  I had hoped that eventually he would take one of the footlockers and that they would be as inspirational and educational to him as they were to me.  In fact, one of the most important things building Legos did for me was to teach me how to follow directions and drawing schematics.

So last night I put that education to good use.  The Steff bought a computer desk a few weeks ago that she needed put together and she asked me to do it since the Donkey has two left hooves when it comes to this kind of stuff.  So after a hellish day at work (a 9 hour day turned into 12) yesterday, I headed over to her house for the great assembly.

So I got there and dragged the box downstairs with the Donkey.  I opened the box and began combing through the pieces and looking at the instructions.  Once I had everything set I set about getting it together.  After literally 5 minutes, I was sweating profusely.  She does have an air conditioner, but it wasn’t helping me keep my salty fluid in my skin.  It was an 8 step process… and by step 2 I was so drenched my shirt had changed color.  The directions weren’t the clearest, but I was able to get the basic gist even though there were a few times I needed to undo what I had done to flip stuff around.  In all fairness, Donkey did help out a bit, but I was still the one sweating like a pig.  Finally, after 45 minutes, the desk was together.

So after the desk was up and done… it was suggested the bed should be done while I was there.  See, she had taken her uncle’s furniture when he moved to Las Vegas earlier in the year, and it included a wrought iron bed to replace the bed that needed fixin‘ last year.  Now since the bed was fixed more permanently by her father (using some glue or something) it hasn’t given her any problems… but a new bed is still a new bed and it came with matching dressers.  The thing is this furniture has been stored away for almost 6 months because no one seemed to want to put it together.  So… Donkey and I knocked it out… and yes I continued to sweat profusely.  The bed took about 30 minutes and I stepped back and admired the sturdy wrought iron frame that had replaced the rackety wooden bed.

There are no schematics to life.  There are no manuals, directions, or advice that will just make my life better by itself.  While they can guide you, what will change your life is the same thing that brought that sturdy wrought iron behemoth together… understanding… determination… help from your friends… and your own sweat.  I have a lot of sweating to do. 

I think I’ll invest in a Richard Simmons headband.