Sunday, November 25, 2007

Setting up for dialysis supplies

If you've paid attention to my previous posts, you'll remember that my garage was getting cluttered with stuff that we had to put together - shelves, and my laptop table. I like to keep at least the garage uncluttered, so it really grated on me, having that stuff around, not put away. Besides, we HAD to set up the shelves that weekend, because after that we wouldn't have any time before Tuesday, when I'd get 28 boxes of dialysis solution! So I dithered and dithered, and finally called CMR (my acknowledged putting-things-together expert) past 10:30pm on Friday - "Hey, I need help putting together shelves in the garage. Will you be able to come by Saturday (tomorrow)?"

What I'd forgotten was that CMR and her husband J had gone out for a formal dinner, related to J's membership in some organization or other (forget which, between them they belong to so many). So as soon as she got out, she checked her cell phone and found my message. Since I don't usually call her that late at night, she immediately called back, just this side of midnight. I assured her that I was still alive and well (and able to continue working *heheh*) - just that Amma and I needed some help. She said she would come - sometime over the weekend, probably Sunday - but she WOULD make it. So I relaxed - CMR the constructive whirlwind would take care of everything. I'm getting so spoiled! Time was I would set up the shelf without calling anyone for help, but since ever since I met CMR, I have been getting lazy and let her do stuff for me that I should be doing myself. Remind me to tell you the story of the portable AC units, sometime.

Next morning, I got a call from J - CMR had a major migraine (we'd initially bonded over migraines, I think) and wouldn't be able to do anything except lie in bed in a cool dark room - so he had been dispatched to help me with the shelves. He'd drop off their daughter E at ballet - or gymnastics, or something (like parents like daughter, E has been enrolled in so many things, I simply can't keep up) at her school in Woodinville, then come by and put the shelves up before heading back to pick her up. Even before his call, Amma had already been busy moving stuff around, clearing out the garage - this included my car as well. Since Amma won't even drive it enough to move it out of the garage, I had to do so, putting my baby out in the pouring rain. We cleared a 3x4ft corner of the garage closest to the house, and then Amma decided, as long as the garage was this empty and clear, she was going to sweep and mop the floor where the supplies SHELF was going to be.

And so we mopped the floor, with an antibacterial soap *sigh* that we'd found in my shelf of cleaning products, and watched it not dry because I believe the relative humidity that day was 100% - there was nowhere for the extra water to go! Remember I said it was POURING outside? So I got another mop, and pushed the soapy water around energetically enough that it finally started drying. I was about to head upstairs and get my hair dryer, but I guess it heard my threat :P

Just about the time that the floor was finally dry, J arrived, cup of coffee in hand, as always. Amma had set up the various components of the shelf so they were ready to be put together, so as soon as J walked in, we were ready to rock. He took a look at the instructions and deftly put together the first part - unfortunately, he'd got a few bits in upside down, so we took them all apart and J put them back together the right way, while Amma and I stood by, generally being ornamental.

In what seemed like no time at all, J had the shelves put together. Poor man didn't get in any farther than the garage that day, because as soon as the shelves were up, he noticed that it was time to go pick up his daughter. So off he went, back in the rain, not even able to refill his coffee... I tell ya, with friends like these, I could learn to be VERY VERY lazy indeed! I am already far enough down that road that my back trail is empty to the horizon. Can you believe I actually toyed with the idea of asking J to also put together the laptop table? Good thing he had to run that day :P

So now my 2-car garage is officially a VERY roomy one-car garage. Or rather, one-car-and-stuff garage.

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