Friday, April 24, 2009

Useless tiny wood racks

Well, you want to know a cure for feeling exhausted and overwhelmed because you have so much to do in your new house? Turns out, starting to do the stuff on your list is the best method. Yesterday, Torsten put together the wheelbarrow, the wood rack, and the grill, while I unpacked. I cleaned a lot of boxes out of the bedroom, arranged and organized the entire linen closet, and started working on the kitchen.

And now, even though there's SO MUCH MORE to do, I feel so much better. And whenever I start to feel daunted, I just think of all those neatly organized piles of towels and sheets and it makes me feel better. And also,m I can take a look at the bedroom floor, because it is now visible, and that is very exciting. Maybe I'm crazy, but oh yeah, this is how I do everything in my life... one thing at a time. Sometimes it's better to ignore the forest for the trees.

We're pissed about the wood rack, though. The fireplace store we went to was weird... their prices were all different than the stuff that was labeled, and then they didn't have the stuff they sold us, and they tried to sub more expensive stuff, and then they sold us the floor model of the fireplace tools we wanted, and it turned out that the stand was all crooked and unstable and the handles were rusted and we have to return it. So that's one thing. And everything took forever and was weird and confusing, and annoying. Basically none of the employees knew anything and they all said conflicting things and it took us forever to get out of there.

But the more obnoxious thing is that they told us that the wood rack we bought was the right size to hold half a cord of wood, and we ordered a whole cord of wood, so we figured we'd fill the rack and then see about maybe getting a second rack. So, we filled the first rack... in about three minutes. With maybe a tenth of our cord of wood. And that's only because we stacked it way higher than it was supposed to be stacked.

So basically, half a cord of wood, MY ASS. And we don't have ROOM in our yard for ten wood racks. I mean, we DO, but only if we want to turn our entire YARD into a firewood storage facility.

So, we stacked some of the wood on the side patio, but I'd say there's still about two-thirds of a cord of wood hanging out in our driveway, looking unpleasant and blocking one of the garage doors, and I don't know what to do about it. We may go buy a big board and put it in the side yard and try to stack the rest of the wood on that.

But still, I'm pissed at those lying fireplace store people. And I intend to tell them so, when we go back to return those crappy fireplace tools.

On another note, I'm three quarters of the way through Dooce's book, and I'm really disappointed to say this, but I'm not loving it, like, at all. So please, go read about why, and tell me if you agree.

Happy weekend, everyone! Maybe by Monday our whole kitchen will be unpacked and organized. And that will make me very happy.

13 comments:

  1. It really is exciting to see you in your new house. . . even with all of the little annoyances. Hope you're super productive this weekend, and take some time to relax :)

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  2. Maybe it was the end of the season and the wood people gave you more than a cord of wood? Nevertheless, it sounds like the store was a mess and if I were you, I'd be taking my business elsewhere. Places like that don't deserve our hard-earned money.

    Dooce's book? Yeah, I'm not about to read it. Never liked her much. Always find her writing very robotic and never connect with much of anything she's saying. Sorry you're disappointed.

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  3. haha, i don't know what i thought the title meant this post was going to be about, but it wasn't this. i don't know, doll house accoutrements, maybe? :-)

    i hate that store on your behalf. lame and IRRITATING.

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  4. We decided not to go with a fireplace in our new house, and this post sort of makes me all the more glad. Sorry you had such a rough time.

    I have not read dooce's book but secretly feared that it would be about as you described in your review - I don't know why, exactly. the title? Her blog posts about it? Her blog in general (which I like, but not sure it translates into a memoir about depression)? Or maybe just the subject matter: mom gets post partum depression, is misdiagnosed for a while. It's kind of a tired topic, in my opinion. I think to shine the author really has to make it this ultra-personal, ultra-unique experience. Which it sounds like she was unable to do.

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  5. oh - my 2 cents about dooce. i haven't read the book (not much interest, personally) but i'm interested to see how it holds up against her actual vintage posts about being depressed. i first started reading her in.. hmm.. 2004, i guess? and was totally taken in by her descriptions of depression back then. like you + artemesia's post, it was the first time i felt like i *understood* depression, having never experienced it myself. it's disappointing she doesn't bring any of that power to the book.

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  6. I would take that stuff back and get them to give you free stuff. Though I am not good at this sort of negotiation. I could loan you my friend Jenny Two Times who is a MASTER at this.

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  7. Dude, I am soooo not trying to rain on your parade, since this is the exact kind of thing I would do too, but it's almost May, and it was like what, over 70 degrees here yesterday? You probably don't need any firewood.

    Also, you can stack your wood against your fence or between two trees. The only thing is you want to keep it away from your house because it encourages termites. You could probably make your own rack out of plumbing supplies - metal pipes and elbows - and make it the size you want to fit your space.

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  8. I agree with Deb. I wouldn't put wood down just so you can stack wood on top of it. Just stack it neatly in some place that is convenient for you... but not against the house. Maybe you could keep the little rack nearby for convenience and the rest of the wood farther away in an inconspicuous spot.

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  9. I'm the same way. When everything is a mess, I just go take a look at the tiny thing that's not. This week my husband was out of town, so as usual, I did a little major household upheaval project. This time it was painting Meg's room and then tearing up the carpet and cleaning up the hardwood floors underneath. When I say cleaning up, I mean just cleaning, not refinishing or anything. Anyway, the rest of the household kind of gets left to its own devices while I undertake these projects, so all day today, I kept going upstairs to look at the room, while downstairs my kitchen is a mess, the playroom is a mess (of course, THAT never changes) and everything else is a mess.

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  10. Hey Jess!

    What do you think of this idea for stacking wood? (see the pic where he stacks the wood around the seating area)

    Happy unpacking & all that goes with it.

    When you are ready for a break, wanna meet some local Denver bloggers?

    Rosalicous and I were hanging out last night and we'd both love to meet ya and formally welcome you to the Denver Blogosphere. And drink, of course :-)

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  11. Duh! It would help if I posted the link, wouldn't it??

    http://www.dailydanny.com/?p=1132

    :-)

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  12. I had no idea there was a fireplace store. *scratchs head

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  13. I'm enjoying "It Sucked and Then I Cried" because I was sort of forewarned it was a lot like her posts. There isn't much new information if you're a longtime, regular reader, but maybe because I just went through what I'm calling a very light version of PPD, it's refreshing reading it (again).

    Also ... doing things on your to-do list? THAT'S A CRAZY CONCEPT. I refuse to believe this works ;)

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