In Woolworths, my daughter pointed at the very expensive Polly Pocket set that she wanted for her birthday. It was fortunate that on the way to the checkout, I discovered that it was the 'free' lipstick taped to the outside of the box that she was after.
On Boxing Day morning my underwear drawer fell to pieces... we were about to go out to our daughter's for the day, so I had to leave it until yesterday. (Our "storage bed" has a unit under each side, each consisting of a wooden "shell" containing 2 drawers and 4 cubby holes. Very useful.) The units are cheaply constructed, held together with a dowel and one of those IKEA-type metal fixings at each joint.
I put the drawer together again and tightened it up, then examined the wooden "shell". Tightening the metal fixings pulled some of it together, but two of them refused to tighten so the part with runners for the drawers was very wonky. I glued the problem joints and left it (weighted with a jam pan containing 5Kg of peanuts - as you do...) overnight.
This morning I put it in place and tried to replace the drawers. They wouldn't fit... The joints must always have been loose, and glueing them had made the whole drawer section too small. I spent most of the morning sanding down the runners until the drawers would fit again...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Oh dear @Liriodendron, not what you want to spend a morning doing. Hopefully it's all okay now. Talking of drawers (the wooden) kind, we cleared out the old garage a month or so ago and pulled out an old chest of drawers to get rid off as it's probably got woodworm. One of the drawers has got absolutely jammed halfway out so I'm going to have to take a hammer to it. It's been standing out in the rain so it's a tip job when we've got the time and inclination.
Wonky, if you're not inclined to confrontation, go 'on strike'. I suggest you make your own dinner and eat it and let him wonder where his is next time you feel taken for granted. It works much better than just not doing the clearing up which tends to result in just an even bigger heap of clearing up that he somehow isn't able to see.
I find myself tidying up behind OH because he sort of wanders through life leaving drawers open, and rubbish on the side and clothes EVERYwhere and these things then all become invisible to him. But if I don't tidy up, he's oblivious and I get annoyed, doesn't work. I do now and then leave something that's not in the way, just as a sort of experiment. It took nearly 2 weeks for him to put his empty dental floss box in the bin. He has his allocated tasks (including cooking every other day) as do I, and I just get on with all the stuff that's not on anyone's list because I can't be a**ed with the argument.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
@raisingirl - I keep saying how lucky I am that while I do the garden and also other work in our community, my OH does the shopping, hoovering, cooking and loads the dishwasher. This started when I worked full time and he didn't work at all (he's a retired musician). But he is like yours; doesn't clean down the kitchen after cooking, will take off a jumper and throw it over to the chair when he is too hot - and leaves it there, leaves other detritus piled up next to him, doesn't ever pull anything out to hoover underneath, leaves cupboards and drawers open, doesn't put things away after he has used them so things are constantly lost (the gaffa tape, the tape measure, the stanley knife, the CD not back in its case...) So I do the Big Clean, remind him of the original recipe for a dish we eat regularly and which has become pared back to its basics. I sound ungrateful but I'm not. Though I do worry that should I go first the place would sink into squalor without his even noticing it.
I find going through the house gathering up all 'his' stuff and dumping it all on his side of the bed usually works wonders.
Last night I was tired after a two hour drive home in bad weather so after I'd cooked it, I just said I'd done my bit and was going to sit down, one of you can make the coffee and the other load the dishwasher. They did it without a murmur.
The trouble with our home is that we converted the basement. He has his music studio in there, football watching equipment, TV, PC... all mod cons. He keeps it immaculate. I get to do the rest of the house, the shopping, cooking, laundry and washing up....hmmmm 🤐🤨 that's why I went self employed! Not working long days to come home to that!
You need to be positive with what you want them to do, they’re not mind readers and half the time don’t even see the mess. Say what you want done, if they don’t co operate, then more drastic measures are called for, Lysistrata springs to mind,😀 I don’t wash any clothes that are left on the floor, that was the rule when the children were small, dirty PE kit? Was it in the laundry bin? No, it’s not washed then. Same with any clothes, no bin no wash. Used all the mugs, Can’t have coffee then. I was a hard mum 😀
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Posts
I put the drawer together again and tightened it up, then examined the wooden "shell". Tightening the metal fixings pulled some of it together, but two of them refused to tighten so the part with runners for the drawers was very wonky. I glued the problem joints and left it (weighted with a jam pan containing 5Kg of peanuts - as you do...) overnight.
This morning I put it in place and tried to replace the drawers. They wouldn't fit...
Talking of drawers (the wooden) kind, we cleared out the old garage a month or so ago and pulled out an old chest of drawers to get rid off as it's probably got woodworm. One of the drawers has got absolutely jammed halfway out so I'm going to have to take a hammer to it. It's been standing out in the rain so it's a tip job when we've got the time and inclination.
I find myself tidying up behind OH because he sort of wanders through life leaving drawers open, and rubbish on the side and clothes EVERYwhere and these things then all become invisible to him. But if I don't tidy up, he's oblivious and I get annoyed, doesn't work. I do now and then leave something that's not in the way, just as a sort of experiment. It took nearly 2 weeks for him to put his empty dental floss box in the bin. He has his allocated tasks (including cooking every other day) as do I, and I just get on with all the stuff that's not on anyone's list because I can't be a**ed with the argument.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I sound ungrateful but I'm not. Though I do worry that should I go first the place would sink into squalor without his even noticing it.
Last night I was tired after a two hour drive home in bad weather so after I'd cooked it, I just said I'd done my bit and was going to sit down, one of you can make the coffee and the other load the dishwasher. They did it without a murmur.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Say what you want done, if they don’t co operate, then more drastic measures are called for, Lysistrata springs to mind,😀
I don’t wash any clothes that are left on the floor, that was the rule when the children were small, dirty PE kit? Was it in the laundry bin? No, it’s not washed then. Same with any clothes, no bin no wash.
Used all the mugs, Can’t have coffee then. I was a hard mum 😀