Deb assembles an office chair.

I finally decided to assemble that chair I bought at IKEA back in August. There have been a few stresses since bringing it home and I just ignored the box. Trust me, even a box of this size can be ignored if you simply don't want to assemble a chair.

Step one was to clear that table in the living room of the project I've been working on since May.

Step two was to empty the box of its contents and put them on the table where I could find them. Yes, Pilchard had to approve the parts. Once emptied, this box was certain to be purr-fectly cat size.

Next, find the instructions.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, IKEA furniture is pretty much idiot-proof. There are no words, which saves them from having to print instructions in 11 different languages.

It's all drawings and the drawings are very self-explanatory. I probably could have figured it out on my own, but I might as well look at the drawings to make assembly go faster.

Find the wheels and shove them into the bottom. This proved to be a tricky proposition. They wouldn't go in at first. There's no way tacking them with a hammer would work, either. Eventually, I discovered they had to go in at a slight angle and then they fit perfectly.

When that is done, turn the wheels over and put the lifter thingee into the center hole.

Now we're ready to deal with the seat.

Flip the seat bottom over to put the lifter handle onto the seat bottom. Oh look!

I remember those tags. That's the ever so confusing "Do I remove or don't I remove" tag that

was required, by law, to be attached to pillows, sofa, mattresses, etc, in the 1960's. It seems unscrupulous retailers would resell used furniture and bedding as new. So this tag was required on all furniture and bedding to prove to the consumer the piece was new. I remember not quite understanding it. Do I remove this or will armed men come and arrest me? It may seem clear to you that only the consumer can remove the tag, but, in talking with friends, they too found the wording just a wee bit confusing. Now, of course, we laugh.

Using the handy Allen wrench provided, (Thank you Allen. I should really have one of your wrenches in my tool box.) start tightening the bolts that hold this assembly to the bottom of the seat. Make sure the cat approves of your work. In this case, because I'm being ignored, Pilchard approves.

Because I am not paying enough attention to you, make sure you lie down on the instructions.

As you are quite a large cat with lots of lovely black fur in need of brushing, you will, quite handily, obscure any drawing in the instructions. Move? You must be joking. When forcibly removed from the table, go check out this new box that has shown up on the floor.

Hmmm, this has potential.

One you have put the lifting mechanism onto the bottom of the chair, attach the back to the bottom. This is done in the same fashion as the lifter mechanism, with screws and the Allen wrench.

At this point, there was a noise coming from the box. Pilchard had decided this was, in fact a great place to play. So, I tossed in a couple of mice and she chased them around the box.

Once the chair back was attached to the seat, it

was time to assemble the chair.

If I had not stopped to take photos, it would have taken me maybe 45 minutes to put this together. Here is the finished chair in my office.

It is easy to raise to get to the proper height for my feet to be flat on the floor for correct back support and posture. The seat back is adjustable forward or backward that I am sitting up straight. I like the angle of the seat back as it is currently assembled so I'm not likely to change that.

Besides providing a cat toy and the ease of assembly, the other thing I like about IKEA furniture is that all packaging material is recyclable. I had one strip of tape that I couldn't recycle but everything else, and there wasn't a lot, went into the recycling can. I very much like that.

So, there you have it, dear reader. I assembled this all by myself. It's a great chair and will make my sitting at the computer much easier on my back and feet.

Beverage: Dr. Pepper

Deb

Errands before the rain.

Today was errand day. I got paid on Wednesday, paid my bills and then made lists of all the things I needed to get. I mapped out my route (you think I'm joking, I'm not) and made sure I had everything I needed to get everything accomplished.

Stop #1 - Glen Ellyn Post Office to buy stamps, mail bills and ship a package to Carole and to Amber. After years of saving stamps which appealed to us, Carole's not interested in saving them and neither am I. So, I'm currently working through the 37¢ stamps. I needed 7¢ to make legitimate postage.

Stop #2 - Macy's at Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale. Clinique is having their fall sale. I try to purchase in quantity so I don't have to come back when there aren't any freebies to be had. I have a lot of bags that I have received over the years, but they make great Christmas gifts filled with assorted things. I placed my order and will get my bag in a week.

Stop #3 - Hallmark Store. I haven't purchased a quantity of cards in awhile but Halloween is coming so I got cards to send to friends. I miscalculated and have 2 extra but they will get used. They also had this nifty treat box that I got at a discounted price for buying 3 cards.

Stop # 4 - Target. I got furnace filters which were on sale, Halloween M&M's and hair conditioner. Some shampoo or conditioner is always on sale at Target. Plus, they had Friday's potato skins on sale, for something quick and easy when I'm too tired to cook. Plus, I bought a birthday present for Tonia.

Stop #5 - I was putting the Target bags in the back and found a couple of letters that had fallen behind the front passenger seat. So a quick stop at the Carol Stream post office was in order.

Stop #6 - Dominicks grocery in Carol Stream. Bananas and cereal, bread and peanut butter, yogurt and donuts and other things; mostly items I ran out of during September.

Stop #7 - CVS Pharmacy in Wheaton. Picked up my allergy medication which I haven't really had to use. It's been a good fall for me.

Then I came home.

The cards are all addressed. The groceries put away. Cats have been played with and are asleep and now it's raining ever so softly. This was a good Saturday run. I still need garbage stickers but I can get those at the hardware store over by the office.

Now on to a load of wash and changing kitty litter.

Beverage: English Teatime

Deb

Because I know you'll ask.

Not really.

Yes, having the Olympics in Chicago would have provided a ton of jobs for a depressed construction industry and, by extension, my company.

And it was 6 years out. The improvements to the infrastructure would have made getting around better.

In the end, however, the fact that South America has never had an Olympics sunk Chicago's bid. There was vocal opposition to holding the Olympics in Chicago and most people I know felt "meh" about it. I think the attitude in Chicago was "It's ours to lose" instead of "It should be ours to win". People resent you thinking you know what they are likely to do.

Hence, am I upset that it's going elsewhere? Not really. If it had been held here, I would have adapted, as I usually do, to whatever traffic strangulations would have occurred. As quickly as the winner was determined, I'm inclined to think any place in South America would have been awarded the Olympics simply because no Olympics have been held in South America. Which then goes back to the US attitude that it was ours from the get-go.

Oh well. The signs will come down now and we'll get back to abby-normal.

I think it's fitting that there's a cold rain out of the north today with temps in the low 50's. Mother Nature raining on Chicago's parade.

Beverage: English Breakfast tea

Deb

I can do the math.

My friend, Perry, had his hours halved yesterday. He went from 40 to 20 hours per week. He is grateful for that because some people on his team were let go. At least he has a job, even part-time. Still, he's lost his benefits and that feeling that things were picking up.

"New Jobless Claims Rose Less Than Expected" shouts the headline off the news feed. Everyone touts this as evidence the recession is ending. Jobless claims were up only 250,000 (or whatever it was) this past month. I can't help wondering, however, if you're one of those 250,000 who lost your job, you can't see this news as evidence the recession is over. Your recession is continuing or just starting, depending upon your family's state when your job was lost. I think a more accurate description of the recession ending is "The Economy Added 125 New Jobs This Month". Adding, not subtracting, to me is the sign we look for. But then, I've never been good with this theoretical stuff. What I understand is the actual stuff.

One of the biggest complaints about the road works bill shoved through Congress shortly after Obama took office was the huge expansion of the country's debt in order to pay for it. From my perch, which is, admittedly small, what I see are people out of work who will directly benefit from this. Redoing a bridge involves a large number of people. The bridge has to be redesigned. Any impact statements, pollution or flood control reports, restoration of adjacent areas proposals filed. Then the traffic flow patterns have to be solved. You prepare a time-table for completion and secure the necessary permits. After that, you contact your suppliers and dive into demo the old bridge. Clear away the rubble, build one half and, when that's done, move traffic over, rinse, repeat on the other side. When that's done, fix the approaches, clean up the area and you're done. That's simplisitic but sort of how it's done.

My friend, Tonia, has been out of work in the construction industry since April. She's incredibly bright and hugely knowledgeable about construction. I am very surprised she can't find a job. She's been the project manager on multi-million dollar projects all over the Chicago area. If this government money means a construction company needs to hire a manager, Tonia can get a job. It means stone is going to be needed for the base of the bridge and to make the concrete that goes into the bridge's construction. That means quarries, many of whom are starting to shut down for the year which directly impacts my job, can start up again, putting laid off workers back to work. This means that "Joe", who hasn't been working for 3 months, gets called back. "Joe" can buy that new dishwasher for his wife. That means "Fred" who works at the store selling dishwashers, gets a commission. That means "Paul", who makes dishwashers, has his job for another couple of months as all the "Joes" buy dishwashers. Each of those, in turn, put money back into the economy in their own way. It's not a quick fix, by any, means and it may only last as long as the government money holds out. But putting people to work, even in a narrow sector of the economy has ripples throughout the rest.

I am grateful I have a job and I grieve and worry about my friends who don't. If you're in construction and need a dynamite project manager in the Chicago area, I know one. If you're in computer data base management and need a dynamite project manager, data base creator in the eastern Ohio area, I know one. I want my friends working because, in the end, the more people working, the better off we all are.

Beverage: English Teatime

Deb