Fun with flatpacks

I'd forgotten how much fun it was assembling flat-packed furniture. I'd ordered a cabin bed and wardrobe for Niharika and then spent the best part of Thursday, and a couple of hours yesterday, putting the things together. I roped in my dad for the last part of the cabin bed, and the two of us then pored over the wardrobe instructions, even then somehow contriving to get it wrong which necessitated taking bits of it apart again. The cabin bed instructions told me that it should have taken two hours to put together, but I'm pretty sure that they'd based that time on the world record set by Scandanavian craftsman Jorg Jorgen Jorgensen. In any event it took more like four or five hours.

"Don't tell Health and Safety about this" said one of the delivery men as he was lugging the thing upstairs, "we're not meant to do this." I suppose that was his way of saying, "that's got to be worth a few quid for taking the trouble" but as I only had a tenner on me at the time I replied, "it's OK, your secret's safe with me." In India I would have probably given a hundred or so rupees as a tip but in India they'd have put the thing together for me as well, not to mention torn the wallpaper, knocked off a wall tile and probably chipped a bed panel or two. The grubby fingerprints are always thrown in free.

But it's been a bit of a whirlwind two weeks for me. From arriving in the UK with nothing, I now have a family-sized car and a solid suburban house which is pretty much ready to go - or at least will be once I've assembled our new bed tomorrow. I have all the essentials: an iron, an ironing board, a microwave, a fridge, a washing machine and dishwasher and a 42" television to keep the kids amused. I have a DVD player, an old video recorder bought for twenty pounds, and a growing video library courtesy of a local charity shop (one pound each). I have warm clothes for myself and the children and I've even paid for my season ticket in preparation for re-joining the rat race on Monday.

Meanwhile, back in India, the packers have been in and all my books are in boxes. The fridge, the microwave, the washing machine, my desk, and various other bits and pieces have all been sold. The packing will complete tomorrow and then, all being well, a couple of months from now I'll be re-united with my chattels. India already seems another world away.