Strongly Worded

Engineering Marvel

You all know I have a Thing for doctors (which may be part of a genetic/religious predisposition). And thus I may have failed to mention that Banter Boy (recent love interest), is an engineer. My dad is a chemical/food engineer, which means that while he can tell you (at length) how the creators of raisin bran disburse the raisins evenly throughout the flakes, or why Jell-O quivers, he is pretty useless in the home improvement department.

Banter Boy (BB), in contrast, is an aerospace engineer, which means he knows a lot about spacecrafts and airplanes, and, more importantly, is a DIY genius.

I have a laptop computer at home, which is not good for my RSI-afflicted wrists. So I bought an ergonomic keyboard, mouse, and keyboard tray, and BB agreed to help install it. It never occurred to me that the keyboard and the tray might not fit between the drawers of my desk, and that I should have measured it first. Alas. BB charged up the drill and got ready for the installation, and then quickly broke the news: there was no way it was going to work. I immediately scoured the web for smaller keyboards and trays, but they pretty much all come in one size.

BB suggested I get a new desk, which I absolutely do not want to do because 1) I am in no financial position to be buying furniture and 2) buying a desk would involve shopping, schlepping, and assembly and most importantly 3) I wanted the whole thing done with immediately.

BB assessed the situation and uttered sentence that to me is pure seduction, almost as hot as "let me make you a goat cheese souffle": I could build you a desk.

I'm sure he was envisioning a building project in the somewhat distant future. But I was seized with joy and determination. How about today? How about now? BB conceded that we could buy a plain door at Home Depot and reconfigure the desktop so that the tray would fit beneath it. I was thrilled. I got my car keys and my purse.

BB put his hand on my arm in a gentle and non-patronizing way (again, hot). "Dori," he said. "How is an 8-ft door going to fit in your Honda Civic?" Again, this had never occurred to me. I was crushed. My wrists were going to wither and die. But brilliant BB suggested we check to see if the back seat of my car folds down, and it does. It does! I've had the car for over a year and who knew it has this lovely, pro-home decor feature?

While skipping through Home Depot, it also didn't occur to me that the 8-ft door would still stick out of my car, folded seats or no. BB gently suggested that we needed bungee cords to secure it. And, it turns out that the trunk (all trunks, I'm learning) is specially outfitted with a little notch for bungee cords. Brilliant! Who knew?

We got the door home swiftly and smoothly and BB wielded the drill and worked some magic with the screws, and behold the results.

Ergo, heaven:

Posted by Dori at 5:53 PM