Pick-A-Day

August 2010
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I know you want to see pictures of my apartment, but…

I’m happy to report that I had a really successful Saturday with the Handyman.

And I know you want to see pictures of my apartment but it is still a bit of a pigsty and I’m not willing to show it to you yet. Before I show it to you I want to remove all the moving boxes (4x) other boxes (3-4x), plus take out the recycling, move one table, move some other stuff around, and put away my laundry.

That last item needs to wait for it to dry first, and the former must happen in sequence but will probably wait until Monday—or the next dry day—to happen. I’m not really sure if it’s kosher to move boxes and make noise doing so on Sunday, so I’m not doing it today.

Beyond that, here’s a report on what has happened!

First, in the hallway, the light fixture was installed and a mirror hung. However the light fixture was being squirrely and after a couple of hours it was taken down. I now need to return and exchange it or just plain return it and start the hunt anew. I’m actually thinking about starting the hunt anew.

The bathroom is closer to done—nothing in the bathroom was rocket science—cleaned the bathroom vent filter and put up the shower curtain rod. I felt like a moron, I never actually tried pulling on the shower curtain rod—I thought I needed to twist it. The curtain rod is up and so is the curtain.

Over in the kitchen things are a bit more problematic. The Handyman looked at the cabinets that are pulling away from the wall and said that it is trouble—so I’m going to need to contact the landlord again. After that he installed the light fixture with relative ease (although it didn’t turn on the first time), as well as the curtains.

My bedroom was a relative snap. I put the Ikea shade over my light bulb, although it took me four or five tries, and he put up the curtains and fixed my cabinet door—the cabinet door took about a minute to attach.

At the end of the hallway (and where we actually started), is the living and dining room, which took a fair amount of time. The curtains went up fairly rapidly, as did a large piece of textile art that I’ve never put on display before—I never put a lot of art on display in my attic apartment because most of the walls weren’t vertical and this item is way too large for any of the walls in the apartment. As far as I know I think the only person to have ever seen this item is the Cynical Queer and my immediate family in Denver.

After that we rant into a bit of trouble. As the chandelier was going directly under where the electricity comes out of the ceiling, and the fact that a wall-mounting kit failed to include the bolts needed to go into the wall, he had to make a trip to the hardware store where he picked up the necessary supplies to finish the big items.

I am happy to report that I now have a chandelier with both lights and candles above my dining table – although I’m not really clear if I’ll ever actually light the candles. It is, as previously pointed out, very gay. It’s also the nicest chandelier I saw all week: simple, clean lines without faux crystals.

The last thing we did was build two Billy bookcases—I could have gotten away without the extensions at the top as all my books easily fit into the normal shelves with room to spare. I have fewer books now as I gave up a lot before moving across the ocean. Back in Weimar, I actually kept a lot of books at my office, which I don’t want to do any more as it’s nicer to have them at home.

It’s great being a lot closer to the finish line. There is still a lot left to do though. I need to frame and hang art, I need to decide what furniture I need to complete my living room, and I need to decide what I want to do in the kitchen.

That said, today I’m going to veg.

5 comments to I know you want to see pictures of my apartment, but…

  • Ted

    That sounds like fun or maybe your definition differs from mine as to what constitutes a really successful day with the Handyman?
    I can’t wait to see pictures of your Berlin Apartment. Ted

    • It was fun, in a way. I never really got frustrated and at the end of the day he thanked me for helping him. I was actually surprised–apparently most people don’t help him as he does work–but quite frankly, he’s the one with a ladder and knows how to hang the light. I can follow the directions and assemble the light so that all he has to do is wire it up and hang it.

  • For the life of me I cannot remember the tapestry you’re referring to, though for some reason I think you may have had it up on the wall in your first apartment in Bloomington?

    Maybe when things calm down you can take a photo and send it to me to refresh my memory. 🙂

    • You were with me when I bought the tapestry. (BTW, thanks for the word, I’d forgotten it!) I took it to Denver and my brother did some surgery on it to make it displayable–and then I took it back to Europe, stuck it in a drawer and promptly forgot about it. Its never been in Bloomington–and if it had, MT would have surely seen it.

      Photos will come in the next week or so.

  • Pseudo Wife

    Things seem to be coming together quite nicely. I am anxiously awaiting pictures:) I am particularly curious about this textile art piece. Please include one of it on display.