motivation

Why, may you ask, am I posting after midnight, with work in just a few hours, and school not long after that?

Because I'm still working on an oral presentation for school tomorrow night, ironically enough, about motivation in organizations. Good thing it's not about motivation in school!

I was doing OK, though, until I was determined (motivated) to put together my new furniture yesterday. Dresser #2, piece of cake (though I discovered tonight that I put two drawer bottoms in upside down -- OY!). Then ... the monster bookcase (first of three). Good God. I struggled for more than two hours to get the first layer of shelves in without further use of bad language, loss of fingernails, or projectile wooden pegs and screws around the room. This is all because I was following the directions -- the ones that say to lay it on its side to assemble.

After hour two, dripping with sweat, more than very very cranky, and in a great deal of pain from crotchety joints, I thought, "forget the instructions, let's do this my way." I assembled right side up, pushing pegs through each layer of shelving (vs. trying to insert shelving into pegs, which was a recipe for disaster), breathing prayers all along the way, hoping the girls wouldn't suddenly get curious (they were passed out somewhere), crushing only one fingertip in the process, only one stuck bolt at the very end, then found my drill's battery was dead (and no a/c charger to be found) when I was ready to bolt it to the wall. ARGH. Well, no way was I laying it down: (a) I didn't think I could without hospitalization, (b) I knew for a fact there was no way I could get it back in upright position, and (c) I was increasingly nervous about this sucker falling down on one of my beloveds. So, what's a single and exceedingly bright girl to do? Push the futon all the way against it, which more than held it against the wall.

Whew.

Photos will be forthcoming. It's gorgeous, can't wait for two more to go up (just don't know if I'm brave enough to do that solo again). I then proceeded to lay in a prone position, after motrin and a very hot shower, without the ability to move without a great deal of pain.

So, I might be more likely to believe Ikea when it says that this assembly takes two persons in the future. Then again, I do tend to do the opposite of what I'm told .....