The desk was $29.99 but the gas to pick it up cost me $579

IKEA is awesome. Their stuff is cool looking and the price is right... most of the time. My grandparents recently moved into a smaller place. In preparation for the move my family has been working to binge and purge a houseful of 20 years of memorabilia, package it all up and move it across town. In the process my grandmother found herself in need of a smaller desk. EPA (East Palo Alto) here we come.

We chose the "Mikael" workstation from the showroom and proceeded to aisle 23/bin 7 to retrieve our prize. We stored the desk in Grammy's garage until the move and this past Friday I took on the job of putting it together. Upon taking it apart I noticed the stack of parts in front of me was significantly smaller then the picture depicted in the instruction manual... this was likely because the Mikael came in two separate boxes... of which I had one. Excellent.

The following morning I set out on my second trek to IKEA for box numero dos. Thirty minutes later I was happily buzzing back over the Dumbarton bridge with said box in tow. My husband, Ryan, joined me as a co-assembler for this go round and we made excellent progress... until we reached step 12. Just three short steps from the end. It all seemed simple really--take the two metal strips out of the box and attach them to the white piece with the two holes at the top and one at the bottom. Simple that is if you are in possession of a white piece with two holes at the top and one at the bottom. We were not in possession of said piece. This elusive board had apparently neglected to join its friends back in Sweden when they began their long trek toward the EPA. Maybe he was in love with an armchair and couldn't leave her. The answer to why he chose to desert his "Mikael box 2 of 2" family I will never know. What I do know is that there was no way I was going back to IKEA. This is why I married Ryan. He takes care of me (he also knows that sometimes it is better to drive 35 miles for a white board than to stick around and suffer the wrath of Brittaney times 10--smart man).

An hour and a half later he was back... with no board. They didn't have anymore in stock. It took them forty minutes to figure that out. We can pick up a new one on Wednesday. This means we must make trip number 4. Gas costs $2.85 a gallon on a good day. You do the math. Don't worry about Ryan though, his trip was not in vain. He came back with two screws. We didn't actually need them but he was sitting right next to the "spare parts" bin and he figured it was better than coming back completely empty handed. I love him.

A fond farewell...

Well, I have finally finished the Harry Potter series. I have been reading about the trials and tribulations of Harry and his clan for quite some time. I believe I started some time around when the third book was published. That means that Harry, Ron, Hermione and all of the books characters have been in my heart for about four or five years. I must say... it was a darn good book. I do not wish to spoil it for any of you that have not yet read it, but I will say this: it was a satisfying read, but at the same time, a bittersweet conclusion, for I will no longer be able to look forward to midnight Harry Potter release parties (even if I never did attend one), crisp books that cracked when you opened them for the first time and new adventures with my favorite magical adolescents. Although I'm sure that I will join you once again as I re-read books 1-7, for now, I bid all of the characters that grew up and fought noble battles at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry farewell and a heartfelt thanks for the good time.