I stopped posting here just before the change in months mostly because I am still working on the database export and did not want to increase the entry base here while still trying to get everything out. After working out the methodology I need to run the experiments, there’s no harm in adding entries, so I have a few to run through.

First, over last weekend in August we bought Viv a new desk, a low-boy fold-out secretary which looks to be prewar and probably local – the wood is bone-dry cedar and the desk is light as a feather, which was kind of a relief because it meant I didn’t hurt myself hauling it into the house.

It was a little convoluted to set up, as Viv has been using the built-in kitchen-counter desk that was built when they remodeled the house in the late 1960s. It was a very simple, small des, 18″ x 42″ with a laminate surface and a two-cubby masonite dependency just big enough for a could of phone books. Plainly meant as a palling desk for the home’s domestic needs such as bill-paying and meal-planning, Viv was never happy with it and it offered zero storage.

In order to move her new desk in, I had to demo the old desk, spackle, mud, and repaint the wall, install the old desk downstairs as an additional work surface in the tool/mud room, and conduct a series of minor repairs to the incoming antique desk.

It took a few days but everything went well and she is now happily ensconced in the new work environment.