A tale of two lamps...

Check out my nifty new table lamps. I saw them on Amazon.com, and I thought the modern design would work well for a city condo. What I didn't realize, however, was that these lamps would arrive unassembled -- which is not usually a big deal. I've assembled my share of Ikea-type furniture throughout the years... desks, bookshelves, file cabinets, some kind of CD-holder at my parents' house, etc. And those are all big and unwieldy... lamps are small... you can pick them up... they don't come with those little wooden dowels and Elmer's glue... how hard could assembling a lamp be?? (And why must I always ask questions like that? Everyone knows not to ask the "how hard could it be" question...)

The lamp came with a base, and three silver cylinders of varying lengths which had to be screwed into the base. The instructions (which included no words, rather only drawings and arrows), seemed to be suggesting that the longest cylinder should be placed closest to the power cord, then the second longest below it, and then the shortest next to that. So I called upon my genetic engineering talents and began assembling the lamp. First plug in little blue thingies so each light will have power (yeah, that's right, my dad is an electrical engineer! I've got this!), then simply screw the cylinders into the base. No problemo.

Okay. Problemo. No matter HOW I arranged the cylinders, it would always end up being impossible to maneuver the last one so it was at the correct angle to thread into the base. After following the oh-so-helpful visual aids provided in the box, I went online to Amazon's website to read some of the reviews for this particular product. Apparently this inability to assemble the lamp is quite a common problem. One guy suggested a differently situated cylinder set-up, but I had already tried that, along with every other possible combination. Finally, I became so frustrated that I gave up and turned the project over to Rick, which is something I rarely do (mainly because I'M usually the patient one). After about five minutes, Rick figured out that each cylinder could be screwed into the base by only PARTIALLY installing each one, giving the cylinders enough give and movement that they could be manhandled into place. And voila -- a lovely little table lamp that only took an hour longer to assemble than the gigantic table our TV is sitting on...

Fortunately, with the second lamp, I was aware of the trick necessary to make the process go more smoothly -- I was able to assemble that one in about ten minutes. I then triumphantly carried it into Rick's study to show off my handiwork.

Yeah, it's the little things that bring the most joy...