At work we have a thing called killer whale and whoops monkey. The killer whale goes to the person who did a killer job that week. Whoops monkey is just a moniker for us to share a mistake we have learned from or one from which others might learn.
This evening I had two whoops monkeys. Both of them had to do with the butler’s pantry cabinets. I got all of the pieces together this evening.
The first was with the last cabinet. I had all of the shelves in place. All of the screws tightened, when, of course, I saw a shelf was placed backwards. As you might imagine, it wasn’t the one on the bottom! No, it was the one smack dab in the middle!
I had just been thinking as I was tightening the last screw that I was finished with the hexagonal screws. Those, for me, are harder than regular screws. My fingers have issues with those types of screws. I laughed at myself and unscrewed three shelves, reworked the one, and redid all of them once again. I finished without any additional drama.
Excited about organizing the cabinets this evening, I emptied out our old buffet table cabinet. Everything was placed on the dining room table and the buffet rolled out of the way.
After vacuuming, I moved the first cabinet into place. Looking good!
I moved the second cabinet into place. Looking even better!
I moved the third cabinet into place. Oh crap!!!
I had measured several times. Done the calculations several times. I even remembered to measure around the baseboards. What I forgot to measure though was the little “mantle” at the bottom of the baseboard. That tiny error meant the cabinets won’t fit by about a quarter inch. A quarter inch!
So, this weekend the hubby has a project. Since he is much more spatially aware than I, he will sand down the outside legs of the two outer cabinets. It isn’t ideal, but it will work, and no one will probably even notice.
All that matters really is, they will eventually fit. I look forward to moving our entertaining china into them, and a few additional items.
I’ve waited over 30 months for the right cabinet. I guess I can wait a few more days.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 