TRYING TO FIT THINGS INTO SMALL SPACES OR LITTLE TIME

 Have you ever had to fit more in a space than fits?  Yes, I know – that is what is organizer is about, not having to do this, but sometimes…

Back in the normal times before Covid husband and I would go to the movies just about every week.  There was (is?) an independent theater in a nearby community that we would go to. While it had become a multiscreen theater it had not changed over to the terrible lounge seats – still had old style movie theater seats (same type as in school auditoriums, Broadway theaters, etc) and having once sat in lounge seats at movie theater, we vowed never to do so again.  It is currently still “temporarily closed”.  We went to “late showings” - which at this theater means the movie starts 9:30 to 10:30 pm, as opposed to when we used to go to midnight movies in the old days.  While it has some theaters which are rather small, it does have just about full size theaters.   And it was reasonably priced (even for so for seniors) and had a very nice staff.

This is something we have missed – last time we went to a movie was in late February/early March 2020.  We have instead been having our movie night at home watching movies on TV – which is not the same, not only due to small screen, but missing in the atmosphere of a movie theater.  

Husband has recently got into his head to buy a large screen TV for our living room.  I was shocked.  Husband spent a good deal of time decorating our living room in – more or less – colonial style – which is why I was shocked that he would put a big screen TV in it.  (The TV which is in there – not digital – is in a period looking piece of furniture to hide it.  It does not have a cable hookup as we tend to only watch TV in the living room while putting up and taking down our Christmas tree  - when we watch specific Christmas DVDs and New Year's Eve – when, most years we watch “the ball drop” in NYC through Roku – though one year we watched Animal Crossing's New Year Party instead – I actually liked that better. )  

Between this and the price, the idea of a big screen TV in our living room to watch Saturday night movies shocked me.  This discussion has been going on for about a month or so.  He has decided that the theater we used to go to will never reopen and we are too uncomfortable in the lounger seats in other theaters.  (Though we have found one other theater with “real theater seats”, but it is not near us.)

He has been going back and forth with ideas on what to do – then deciding they are no good, then a new idea and then back again.  Just when I thought he had given up – it is becoming reality.  He has bought one for his birthday which is coming up in a while.  

In doing this we had to figure out a lot of things.  His first idea was to have the TV hung on the wall.  Only wall possible was where the TV set furniture is now.  BUT – that is too close to the heat, would have to be hung off center on the wall, and he found out that one has to help the installer hang the TV – if we could do that, we would not need the installer.  

His second idea was to stand it on something.  An obvious choice to me was a large wooden chest he built – it looks like a hope chest – top lifts, lock on front – but on this one, the key in front is the handle to pull down the front and drawers come out with DVDs in it – so the top is stationary and can have (and does have) things put on it.  That is too low for what he wants – he want to “look up at the TV like one looks up at the movie screen in a theater”.  He went looking for a stand to put the TV on – either one that stands on the floor or one that stands on a piece of furniture.  

He found a stand that he liked how it held the TV at a chain computer store's website.  Problem is that the dimensions are obviously wrong – how could something 4 inches tall hold a TV which is so much longer than that?  We drove to the local location of the store – none on display.  We asked a manager about the dimensions – he went to his computer and looked it up – on their website and read the numbers off to husband.  Husband, a bit impatient, pointed out that he had read the same on his computer and how could the stand be 4 inches tall?  Manager agreed that had to be wrong (both he and husband decided it had to be the shipping box dimensions) – but when husband if the boxes “in the back” could be checked for the dimensions – he was told no, “It is a brown box with no writing on it” - then how do they know which item is in the box.  We left.  

He started thinking again – the TV comes with feet, if we got the smaller size than he was looking at (65 inch instead of 70) and we could figure out what to put over the chest of DVDs to make it longer for the feet – it should work.  

We looked at an assortment of ideas of what we could put the TV on.  (In this entire process since it started we have, in our minds, rearranged the furniture in the living room end wall to end wall, side wall to side wall, end wall to side wall and so on.)  

He finally had an  idea and in his words “went back to works” - Ikea.  We bought today a table from Ikea.  It should fit over and around the chest of DVDs – box stays in place and is usable.  Table is extremely modern in design, of course – but if it makes him happy…

We then drove to Costco to buy the TV and have it delivered – believe me, he has done extensive research on where to buy the TV, warranties, service contracts, setup etc.  Problem is that one cannot buy it at the store and have it delivered – it can only be delivered if it is bought online – we hate to order things and have them delivered, but that is what we had to do – after wasting about an hour and a half driving there and home – even worse these days – the gasoline that was used for the drive there and back!  He has ordered the TV.  The table will sit in our van until early next week when we bring it in and assemble it.  

In addition to this mess we had a “discussion” with our cable company over a 20% increase in price (which they lowered for us), the cold water started dripping in our downstairs bathroom sink – after an hour and a half on hold – they could not help us as they no record of our faucet model and were the Canadian office of the company (reached through the US 800 number) and transferred me to their US office – I hung up as I did not have another hour to wait.  And it is tax season and getting closer to when I have to finish returns for clients – and us.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK – Doing anything today has become hard to do – nothing seems to be easy to do any longer and not just do to Covid and limitations arising from it.  Who ever thought buying a TV would take weeks – maybe even months – of planning, needing to change the plan several times including buying the TV?

WHY ARE WE ROTATING THE DVD PLAYERS FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER?

 Well at least I am back on schedule and on time this week.

Today we did some electronics organizing.  Huh?  Well, my husband told me that we needed to switch DVD players around the house.  I have learned that when he comes up with an idea such as this, it is much easier to just to go along with him and not ask why we are doing this.  

First we took out the DVD player which we use in the kitchen (it is actually located in our adjacent  craft studio – there is a large squared off arch between the two rooms so while obviously being two separate rooms they more or less continue into each other.   Our kitchen table is in the front of the arch (blocks part of the arch and part is still walk through – only place to put the table in the kitchen and it is a small table) and our kitchen TV is actually in the studio on a dresser in same, so we can watch TV at the table.  The DVD player is on top of a chest of drawers in the studio which is next to the dresser, but away from the arch.

We took the kitchen DVD player upstairs to our bedroom.  We then took out the DVD player in the bedroom (I put it on my chair in our office, across the hall from the bedroom) and we setup the DVD player from the kitchen in the bedroom – so far relatively easy.  Turned on the DVD player and it came on.  

We then went to our office and started to take apart the DVD player in same.  This was a bit harder than other two.  The DVD player sits on top of 6 foot tall bookcase.  The TV in the office sits on the highest shelf within the bookcase (which shelf is about 2 and feet tall in space above it).  There is a small hole cut in the back of the bookcase behind the TV for the wires to drop down behind the bookcase and come into the shelf.  AND to be seen while sitting at our desks the TV has to be pointed down – so there are small rectangle blocks under the back of the TV's base.  While I held the TV so it did not fall off the shelf – husband unplugged the wire from the back of the TV, climbed on a step stool, and pulled the wires out of the back of the bookcase and removed the DVD player from the top of the bookcase.  I set that DVD aside on my desk and brought over the DVD player from the bedroom for which the process was reversed – it was put on the top of the bookcase, wires had to be found hanging behind the bookcase and brought into the top shelf through the small hole (hardest part of course finding the loose hanging wire) and then the wire from player to TV plugged into the TV and the electric cord into an electric extension already there.  Turned on the DVD player and it came on.  

Back to the kitchen.  We now setup the DVD player from the office in the studio/kitchen and made sure it came on.

Now I finally asked the big question - “Why the heck did we do this?”  Turns out that one of the players does not take a USB drive and one of the other players also runs Blu Ray discs.   So the object of this project was two fold – we now have players  which take USB drives in 2 places he wants them and we have the player which runs Blu Ray in the kitchen.   

One problem was the need to do major dusting as we did this – on the drives themselves, the TVs and the shelves and other spaces where all of these items sit.  Husband did not wait for me to get a dusting cloth and instead started using paper towels – which, of course, are not that great for dusting.  

Part of the this plan, I am guessing, is that he got a hard drive for Christmas which records off the TV/cable and he has been recording some TV series which are on too late for him to watch and he will be able to plug the recorder into the 2 boxes which take USB and they are now both located where he would want to watch those shows and the Blu Ray is probably in the kitchen to be able watch same when we have our Covid substitute Saturday night movie dates while eating take out Chinese food – aka our Covid substitute Saturday night dinner out.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Sometimes something makes sense to one person and does not make sense to others.  

This is true for husband's need to rearrange all of the DVD players and my need to use the dining room and good china, silverplate tableware, and good glasses for holiday dinners even thought it is just two of us.  

If your significant other feels a need to do something that is is not a major problem/expense and what he/she wants to do makes no sense to you – humor them and help them with what they want to do.  And if you feel the need to do something like this – they should humor and help you also.  One never knows when a small change which seems to make no sense is actually a great idea.