Have you ever started something, just to find out it’s bigger than you thought?

Well, if you share my gender the answer is “yes, of course.”

We picked up a new computer desk at a friend’s yard sale. $1800 desk for $200 (before the company got tired of my presence, of course.) It’s been sitting in her garage and we finally made arrangements to pick it up.

This means that I have to do something with the current desks. The one my wife was using will go out – the shed or garage, depends on where I can find room for it. That was easy.

We live in a split level and there’s this 9×9 (or so) area at the bottom of the steps that’s been set up as our computer area. Her desk was in the back corner (it’s just a straight desk with a hutch on it) and mine (a corner unit) was on the opposite corner and it made the “wall” that separated the computer area from the remainder of the family room.

Our plan was to take her desk out, move my current one to the back corner, put the new one (also a corner unit) in the opposite corner to recreate the “wall” and all would be fine.

I, being a guy, really didn’t want to have to take apart the current desk to move it. I did take the heavy stuff off of it (well, most of it anyhow) before moving it around.

Now is where the fun part comes in. In the corners opposite the desks are a 6 ft oak book shelf (front) and an antique 4 drawer filing cabinet. As I start to rotate the desk around it becomes apparent just how much “stuff” has accumulated behind it. Stuff I now need to move out of the way because I need the space for moving the desk.

One pile moved, no problem.

Now we get to the next issue: there isn’t room for the desk to fit between the book shelf and the filing cabinet. So, remembering to take my wife’s porcelain angel off the top of the bookshelf, I move it by rotating 90 degrees (the back was against the wall) and moving it in front of the door to the back half of the basement.

The desk does make the corner (eventually) and I get it shoved back as far as it will go.

Now we have problems 2 and 3. The bookshelf no longer fits where it did before – at least in the same orientation. The bookshelf now has its back to the desk and faces the family room. I’ll just need to clean/sand off some grease pencil and add a bit of finish and the back will look just fine.

The filing cabinet won’t open more than about 1 1/2 inches. It might need to be turned – or it might need to be moved out entirely to a different place. We’ll have to see how much room the new desk leaves in that corner

The dogs are getting old and starting to have problems going up stairs, so I think I’m going to end up moving their kennel upstairs and the file cabinet over where the kennel is now.

I still need to finish cleaning up all the stuff that was behind the desk before I moved it as it was just moved most expeditiously out of the way and I can’t go upstairs right now.

Talk to you later.