Day 34: Home-assembly required

Flat-pack furniture, one of the mainstays of setting up in a new home. The same the world over? Of course not.

We have just constructed a filing cabinet with the fond hope of bringing order to the 'office' - the removal men did not know what a study was (or an airing cupboard - that would be a linen closet). But how does a country where customer-service reigns and if things aren't 'just right' someone will hear about it cope with the missing or misidentified parts and left-over screws and fittings that are the bread-and-butter of assemble-it-yourself furniture? The answer is pictured - shrink wrapped parts, sorted by type and exactly the number required, what's more, the large parts had numbered stickers to identify themselves and others indicating 'front', 'top' etc. as appropriate. That's all very well, but how will I build up a collection of bits and pieces, or cope with the screw that rolls under the previous bit of assembled furniture? Never fear - in a small sealed bag marked EXTRA HARDWARE are all the spare bits you could want. Now, it just may be because we have always bought cheap flat-pack in the past, but it was never like this.

Tonight and tomorrow, the meteorologists are predicting the heaviest snow storm to hit this area in 3 years. Now the Englishman in me is expecting it to blow over or turn to rain and end up being no big deal, but the TV continues to predict 18-24 inches of snow for the whole area and more in places. Sounds like fun. A day to stay in and do the filing perhaps.