Monday, September 29, 2008

Not Such A Bargain?


My friend Cynthia wanted an update on the table and chairs I got at the thrift shop last Monday. Their auspicious beginning has not turned out to be so wonderful. When I borrowed a pick-up truck to go get the table, the thrift shop guys had taken it apart down to the smallest piece and it was a heap of wood and screws on the ground. Although this would have been easier for me to transport and get inside the house, I had them put it back together to make sure it would, indeed, go back together. When I got it home, it sat in the carport for 4 days.

A monsoon blew through on Friday night and the table got soaked. I was so mad that we let the table get trashed in the rain! When Tom and I brought it in on Saturday, it smelled disgusting. With the rain, a simple musty odor had morphed into the pungent smell of cigarettes, cat pee and as Tom said, “nasty taxi cab.” This is right about when my stomach flu symptoms showed up.

Not sure if the hulking, smelly table in my living room is making me sick, or whether my illness is making the table smell more disgusting. Okay, I need to stop writing about this or I’ll have to run out of the room. Let’s just say that a complete dining room set for $44.00 was looking awesome, but now I would be willing to pay to get it out of here to breathe in peace while I wallow on the couch. The buy of the century? Maybe next time.

4 comments:

Kate Coveny Hood said...

Let me ask my mom if she has any suggestions for you. After salvaging as much as they could in her Key West home furnishings store after a really bad hurricane - she probably had to deal with this.

Shana said...

That sucks! Sorry. I bought a dining room table with six chairs at a garage sale many years ago for $300. The table is HUGE, which is exactly what I needed/wanted. I mean HUGE, as in has SIX FREAKING LEAVES to add in and I have had formal sit downs for 16 people on that sucker, with elbow room, with the turkey and food on the table. The table is wide enough that two people can sit on each of the "short ends"

Downside: it was completely trashed when we got it, needs to be totally stripped and refinished. That was, oh, um, seven years ago, and it is still not done. One of the chairs actually has a nail sticking out of the back.

So while your table is stinky, at least it isn't going to gouge an eye out, and maybe when you feel better you'll be able to destink it : )

PS: Just so you know, the word verification code that I have for this post has THREE Qs in it.

Gretchen said...

Yuk.
By the way, I think those table legs are on backwards. I'm not positive, but most table legs bow inward to give the stability to the center, rather than bowing outward. Just a thought.

Rebecca said...

I hope you feel better and good luck with the table!