The Couch

So, Yesterday I'm at work and it has been raining all day. It rained harder than it did during that hurricane again. Second day in a row. Nat gave me rides, but today she needed to take care of some business and asked me if I could find a ride. I said I could find the bus, but she didn't want me tracking mud all over the house like I have the past couple of nights. I'm not sure how to help that. I have to walk through a couple fields, one active and one old construction site on the way to and from the bus stop. I don't want to drag mud all over the place. It just sort of happens. My boss said something to me about it at work a while back. Ever since then, I keep a pare of shoes at work for muddy days. I take the boots off at home at the front door and leave them in the front hall. I have to use boots with big lugs on the bottom so I can get traction even in the slippery bits. Thus, there is plenty of mud left on the boots. Cleaning is not really an option at home or work. A hose at high pressure is the only way to really get the boots mud free. They are then wet for some time. There is no hose that I'm aware of at work. I wouldn't feel comfortable hosing them off at work regardless. As it is, my pants are damp from walking through tall grass on my commute.

What does the above paragraph have to do with a couch you might ask yourself? I'm getting there.

It is around :16:50 when I spoke to Nat about getting a ride or not. I was prepared to take the bus when I over hear Adam talking about needing help lifting a couch to the second floor for some relatives coming to witness a baptism.  I negotiated a ride home and Adam even offered to buy some dinner folks who showed up. Jake offered to come over and help. Adam ended up calling Josh. He turned up. It is a sleeper couch so I tied up the frame to prevent mid-stair destination.  We made a few measurements. Looked at the couch. Looked at the stairs. Looked at the doorway. Bitched about the Olympics for a moment. Then each grabbed a corner and started the climb.

Adam and Jake were on the high side. Josh and I were on the low side. The couch was heavy, but not with four guys on it. I'm glad we had four because it afforded us a lot of control to avoid hitting the light fixtures or walls. The trip up the stairs was not as difficult as it looked. Getting the damn thing through the doorway was a bit hazardous.  The couch is 86 inches long and on it's end, taller than the door jam. Just opposite the doorway is the banister overlooking the first floor living room. Lorie kept CC at bay while we were performing this feat of manliness. Good thing too, because that kept her from being able to film it.

It turns out the door way was not that big a deal. We parked the couch in front of the doorway vertically. Adam, in the room, pulled the bottom of the couch in to the room as the rest of us held the couch at an increasing angle and kept it from falling over the banister.  At this point it was simply a matter of following Lorie's instructions on positioning and putting the feet and cushions back on. Job done.

The food showed up. We watched three hours of left over Olympics including ping-pong and some soccer. I was falling asleep at around 22:00 when Adam gave me that ride home.

Elle was already in bed. I went in and noisily gave her a good night kiss. I was selfishly hoping she would stir and say good night, but she was crashed. She is off to her grandfather's place this weekend so that was the last chance I had to spend any time with her until Sunday night. Bummer.

I didn't even turn on the computer. I hung out with Nat for a moment then went to bed. It felt good to do something physical like move furniture. I think one couch was just the right amount to scratch that itch. My back is just a little bit sore today. That never happened when I was younger. Yes Virginia, there is an old guy in the mirror.