28 April, 2011

And lo! There was a BBQ.

As I sit here today, our kitchen is undergoing deconstruction.  




It is a happy day.


However two days ago, as the sun shone and we were caressed by a gentle breeze, Dad and I embarked on the decanting and assembly of the BBQs Galore "Cordon Bleu" four burner cooker (with side burner).  


That, disappointingly, was not a happy day.


I can't however, say that I hadn't been warned.*  I was advised it could take eight hours.  Seriously?  For flat pack?  


Seriously.  


I just wasn't prepared for 

  • the critically bad design: for example, the first step required bolting a stupidly heavy "counter weight" to a flimsy piece of metal, which of course caused the metal to warp, which of course meant that nothing lined up with anything in any of the subsequent 800 steps.  More Struggle Street than Les Twentymen.
  • the stupidity of the three books of instructions:  we became accustomed to the diagrams in no way representing the steps being described, but found it difficult to reconcile omissions, such as excluding the seemingly crucial step involving the installation of the burners.
  • and the shabby, SHABBY manufacture:  it took us nearly 45 minutes to fit the "screw in" wheels, since the thread was terminally flawed (straight out of the box) and ultimately the decision had to be made to sacrifice use of Dad's left arm in perpetuity in order to finish the task.

But apart from all that, six hours, piece of cake.






*Thanks Al.

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