From little acorns…

A few weeks ago the Memsahib received a fairly large Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) compensatory refund. At the same time her PC began to “play up”. She decided to use the windfall to buy a new laptop computer. After much searching she found one, costing at least a couple of hundred pounds more than the incoming funds. Everyone agrees that it has far more capacity and processing power than she will ever need, but I am sure that Microsoft et al will soon find a way of using it all up!

“Before setting this up, I think the office needs a good clean and a lick of paint”, she said. Uh-oh. Well, it has been twenty years since the last redecoration.
“So we will need to clear it out and re-organise.” Uh-oh.

My turn. “Before we redecorate, why don’t we get more electric sockets installed”, says I. Our needs have grown since we adopted the smallest bedroom as an office when moving in in about 1997. On examination we are currently running a 4-socket extension, which is run from a 6-socket extension, which, together with an 8-socket extension is run from a 4-socket extension, which, together with a halogen uplighter with 2 sockets, is run from the single wall socket (with a residual current breaker fitted). Altogether plugged in, but not all active, we had 3 computers, 3 printers, the light, 2 desk lights, 2 storage drives, 2 USB powered hubs, the BT telephone and wi-fi connection, the wi-fi router, the burglar alarm, a label printer and various phone charging adaptors.

Now, from out of the blue, comes the idea that we need to replace both desks and review the wall-mounted shelving. My old desk will move to the shed (which will therefore need a complete reorganisation) as an extra workbench. Her desk (essentially a large table) will replace the table in the back end of our living room as my indoor hobby table.

And so, absolutely everything has to be moved out. Shelves are cleared. Filing cabinets purged and emptied into Really Useful Boxes. How come the contents of the smallest “bedroom” now fill every inch of spare space in the two next biggest rooms?
My desk is broken down for removal. Holes in the wall are being filled….