Mirror mirror on the wall who is the one who didn't think through this plan at all?
Just Jon!
My new place means new furniture and over the holidays I spied the Chunky Wood Floor Mirror from West Elm and began obsessing over this dark brown grain beauty. And thanks to the US Postal Service who asked what catalogs I would like to receive at my new address I was also the owner of a "Welcome To The Neighborhood" 10% off coupon for West Elm.
Cha Ching!
I took the drive over the Bay Bridge more than once to visit this mirror and by the third trip I knew that I had to have it. I also knew that there was slim to no chance this mirror would fit in my car.
That is when I started to plot out how I would get the mirror from the East Bay to The City.
Uhaul!
Since I was saving 10% on the Mirror I could put that savings toward the rental of this Cargo Van for $19.95!
And all was good.
All was good until I got behind the wheel of the Cargo Van and realized I had never driven a vehicle this big before and I was going to have to take it through San Francisco over the Bay Bridge into a parking structure and back.
No, worries! I'll just drive this van around the block a couple times till I get used to how it handles.
(I never got used to it.)
Now Loyal Readers, I have handled many a floor mirror by myself while working all those years in retail. I was quite confident that with the dolly I rented from Uhaul I would have no problem getting the mirror from the Van to my home. That is until I saw that it took TWO West Elm employees to wheel the mirror out of the stockroom to my van.
Gulp.
"I hope you have someone who can help you with this on the other end," one of the West Elm employees said to me.
"Uh, not exactly," I replied.
"Maybe you can knock on a neighbor's door and see if they will help you, " he suggested.
"Sure," I said not very confidently.
And off I went with the mirror in the back of the van over the bridge while starting to sweat thinking about the task ahead.
That was when divine intervention happened.
When I was at the Uhaul center picking up the van there were tons of undocumented day laborers begging for work. I could drive past the Uhaul center on the way home and hire someone to help me. (Insert angels singing here!)
After about a minute of internal moral debate about my non-existent political career being over if it ever leaked out that I hired an illegal immigrant to do work for me I rolled down the window and said, "One," to the crowd of gentlemen on the corner.
My new hero "Jacob" quickly assessed the situation and my espanol skills. He determined that I was best in the role of supervisor and should not assist in moving the mirror at all.
After we got the mirror into my unit; Jacob and I headed back to the Uhaul center to return him and the van. I handed Jacob a $20 for a task that took all of seven minutes to complete. I am pretty sure we are best friends now and are going to hang out next weekend on the corner.
In hindsight I maybe should have kept Jacob around a little longer.
When I got back to my place I started to unpack the mirror. The box was like Fort Knox. There was boxes within boxes within Styrofoam within wood planks. I finally reached the mirror and could barely lift it up off the floor. I could have really used Jacob's help about now.
After A LOT of struggling with the mirror I finally got it positioned against a wall where I was pleased.
And as for all that money I saved with my 10% off coupon; well by the time I paid for the van, the bridge toll, the gas to return the van with a full tank, the .99 a mile I didn't realize was being charged on top of the $19.99 rental fee, and my day laborer; I saved nothing!
But the mirror looks good!
The Song Of The Day - Texas In The Mirror by Michelle Branch
