The Morning of the Round Table New Tech Tools & Toys

Today, we completed a dining table for two. Our neighbor upstairs, whose living room has the same layout as ours, inspired us with his perfectly laid-out living space. For a short time, our apartment doubled as a catering prep kitchen. We went many years without a dining table. The furniture and layout are finally getting the upgrade that will save our shirts from suffering the stains caused by eating dinner in our side-by-side Joey and Chandler recliners. The catering stopped, but the semi-pro setup has hung on too long.

Walking the dog is the source of many of my home improvement projects. While walking the dog, I found the glass top on the curb a few years ago. It has survived a haphazard storage experience in the building laundry room, waiting for a base to complete the project.

Next, the legs we took off a larger table we picked up at St. Vincents, which was not the solution we were after. Our small room was not suitable for the big table we were after. However, the legs from the table made Mark think about doing a round table like we saw upstairs.

My husband ordered the round wood base to pull it all together. Today, I decided to jump on the project early because I often run out of steam in the afternoon. I am glad I did because getting adjustable table legs to even up is not to be attempted when you are crabby.

Sourcing the legs and top from the curb and a used furniture store.

The only hitch was the screw length to table-top thickness ratio. The screws would be too long and poke straight through the top of the table. I added a couple of washers to stop the screws from going too far. Also, I think this job should have had a doughnut shop break, but oh well.

Our counter stools are too tall for table-height use. Solution: we raised the table legs to match the height of the chairs.

Health updates:

My husband has been nursing a broken wrist all summer. This last week, he was cleared to start using it. He did the dishes, the mopping, and my closet reset. Currently, he is doing a Patsy Stone kitchen drawer reorganization. "Keep it that way!"

The science experiment that is my life has an update, too. Without getting specific, I can confirm things are stable. I don't see my doctors in person anymore. We telemedicine for about 5 minutes to go over lab work. I am at the age when every organ has a doctor. One of my specialists gave me the good news this morning: the organ he monitors, let's call it hector, is still in the red but less so since the last check-up—one less invasive organ biopsy this year.

New Toys/Tools

I picked up a hard drive adaptor. We have notebook computers that don't work for one reason or another. Of course, we don't dare get rid of them. Who knows what is on the hard drives? This dodad is the solution. It allows me to plug in the hard drive and read it on my working computer. The pictures and documents stranded on the old drive now have a rescue plan. I pulled three drives; one was not working; however, I could plug and play the other two. I love an easy fix. I confirmed I needed nothing off the old drives beyond some fun pictures. I feel better about recycling the notebooks and freeing up some storage space.

Bonus: the hard drives can now be used as backup storage and file transfer drives.

Let there be light.

Fun remote-controlled light bulbs. We have had them in our pendant lamps to set the right mood.

It's a stupid, fun upgrade for our pendant lights—adjustable light bulbs, lots of selection when it comes to color, or glow white if you need to see something. Two bulbs per remote, and the remotes work with all the bulbs. I think it's a wicked, fun addition, especially with the holidays coming up. Mr. Spock would have these in his quarters to enhance the nerd experience.