The Saga of the Hutch

Well, for about three years now Princess has been looking for the perfect place to store her china. Like so many of the young girls keeping hope chests in anticipation of finally finding the right man to marry, Princess has had her collection of china for quite some time. So, the hunt for a Hutch ensued.

About two weeks ago, in one of our countless trips to different furniture stores, we finally found a Hutch and a Server that match (both each other, and the demands of the Princess!). Once I knew she liked the pair, we pulled the trigger on the purchase.

The store charged us $65 for a 2nd floor delivery and scheduled the delivery for Friday the 13th. When the delivery guys got to the house, they immediately started saying how the Hutch would not fit up the stairs. Now, we've had this problem before because our staircase is very narrow and not that tall. So, after a only a few minutes of trying, they left the Hutch downstairs.

That night we went back to the furniture store and complained. Because we paid for special delivery for the 2nd floor, we thought that meant they would actually do what other delivery guys have done... bring the Hutch in through our upstairs balcony. So, the snippity chick at the furniture store told us that that would require another charge of $145 for "special handling". I just paid the money and re-scheduled the delivery for today.

I got two delivery confirmation calls this time. First, the store called with the typical "guys are coming to your house between 1 PM and 5 PM" thing. Second, the actual driver called me and asked me how I think the Hutch should be brought in the house. I explained the 250+ pound monster must be lifted about 14 feet and go through an upstairs doorwall that is over the garage. He said he was looking forward to hoisting it up there. (Hey, furniture delivery is his thing!)

When the delivery guys arrived, they immediately went to work. First they completely blocked traffic off to our street with their truck pulled up to the house, right under the balcony. They tied up the hutch and with two guys on the balcony, one guy working the lift gate on the truck, and one (very brave) guy lifting the Hutch up above his head (found out later this is the guy from the phone call). Although I really wanted to capture the whole event with my camera, it was about here in the process when I was urgently asked to assist:
So, I sprinted up the stairs and took control of the Hutch, helping them pull it up onto the rail of the balcony. PHEW! OK, back to shooting. The hutch is safe:


With the Saga of the Hutch finally over and it safely placed in the dining room, we'll have to move on to the next adventure with wide-eyed child-like enthusiasm! :)

Peace... JH