Ikea, Sears and Robertson Screws
So how was everybody's weekend? Not too bad here. Saturday after my shopping experience I did some laundry and cleaning and then roamed around the area a bit. Nothing too exciting at all. Ended up watching Bad Santa before bed. For those of you who haven't seen it, I highly recommend it as it will improve your vocabulary significantly.
Today was a little more productive I guess. Went through some emails, then I decided to take a trip to Ikea. This place is quite awesome if I must say so myself. They have a couple back home but none were as close as this one which is about 10 minutes away. Everything there is pretty affordable because everything must be assembled. As everything is cheap and modern here its full of younger folk. Most of whom are female and have no idea how assemble or hang what they buy. I'm pretty good with my hands so well, thats a skill that comes in handy if you catch my drift. I needed to get some curtains for my two bedrooms and one long-ass valance for my living/dining rooms (or a bunch of short-assed ones). They had some nice cheap curtains that would have been cool, but they need to be cut or sewn. That's kind of a pain since I don't sew so I'll have to find someone or some place that can do that for me. So I left without buying them. I guess I'll just have go back again, bummer eh?
On the way back I decided to stop at Sears. Sears stores up here seem about 10-15 years behind what they are in the States. The items they sell are up to date but the layout and decor of the stores are kinda like walking into a time warp. That's right... It's just a jump to the left and then a step to the right. But anyways, I needed some Robertson screw drivers so while I was there I'll pick them up. I'll discuss Robertson screws in a minute..
The reason for me needing Robertson screwdrivers is that in my bathroom I have this towel bar that was there when I moved in. It was once made of white plastic which has since yellowed and just looked like hell. So I decided to replace it with a nice fake-chrome one. However, the old one was held in there with these Robertson screws for which I didn't have the right sized driver. Got the right one at Sears, however upon closer examination, once I got home, the heads of the screws were stripped. Hello drill!
Once I got the old thing off I noticed that it was covering up a few dime-sized holes (I won't mention the remains of the screws I drilled out too). Now this is turning into a friggin' project cuz there were also 3 layers of paint over it that came off with the mounts. So while the compound is drying I figured I'd write. Then I need to sand, reapply as necessary, sand, paint and then hang my nice new towel bar. UGH!! I'll post some pics for you all later.
Now onto Robertson screws... It appears this Robertson character thought he had a good idea when he invented screws with square-heads. For those of you wondering why the creators of South Park depict Canadians with square, floppy heads, this is probably why. And it's not a bad idea, except that the rest of the civilized world prefers flathead or Phillips. With flathead or Phillips screws, if your screwdriver is a little too big or a little too small, it's not the end of the world cuz in most cases they'll still work. Well not with Robertson screws. If your screwdriver is too big, it won't fit the screw at all. And if it's too small, it slips out way too easy and strips the screwhead. So it seems everytime I come across something in the apartment that has one of those blasted screws, I'm going out buying a new screwdriver. Another Canadian ploy for them to make more money off me in taxes. Well this Robertson guy died a while back, that'll teach him I guess.
Hello to Frank and Judy in San Diego and to Heather in West Springfield too. Nice to hear from all of you :-)
Well back to my project. Then dinner. There's this kick-ass Thai/Lao restaurant near my place which has some awesome food and reasonable prices. So I think I'll have some pizza at the Italian joint down the road.
Today was a little more productive I guess. Went through some emails, then I decided to take a trip to Ikea. This place is quite awesome if I must say so myself. They have a couple back home but none were as close as this one which is about 10 minutes away. Everything there is pretty affordable because everything must be assembled. As everything is cheap and modern here its full of younger folk. Most of whom are female and have no idea how assemble or hang what they buy. I'm pretty good with my hands so well, thats a skill that comes in handy if you catch my drift. I needed to get some curtains for my two bedrooms and one long-ass valance for my living/dining rooms (or a bunch of short-assed ones). They had some nice cheap curtains that would have been cool, but they need to be cut or sewn. That's kind of a pain since I don't sew so I'll have to find someone or some place that can do that for me. So I left without buying them. I guess I'll just have go back again, bummer eh?
On the way back I decided to stop at Sears. Sears stores up here seem about 10-15 years behind what they are in the States. The items they sell are up to date but the layout and decor of the stores are kinda like walking into a time warp. That's right... It's just a jump to the left and then a step to the right. But anyways, I needed some Robertson screw drivers so while I was there I'll pick them up. I'll discuss Robertson screws in a minute..
The reason for me needing Robertson screwdrivers is that in my bathroom I have this towel bar that was there when I moved in. It was once made of white plastic which has since yellowed and just looked like hell. So I decided to replace it with a nice fake-chrome one. However, the old one was held in there with these Robertson screws for which I didn't have the right sized driver. Got the right one at Sears, however upon closer examination, once I got home, the heads of the screws were stripped. Hello drill!
Once I got the old thing off I noticed that it was covering up a few dime-sized holes (I won't mention the remains of the screws I drilled out too). Now this is turning into a friggin' project cuz there were also 3 layers of paint over it that came off with the mounts. So while the compound is drying I figured I'd write. Then I need to sand, reapply as necessary, sand, paint and then hang my nice new towel bar. UGH!! I'll post some pics for you all later.
Now onto Robertson screws... It appears this Robertson character thought he had a good idea when he invented screws with square-heads. For those of you wondering why the creators of South Park depict Canadians with square, floppy heads, this is probably why. And it's not a bad idea, except that the rest of the civilized world prefers flathead or Phillips. With flathead or Phillips screws, if your screwdriver is a little too big or a little too small, it's not the end of the world cuz in most cases they'll still work. Well not with Robertson screws. If your screwdriver is too big, it won't fit the screw at all. And if it's too small, it slips out way too easy and strips the screwhead. So it seems everytime I come across something in the apartment that has one of those blasted screws, I'm going out buying a new screwdriver. Another Canadian ploy for them to make more money off me in taxes. Well this Robertson guy died a while back, that'll teach him I guess.
Hello to Frank and Judy in San Diego and to Heather in West Springfield too. Nice to hear from all of you :-)
Well back to my project. Then dinner. There's this kick-ass Thai/Lao restaurant near my place which has some awesome food and reasonable prices. So I think I'll have some pizza at the Italian joint down the road.
posted by Surviving In The Burbs at 1/09/2005 04:55:00 PM
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