Just Enough Rope ...

The twine of this story

... to hang yourself or complete the task.  Let me explain ...

For reasons that are not totally important to this story, I decided that Maribeth needed a box spring to go under her mattress (one reason - she didn't have one, instead she had a steel foundation/bed frame contraption that looked like something prisoners in old movies would put their blanket on to sleep).  I decided to get the box spring at the local Sears Outlet Store that is basically just down the street.  (For future reference, it is also close to Maribeth's house, which is not far from mine).

Steve is in California this week, so I knew I could use his big tank-car to transport the box spring.  I even did my research and found out that a queen box spring is 60 inches wide, which is also the diagonal measurement of the back of his vehicle.  It seemed like a perfect solution.  Unfortunately, my ninth grade geometry proved pointless, as I failed to take into account the depth of the box spring.  In other words, it was not going into the car on the angle.

Luckily, the Dude who brought out the box spring and was going to load it into the car until we both determined that it was not going in (perhaps he remembered more of his geometry than I did), said, "I got some twine."  Obviously the box spring was going to have to go up on top of the car, tied on.  Obviously this meant he was going to put it on top of the car and secure it for the ride to Maribeth's house.  Some things are not obvious.  This was one of them.

Dude meant he would put the box spring on top of the car - it was going to be up to me to secure it.  He then brought out the twine (NOT rope) and asked, "How much you think you'll need?"  Again, geometry failed me (and I wondered if I should have taken physics and advanced math during my educational years) as I was unable to give him an answer.  I mean, it wasn't as if he was expecting an actual measurement.  Basically, I was supposed to roll off enough twin to secure the box spring.  I don't think there's a mathematical formula for that.  Or even an App for that.

The first of many rest stop re-ties

Now, as a side note, I will tell you about the time that my sister and I and our daughters went on a trip to Disney World.  We were driving a van with a roof rack and we decided to get these huge army/navy duffel bags to pack stuff in, because we figured it would be easier to tie fewer bags to the roof of the car than a bunch of little bags.  So, we tied them as best we could and headed off down the highway.  Until we noticed several cars passing us, honking their horns, and pointing to the roof of the car.  As if we didn't notice the bag that was now hanging down by the passenger side of the car.  Anyhow, after several stops to re-tie the bags, we eventually made it to Disney World.  I do not remember what we did with the bags on the way back ...

Anyhow, you can see that my history with tying things to the roof of the car is not so great.  I stammered around a bit, hoping Dude would take pity on me, but he did not.  Instead, he waited for me to roll off my desired length of twine.  I did, quite arbitrarily, and he went back inside.  He did say if I needed more to come in.  Since I had no idea how much I would need, how would I know if I needed more?

Whew!!

Anyhow, I tied it here and around there and back there and ran out of twine, so I decided it was time to go.  Eventually, after driving 5 mph and constantly looking in my rearview mirror for honking drivers and/or a box spring flying off the car,  I arrived safely at Maribeth's house.  The box spring stayed on and the twine did it's job - I guess I chose the right length.  Of course, I think the real reason it didn't fall off is because God kept it on the car.  After all, God likes a good laugh every now and then, too.

*******************************************************************************

Today was a great day because:  beautiful cool spring day; fun times with a box spring; getting tasks complete; lunch with Molly; Molly's beef stew for dinner