The couch

Say what you will about Fleetwood, they sure knew how to attach a couch in 1984. What I thought would be a simple 4-bolt removal and carry out the door turned into a 4-day event.

My friends and I started last Tuesday evening. We took off the two back couch cushions, two end pillows and the front cover on the bottom of the couch. We carried them to the trash and decided to wait for daylight to see how to remove the bolts.

Wednesday night, I removed the large bottom cushion by tearing the fabric loose from the base and throwing it away.

Last night, I spent an hour removing two huge rear bolts and loosening the two front bolts after spraying them with WD-40. When I say huge, I'm sure they went through to the frame and were attached to nuts underneath (as opposed to the nut who lives inside the RV). If this had been a stick house, there would have been mystified Chinese folks wondering where the ends of their bolts went. My mother always told me that if we dug a deep enough hole in the yard, we would reach China.

This morning, Don and Gail were going to simply remove the couch and load it in the park truck to take it to the dump. With a great deal of effort, Don was able to remove two other back bolts that were holding down the clamps I didn't see. He loosened the left front bolt but not enough to use the bolt cutter. The right front bolt is loose and turns, but can't be removed.

Meanwhile, I have a desk to put together (no tools needed, it says on the box). When that's done, I will have space to flip up the counter for my printer and other peripherals like back-up drives, and room for my laptop. Then the table will be an actual table that can be used for having coffee with visiting friends, meals and other non-computer-related stuff.

I replaced the couch in my old RV with a 6-foot countertop and two kitchen cabinets with four drawers each, giving me a work surface, storage and desk. It won't be the same; however, I am "taking it like I found it and making it like I want it" again.