Like greased lightnin'

Tonight, I timed the Ikea men who delivered and assembled my furniture. (Yes, in Hong Kong you can pay Ikea to assemble the furniture. It was, perhaps, the best $43 I've spent in a long, long time.)

They began at 10:24 p.m. At 10:34, one man had assembled the bookcase, save for putting in the shelves, and another had put together a chair. At 10:40, the bookshelf and another chair were finished. At 10:47, the final chair. At 10:49, the table was done. At which point Ikea guy No. 3 throws up his hands, smiles, and says "Finished!"

Five pieces of furniture in 25 minutes.

Had I just had everything delivered, I would have been struggling with the box 25 minutes after I started. It would have taken me two days to put everything together.

(Actually, had I been doing it myself, I would have been yelling and cursing after 45 minutes, crying after 55 minutes, and abandoning the mess and going to the bar after 60 minutes. Then, I would have waited for my dad to come put everything together for me. Good thing he's flying in tomorrow.)

In Dallas, I did put a similar, much larger, table together by myself. I started cursing at the 60-minute mark and crying at the 90-minute mark -- when I saw that the instructions I had been following ever so diligently by myself now pictured TWO people. Eventually, I got it together. But it was a struggle. After which I swore to never buy anything from Ikea again.

But Dallas doesn't offer delivery and assembly.

God, I love Hong Kong.