An upgraded Allen Key

She who must be obeyed has a day off and we head for Bangkok to renew her passport, just in case we decide to go overseas at some point, which is currently unlikely.

The passport office used to be high up, next to a car park in Central Bang-Na; and a scruffy unwelcoming place it was too. Now it has moved to the basement of the same building, but it has taken the scruffy, unwelcoming bits along for the ride. And it is busy, horrendously so.

I find a seat a long way away from anyone, and my wife enters the scrum; emerging some time later with a piece of paper bearing the number 777. As they are currently processing number 481, a long wait is in store. We go for a pizza and come back in an hour to find the counter has only crawled to 523; no chance of getting served today.

So we head for she who must be obeyed’s real reason for coming to Bangkok, a trip to IKEA.

I have a certain soft spot for IKEA. When I was transferred to Holland after being in Asia for many years, IKEA is where I ended up for all the bits I needed to furnish my tiny apartment in The Hague. One piece that I bought was a red sofa. More than ten years on and it is still going strong, and several cats have failed to make an impression of the fabric.

We don’t need anything for our apartment, so an hour or so wandering through the showroom should have been financially painless enough. And it would have been if she hadn’t chosen three cork mats and an ice cube mould. A shocking drain on the budget. Oh, and I bought a new computer chair and some photo frames.

Back home and some of the bits of the chair are laid on the floor for inspection by the cats.

I set to and actually find it is easy to screw together, helped by the upgraded Allen key which used to rip your palms open but now come with a protective plastic sleeve. IKEA shoppers are such wimps nowadays.

Postscript: Pete offered this as a kit for the more experienced Allen key users:

Comments 🔗

2012-01-12 | Pete says

Thanks for the warning about the place being busy - I shall have to ensure we get there at early o’clock when I take my dearly beloved to renew hers in the near future.

Maybe a daft question though - why would you want to buy mould for your ice cubes? Does it give the G ’n’ T a better flavour?

(sneaky retro-edit to insert the missing ‘an’ in 3 …. 2 …. 1 …….. )

2012-01-13 | Spike says

….and it’s done!

Thanks for the Golf kit too.

2012-01-13 | TheSon says

We also went to Ikea on the 11th. I hate hate hate it.

2012-01-13 | Spike says

I know, you are having trouble with the instructions. Do you want Daddy to come and help you?

2012-01-13 | TheSon says

Yes. I will go check the Thai Airlines live departures board to see what would be easiest for you to catch. It was into low, single-digit temperatures here this morning, so you might want to bring a scarf.

2012-01-13 | Spike says

Single digit you say…… Just spray everything with WD-40 like I told you.

2012-01-13 | Pete says

….. knew it.

Lost me on the Golf kit though. (Insert ‘confused’ emoticon here)

2012-01-14 | Spike says

Must be a different Pete that sent me the photo above.

2012-01-14 | Pete says

Ah - I’d completely forgotten that. The Old-Timers disease creeping in again! You’re welcome.