I was about to go out one morning and my nephew phoned – very unusual. Would I pick up a treadmill for him? (I assume it was something from e-bay or something.) Sounded simple enough (and maybe I wasn’t really thinking clearly) so I said yes.
Then I started to get the texts….. The house I had to find was not on Google maps….. I needed to take £20 cash to pay for it – meaning I had to take a special trip to a cash machine….. I needed to collect it between 5.30 and 6.30 – the time I am usually making my evening meal and it would be dark – I don’t drive in the dark…. The machine weighed 20kg and I would have to get it in and out of the car myself….. I didn’t have to see it working but would I check that it looked new….
I was then given (some) instructions as to how to find the house which was more positive.
At about 5.30 I put down the back seat of the car and removed stuff from the boot, not believing that it would fit on the back seat. I did find the house – only taking one wrong turn, which was not too bad considering it was dark. I didn’t crash the car or hit anything – as far as I know. The owner was expecting me and opened the door as I got out of the car.
I looked at the treadmill. I suppose it looked new – how would I know? I payed the money and was also given the instruction booklet, a knob needed when it is unfolded, an alum key and some oil.
Fortunately the husband helped me get it into the car, but as it was dark when I got home I left it there all night as I couldn’t see what I was doing.
Next day, with quite a struggle, I managed to get it out of the car – we had wedged it in quite firmly and it kept slipping back. As it has wheels I then managed to get it into the house.
I even got it up the stairs, going one step at a time. There was a problem getting it round the corner at the top, but I did manage it with a struggle and got it into the spare room.
The trouble is, it is front of the wardrobe I need to get into sometimes – notably to get out the Christmas tree and decorations. But it is there, waiting for collection…. I wonder how much I should charge for storage?
So? Never say yes to a nephew if he asks me to do something until I know all the details and even then probably say no!