More stuff for the garage

He Who Can Fix Anything is a collector of stuff. That is why he needs a garage that takes eight cars - the walls are lined with shelves from floor to ceiling and the ceiling abounds with every kind of device imaginable for hanging everything from doors, rolled up carpets, planks, fishing rods, old surfboards (none of us have ever surfed), a paddleski (none of us have ever paddleskied) - come to think of it, we don't fish either - a veritable treasure trove of stuff. If you are looking for a nut that fits a bolt that was made in 1950, he will probably have it.

He also has a lot of stuff that hasn't yet made its way home. One such item is a half-size snooker table that he bought for a song at an auction about fifteen years ago. In readiness for many evenings of snooker, we reinforced the beams that hold up the house and then removed one of the pillars which hold it up. This was necessary to enable players to have enough room to position themselves from any angle when going for the black ball. And then the space got filled with other things - spare engines, an old Mini, woodworking tools, more cars when the kids could drive - and the snooker table stayed in the workshop in Hout Bay. Boats were built around it and layers of polyurethane foam and tarpaulins protected it from being incorporated into the building operations.

But tonight the snooker table finally reached its destination, upside down in the back of a trailer. It will need some restoration, as the legs have been kicked around a bit, but the slate top is perfect (about 3/4 inch thick and only needs new baize). The table bears the date of manufacture (1958) and the name of the person who fitted the original baize. HWCFA tracked him down at the time of purchase, but by then he was of advanced years (both of them) and I doubt whether he will still be around, so I can see this being added to the list of skills.

It took seven men to load the table onto the trailer, but as usual, just he and I, with assistance from our daughter, slid it off the trailer without mishap. We should hire ourselves out.