So you know how everything that could go wrong with the very big box situation had gone wrong?  It turned out it hadn’t.

Having hefted the thing to London last Thursday, I couldn’t face taking it out of the box until Monday afternoon.  At which point I discovered that although all the pieces were there, the bit across the bottom that allowed the counters to stay in / come out was a few millimeters  too big to slide in and out.

Cue a trip on the way home to Homebase for one of those things that look like a cheese grater for wood, but turn out to have a name: surform.

Yesterday morning, I was in the office, surforming like a mad thing while receiving bemused glances from colleagues and outright laughing from those who know me better.  I gave myself a cheer when the bit across the bottom finally did it’s slidey thing as that was everything sorted. I just had to get it from the 2nd to the ground floor.  Nothing else could go wrong, could it?  It turned out it could.

For some stupid reason, I came over all independent.  I didn’t ask for help, and even when one lovely lady offered, I said no.  I actually said ‘I’ve done a 2 hour commute with this thing, I can manage 2 floors’.  I am an idiot.

About 10 feet from the room that was my destination, as I dragged the thing along the floor, I heard a crack that was definitely not a ‘dragging a Connect 4 board across the office floor’ sound.  It was more a ‘something just broke’ sound.  The leg to be precise.  I was now being stared at by colleagues on the ground floor as I stood surveying my giant board that was now in 4 pieces.  (It turns out when one leg comes off, the whole thing kind of looses the plot.) FFS.

I got the various parts to the room, had a short and swift panic and called the handy man who knew nothing about any of this.  ‘Do you have any super glue?’ I asked ‘A leg just fell off’.  To the handy mans credit, he didn’t ask anything – just said he’d try to find some and meet me at the room.  30 minutes later it was glued, taped and ready to go.

Happily, it all stayed together for the duration of the office tournament.  Obviously, it all fell apart when I picked it up to take it back to the 2nd floor, but that was ok.  I hid all the pieces in a cupboard and I will be very happy if I never see another Connect 4 board ever, ever again :o)