FANTASTIC day! How about y'all?
Today I assembled a treadmill. Did you know that if you buy a treadmill it doesn't come assembled? Nope. I think I assumed that would be the case. Or at least, a proficient Assembly Expert would deliver it and take care of that. But no.
The first bad sign was when the instructions read: "You will need at least Two Big Strong Adults." Huh. And that led me to wonder, 'at least?' As in, at LEAST two, but maybe... Nine 'Big Strong Adults' would be better? or Nineteen?
I didn't have at least two Big Strong Adults. I had only myself, and very little time with which to work without three children hanging off my Not Big Strong arms.
A good thing was the very intimidating Harware Tray. A clear plastic, multi compartmentalized tray held pre-sorted hardware. A LOT of it. However, this thing came with a diagram with the code the instructions used for each screw and washer. They all looked exactly the same to me, so it was wonderfully helpful for them to be sorted and identified already. Excellent.
Right after I fully appreciated this organizational arrangement, I accidentally sat down ON the tray, and mixed up all the pieces so that they were no longer organized in the slightest and all those almost exactly identical screws and washers now had to be sorted. Thanks, butt.
So I sorted. Then I assembled. Then re-assembled, since some of the pieces somehow ended up getting screwed on upside down. But here's the best part! When i finished... I got the dog to do a workout!
Did you think it was for me? pfft. I bought it (and assembled it) for Duke, our too-energetic chocolate lab. Cesar Millan puts dogs on treadmills, and guess what? I can too! (I bet he doesn't even have to put them together first.)
Duke did ten minutes at a good incline. Not bad for a first try! Yea, doggie!
So why don't I just walk the dog the old fashioned way? That would require the use of a big double stroller, favorable weather (keep in mind the wind where i live), keeping two boys from wiggling out of seatbelts and staying seated, and enough patience and energy to manage three boys, one dog, and a stroller. In other words, I'd need at least Two Big Strong Adults.
(Or nineteen.)
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Your Comments
Congrats for getting the darn thing assembled by yourself! I wouldn't have been able to do it. I would have assumed they came assembled to.
I've heard of putting dogs on treadmills before and I think it's a great idea. That way they can still go for a walk when it's raining or snowing...and when the dog wants to go for a walk and you don't, you won't have to...
I applaud you for getting it together all by yourself. I am terrible at putting things together by means of "reading directions". A few summers ago I watched in amazement as my very pregnant friend next door put together one of those huge wooden playsets for her kiddos:0. It is still going strong and swinging high.
I have broken treadmill that I am trying to find a new owner for. The lady who is coming to look at it today said she needed it for her dog. I'd never heard of such. I guess I need to watch more Cesar Milan. Congratulations on the two-adult-for-complicated-assembly-required challenge!
~TaunaLen
Your reasoning makes perfect sense to me! We moms have to figure out what works. Kudos for coming up with a great solution! Do you do anything to keep the dog occupied or is he just happy to be moving?