I have a large desk in my study/office that I absolutely love.

It is "V" shaped and allows me plenty of room to spread out. Unfortunately, it is quite old and through the years, the "fake wood" formica top has become scratched, pitted and lumpy.

I looked up prices for similar desks and they were outrageous...so, I decided to be a smart consumer (ha!) and have the whole top area "re-formica-ed" (probably not a word...but, you get the point). I picked out a plain black formica...hired a handyman who sounded great when I met him and said that he could do the job....and looked forward to using my new and improved desk.

Wrong.

The ordered formica came in and the handyman was all set to come this morning. He had indicated earlier that the whole thing would probably take 1-2 hours. At $20/hour, I was okay with that.

Unfortunately, his helper could not come today...so, he was on his own. First "red flag" that I ignored.

He began to work...suddenly the house was filled with the stifling smell of glue that he was using to bond the new formica to the old. Windows were opened, the fans were running...and my false sense of confidence was still intact.

Wrong, again.

SEVEN and a HALF hours later...he was still upstairs working. I was staying out of his way by creating with my clay down in the studio "dungeon"...but, when I went up to check on his progress, I could see that he was quite frustrated (next red flag)

To say that the job was "rough" would be quite an exaggeration.

It was a mess. The seams were not tight, the surfaces were scratched...and, did I mention that my study was a total MESS? Dust was everywhere....I mean everywhere! Being the way too nice person that I am....and wanting him to leave already feeling sorry for him...I told him to go and that I would clean it all up.

It is now 9:45 p.m. and I just finished the clean up. I have to work on toughening up a bit...

The bottom line is that he will be reordering the formica and then coming back in a couple of weeks to make it hopefully right.

He was feeling very badly, but, as he left, I said to him..."It's only a desk. It's only a thing. One of my best friends was just diagnosed with cancer...and, that puts it all into perspective."

And, as tired and as disappointed as I was...that is how I truly feel.