I may have a large blister on the palm of my right hand, threatening to burst its load of nasty gloopy stuff all over my keyboard, however I feel that the cause of the blister makes it all worthwhile.

For now my kitchen has a brand new table and two new stools, my bathroom has a new shower curtain and my bedroom has a huge new wardrobe and a new chest of drawers. All, of course, bought in Ikea. And all, of course, joyously put together by yours truly with only minimal swearing, one swollen thumb due to a mistimed hammer incident, the aforementioned blister due to copious amounts of manual screwing, and one near-electrocution*.

But all worth it.

*The near-electrocution incident was caused by the very German tendancy to remove everything, everything, from an apartment when you move out. This, incredibly, includes light fittings. So my lack of electrical know-how was made sorely evident by the fact that I nearly attempted to install the fittings without remembering to first turn off the power. Were it not for the timely intervention of a friend, well, let's not even think about that.