When he was a child, my uncle, who was extremely mechanicaly inclined, offered to help his brother, who he pretty much hated, build a lemonade stand in their parents' basement.

The joke was that my uncle knew right away that the stand would never fit out the basement door, so that his brother would never get to use it. They built the whole thing, and then when his brother tried to get it out and couldn't, he pitched a fit and smashed it to bits.

I predict that your home gym will be a little harder to destroy.

It looks awesome, though! I'm jealous, as would be the husband.

thanks bhw, the thought ocurred to me more than once during the assembly process that at some point the whole thing would have to once again return through that one narrow door, unless we put in a sliding glass door in the basement. But that's a whole other subject.

Assembling is the best part of Christmas! I usually lost interest in toys after they were assembled. Of course, my favorite gifts were model kits and jigsaw puzzles.

assembling can be fun if the POINT is assembling, but it's just an impediment when the point is to USE the thing

My husband will be assembling a few toys this Christmas Eve, while his father, the instant expert [just add water!], is in our house.

THAT should be an interesting dynamic.

Ho, ho, ho.

my dad likes to tell the story about the red wagon he assembled for me on christmas eve back when i was 5.

i guess none of the holes matched up on the sheet metal so he had to drill a bunch of new one.

there were other alignment problems as well.

four or five beers later, the wagon was finished....and so was dad!

my conceptual mechanical and assembling knowledge is shit, but I do follow directions very well and methodically, which gives me a big advantage over others I know who do not (whose name is synonymous with the break of day), who then uses this excuse to make me put everything together - talk about stereotypical gender roles

I would have to say that I fall into the stereotype, too. I hate trying to decode the instructions, so I ignore them. And that causes huge trouble, so the husband just assembles everything now. He's *very* methodical. Counts the parts before gettings started and everything. Who has that kind of time?

yes, but I'm sure you realize that by not taking the time to follow the directions it takes MORE time to deal with the ensuing mess

I'm not that methodical about directions. Sometimes I like to just let the parts tell me how they fit together.

a good drill is handy because there are almost always alignment problems and rather than fighting them you can just drill through the bastards and cry out "Ha ha!!"

yes, but I'm sure you realize that by not taking the time to follow the directions it takes MORE time to deal with the ensuing mess

Not if I just make the husband do it. Then it takes me no time at all!

What bhw said - 'cuz you know, who has that kind of time?

'cept husbands.

Good job setting that up btw - I knew you could be counted on!

if it's heavy, smelly or takes a long time, I get to do it

Add, "if it's alive" to the list, and my husband gets to take care of that too....

or if it used to be alive and was not obtained for the purpose of consumption

Yep.

so no one else around here has a home gym?

We do, although I have to admit that my husband uses it more than I. And we paid the place where we bought it a small fee to come out and assemble it.

And from the description you've given about assembly, Eric, I guess we missed all the fun:

----("...conceived by demonic engineers with advanced degrees in sadism until my back was broken, fingers bloody stumps, knees raw, and eyes barely functional roadmaps of red dismay.

TWELVE HOURS, in the basement, with the cats staring at me, playing tag over my prone twisted body, donating regularly to their boxes behind the bamboo screen, the sweet smell of cat piss dancing in the air.")

those were my bleakest moments, I have to admit periodic bursts of satisfaction as the tangle gradually came together

I'm feeling quite entertained after reading all of this! I'm with you, Eric. First read and organize, THEN start the macho process. Saves me from cursing God and kicking the cat, which can't be good.

Btw, this is the only site I've found with a decent, honest review. Well really the only site at all, but that's besides the point. Thank you, though. I am heading out tomorrow to my local Sam's (what kind of freak shops on xmas eve for herself???) to buy this exact model, hence the search. At least now I know what I'm in for.

Cheers!

Merry Christmas Eve, Cynthia! you made my day. I am so pleased what was basically a rant was actually helpful to someone. Apart from the assembly nightmare, I can recommend the equipment wholeheartedly.

Today: assembling the new elliptical trainer!