What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

John and I have been talking lately about moving our treadmill from an upstairs bedroom to a room in the basement with a better view. But the treadmill weighs about a thousand pounds. All right, maybe not quite a thousand but it’s really heavy and not exactly pliable. My thought was to just hire a couple of strong men to come and move it but why do that when you have grown children, right?

Since our son, Paul and his family were coming down for dinner on Sunday night, John decided this would be the perfect time to move the beast. He spent the better part of the day devising a plan. It started like this:

John: “I’m thinking that what we could do is put the treadmill on the toboggan and pull it around the house to the backyard.”

Of course! Why do a project in the spring when you can take advantage of the snow in the winter?

Me: (looking at him like he is crazy) “I think that might break the toboggan.”

John: “No, it won’t break the toboggan, I’m going to set it up on end.”

Me: (after I stop laughing hysterically) “You’ve been watching too much of the Red Green Show!” If you haven’t seen Red Green, suffice it to say the guy comes up with some pretty cockamamie ideas.

But my laughter did nothing to dissuade my husband. His afternoon consisted of getting the toboggan out (obviously), finding a wooden box to put on top of the toboggan (see the picture), taking the bedroom door off it’s hinges, and airing up the tire on his dolly. Plus, he spent a fair amount of time just walking around figuring out the best route.

I was busy getting dinner ready so I just watched his antics from afar and occasionally shook my head in wonderment.

Poor Paul, the only warning we gave him regarding “the move” was a phone message saying, “bring your boots.” He was barely inside the door when the project got underway. Before I knew it the treadmill was out of the bedroom, down the hall, and sitting in the kitchen. By the time I grabbed my camera it was outside on the sidewalk awaiting it’s sleigh ride.

John was still thinking the best plan would be to put the base of the treadmill on top of the box, leaving the bulk of it standing upright but Paul, who claims he’s not a weights and balances expert, convinced him that spreading the weight out along the length of the toboggan might help things go more smoothly.

As they were moving it onto the toboggan my daughter-in-law, Erin, who was watching from inside, facetiously commented, “Nothing bad can happen.” In the meantime, I had visions of the treadmill motor landing in the snowy yard never to run again.

Amazingly enough the toboggan, the box, AND the treadmill all stayed together on their trip down the hill, around the house, and into the backyard.

Shortly thereafter, with one slight adjustment in location, the treadmill was up and ready to use. Red Green would have been proud, despite the fact that no duct tape was required.