Ok... Here you go!
(There are actually more books in my bookcase now than there were when I took this picture.)
It was a bigger pain in the ass to get that damn tv on the wall than it was to have the desk built!
I had bought the mount for the tv from a popular electronic store that sends Geeky people out to do installs and to set up computers and stuff. Buying the mount was easy, the installation was a major f-up.
The guy came out and drilled four holes in my wall. He screwed the mount to the wall, and then he couldnt get the tv to go on the wall. The outlet with the power cord for the tv was in the way. The cord stuck out too far when it was plugged into the wall.
So, the kid told me that the electricians had put the outlet in the wrong spot, and that I was to have them come back out and move it. (and rip the wall to pieces)
I was pissed. I called the electricians and they came out a couple of days later. They looked at the wall, and looked at the tv. They measured the wall, and where the studs were, and measured the tv.
The moronic little Geek measured the damn tv wrong! He measured the tv from the bottom of the stand (that it would no longer be using) to the top of the tv. He SHOULD have measured from the bottom of the tv to the top of the tv. Moron!
The electricians looked at my wall, where the kid had drilled into it, and said that he hadnt drilled into the studs. I remember him saying that he couldnt find the studs. He even had a fancy electronic stud finder and he couldnt find them! The electricians found the studs in a microsecond by tapping on the wall with a knuckle.
All that moron had to do was look under the shelf that runs below my tv...there are two screws that are 16 inches apart...that's where the studs are. Geek was a dumbass.
So, I had the electricians hang my tv. Paid more, but that tv is NOT coming off that wall. If the Geek had managed to get it hung on the wall, it would have fallen. Because the kid had not drilled thru the studs, and was going to hang it with these plastic things that look like really cheap zip ties and a few bolts, there's no way in hell that my 30+ pound 32in LCD tv was going to be supported. It would have ripped right thru the drywall.
I sit right below where the tv hangs when I'm sitting at my desk. It potentially could have killed me if I'd allowed the moron to hang it.
So, the electricians started to get ready to hang the tv. They hit a big wrinkle pretty quickly. The Geek had stolen the big bolts that were supposed to screw into the studs. facepalm!
They went up to Home Depot and bought some big huge silvery colored bolts and nuts and washers...later, when they realized the holes the kid had drilled would show they went up to Lowes to buy some pre-painted wood boards to cover the holes and also make the tv stick out a little farther because the audio/video plugs were going to stick out too far on the back of the tv (kind of the same problem the kid had with the power cord sticking out too far earlier)
They bolted the boards on the wall, and then bolted the mount onto those boards (everything into the studs). That tv is not coming down. If I ever move, that tv becomes negotiable. (technically I can take it down, that mount isnt moving tho) But, the space in the wall was designed around the size of the tv.
Now that the tv is up, and not in danger of dropping on my head, I love it. I can sit in bed and watch tv. It looks GREAT! I had my dad's sister-in-law here last night to see the desk after I had some paint touched up where the colors didnt match, and she thought my room looked so much bigger than it did before. I have a better use of space, I have room for my crochet and knitting books and my computers... It's really comfortable to sit at. I've actually finished a couple of crochet projects and am almost done with a knitting project now that I have a great place to sit and do computer stuff while I'm crocheting or knitting...and it looks REALLY GOOD!
I just need to get my walls painted, fix a few spots on the wall on the other side of the room that TinyMonsters scratched up when he'd sleep with his feet against the wall, and where there was some drywall damage from the house settling or something. I have no idea what color to paint the room, and I really need new carpeting. (5yrs of big, oily black dog that had a vomiting problem did a number on the floor) My cousin gave me the phone number of a girl who painted her house. I'm calling the painter on monday. Probably wont paint till spring tho. I'm going shopping for carpeting as soon as I figure out what paint color I want to do.
I cant wait to get the paint and the carpet. I just dont want to have to move my bed to get the carpet or the paint. (it was a pain just to get the bed in the room) That's going to be another logistical nightmare. Even with the scuffed up walls and the dingy carpeting on the floor, I really love my room now. Real living space and storage. YAY!
I should mention, after all the problems with the Geek and the tv install, I did call at bitch at his managers. I didnt care for their response. I wont ever use that blue and yellow signed company that hires geeks to ever do anything like hang a tv ever again. I already wont let them touch my computers because they screwed up a few of my older computers. If I ever have to hang another tv, I'll just hire an electrician or a carpenter or a handyman to do it for me. Someone who knows more than the 19yr old kid who was probably more interested in how he was going to illegally obtain some alcohol that night than hanging my tv safely.
