John Szabo (pictured) is a carpenter from Bexley. I gave him a personal cheque today made out in the amount of $70 to pay for the additional shelves that he’s just added to the big pine bookcase located along my study wall, adjacent the balcony door.

I originally purchased the unit from a bloke living in Baulkham Hills, via the Trading Post, the weekly classifieds paper, just before moving to this apartment in December. On the day of the move, with my house-mates along to lift and carry, I drove there in a rented, three-tonne Thrifty truck, picked it up and loaded it onto the back. On arrival here in Campsie, I found that it fits exactly into the space allocated. It was a great buy for $385.

And I’ve just ordered — from Claphams Furniture & Antiques Pty Ltd in Lane Cove, who supplied my last two bookcase purchases — a new pine bookcase to sit against the opposite wall. The new unit has set me back $480: 140cm wide x 214cm tall, with a vertical support dividing two columns of seven shelves.

I’ve also ordered a new desk, costing $512. My current desk cost $50, purchased (again via the Trading Post) from a woman living in Double Bay, when I still called West Pennant Hills home. It’s of particle-board construction with a separate set of three drawers, all covered in black, faux-timber vinyl veneer. Damp has caused the particulate-wood structure to deteriorate so badly at the rear on the left-hand side that now it lists heavily, like a drunken football player after leaving the last nightclub of the evening. And the drawer fronts fall off when I pull the drawers out (like the false teeth of a retired football player when he goes to bed at night). I’m fed up with it altogether, and I reckon I deserve something better. After all, I spend a lot of time at my desk. It should be up to any task. And there‘s something else here: I hate football.

The new one will be made out of solid, light-stained pine timber, with four drawers on steel runners in a single pod on the left. I’ll post a photo when they make delivery.