Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for July 12, 2024

She really doesn’t listen

We don’t know and Arlo don’t know.

Hilarious and Amazing?

So what’s Arlo making? A shelf? An outdoor lounge chair?

something he will never use

My number 1 rule… never read the instructions.

Check U~tube

Sales are greatly improved when designs are doable.

Ignore the directions and look at the pictures. Built my furniture from scratch with wood and hardware and plans.

RTFM Arlo!

And you wonder why the manufacturer supplies directions?

In Germany, they say that IKEA stands for “ich kriege einen Anfall”: “I’ll have a heart attack.”

I bought a metal storage locker I had to assemble. The directions just consisted of arrows pointing at various pieces and a parts list. It was a pain in the neck to get assembled, I agree with Arlo, it shouldn’t be so hard to assemble.

Apparently Arlo doesn’t realize he had invoked ancient magic by uttering the “phrase which shall not be named” before assembling ANY project, or suffer the consequences too severe to mention! This goes along with the well known fact that any home project one partakes of will require at least 2 trips to the hardware store, regardless of how simple the project is.

He’s mechanical inclined, he screws up everything

I did have some trouble assembling my greenhouse, as some of the 1200 parts were mislabeled and the illustrations didn’t always match.

The obvious question to me is, what are you buying just before you move? Why not wait until after the move?

Ah, the emphasis and tone make all the difference.

adding furniture or accessories just before moving??

I hope he didn’t buy it at Ikea…

Aren’t they planning on moving? Not the time for additions.

Three of the most dreaded words in the English language are “Some assembly required”.

Looks like a rocking camping chair. Good Luck!

It came with instructions? Arlo didn’t have to go online to find them?

Anybody else miss the old text font that Jimmy used before it changed on Monday? It seems like they’re speaking really loud or something.

Are you following the instructions, Arlo?

I have been known to figure it out from photos of the finished project. The page of instructions is usually so unhelpful I have to wonder how many languages it was put through google translate before it got to mine.

Em-ph-sis on the right syl-able.

Ikea anyone?

We do not do these things because they are easy, but because we thought they would be easy.

I always read instructions, my father demanded I do so. But I remember a kit I once bought for an electronic calculator, whose instructions said “install and solder all components on the PC boards”. There were about 50 discrete transistors, 4 large NMOS chips, etc. And it turned out that one of the transistors was defective! But I did track it down after assembly and discovering it did not work, and I think that was one of the things that put my career on track… Probably more relevant than my PhD in math!

Not to worry Arlo, it takes me about two hours to do a 20 minute job, but at least it’s done correctly…

Not so much a comic as real life. Been there done that. Again and again and again.

The first time we bought furniture at Ikea it was one of those setups that there were an assortment of pieces which could be assembled in various ways. Unfortunately our plan for the piece was NOT one of the ways it was intended to be assembled. It was a long table and we were putting an extension piece on the end not making an L with it as apparently was their only option for this add on piece. I ended up sitting under the main piece and holding it up off the floor with my head as I tried to figure out how to attach the extender piece.

We have bought many pieces from them since – including a long white office parsons style table for his smallish big TV to go on. When we did the living room originally he insisted it be done in the 18th century style furniture but Covid came along and we were adding a white Ikea table and big TV which totally ruined his decorating scheme for the room.

Even better – before Covid we ate dinner there once a week in their restaurant and went to their 4 annual smorgasbords. Their restaurant is good for those on a budget the same way their furniture is. As of this past Christmas our local Ikea is back to the smorgasbords and we have been to both they have had and have also had regular dinner there three times on nights they have deals on their meals. He is planning on dinner there again this week – either Tuesday or Friday depending on the weather.