I have a cunning plan!

After a day spent with the kids, eating strawberries, baking cookies, watching them go bezerk on the trampoline and watching them devour a plate of spaghetti and 2 legs of Dr Pepper chicken (remember, these are tiny 4 year olds!) I sat down behind my PC, and had some proper thoughts for a change.

I'm planning to pick up a full length 40cm wide Ikea Billy cabinet on wednesday, to replace the half sized one. For some reason, I grabbed the tape measure and measured the distance from the window to the big Billy cabinet. It's over 120cm's. My PC table is 120cm's. Hmmm...

You see, I'm happy with my chosen set up, but there are 2 problems with it.

• The desk and monitor is facing the window. As one of my former jobs was ARBO I really should have known better then to place a black rimmed light device in front of a big light device (aka the sun (light)) as during the day (and in the summer in the evenings as well) I'm squinting most of the time to properly see the screen. As I don't have the best pair of Mk. 1 Eyeballs to begin with, that sucks. Plus if I do want to look outside I either have to get up or bend sideways. The first is something my knee doesn't always agree with, the second puts strain on my damaged back. 
• The 2nd Hobby desk.....great idea in theory, in practice it is a clutter focal point. I'm doing all of my hobbywork behind the PC 99 out of 100 times.

The third problem is the fact that the battletable seriously overhangs the hobby tables. Something I planned in and don't mind, but still, it's not always so convenient.

Right Baldrick, what's this cunning plan then? Glad you asked.

First up, don't spend the 10 euros to get the second hand full length Billy cabinet. 10 euros saved.
Rotate the PC table 90 degrees to the right and set up as I have now. Try to asap add shelving above the PC table, I should be able to add 3-4 levels. But I will need some damn good bolts to hold it all so I think I'm better of hanging 3 rails on the wall instead of 2 to spread the potential weight. So that's 10 euros spent. I have some spare planks and some junkers in the attic, and for now they will have to do as there is no money to get new ones cut to size.
Then, clear off the Hobby table and remove the legs, take it down and wait for Sjors to pick it up. As it is a high end office table with a swivel to move it up and down and everything, we agreed on 100 euros for the table. Plus 100 euros.
Then, move my single Ikea Alex drawers 90 degrees and stack the Moppes on top of that. The overhang on the side is minimal and the cabinet is more then able to hold the weight. When the time comes, and I have spare cash (ha!) invest in 1 or 2 more 2nd hand Alex cabinets to get the same set up as the left side of the room. The Moppe can then move inside a Billy cabinet.
I need to find a new space for the radio but I doubt that will be a problem.

The only hiccup I forsee is the desk possibly not fitting well enough between the windown and the first Billy, but atm all my measurements seem to be correct (famous last words, I've been there before).

So, what benefits will this bring? Not more room perse. It adds money to the coffers, and the room goes from being a C shape of desks and storage to a double I. The space in front of the window can be fully cleared of stuff, the windowsill is finally in reach so I can dust it again, the window can be opened without issues. Having less open horizontal space means less space to clutter thus easier and faster to clean when I have to. Less strain on my eyes, easier for me to just turn my head to the left to catch the damned cat shitting in my backyard, or the occasional Apache or Hercules making their approach to the Eindhoven Airbase.

I've discussed this with friends and Kim and checked if I'm not demented or anything, but we all see the benefits.

It now all hinges on one thing....does the table fit or not!

Fingers crossed....more tomorrow.