saw point

Since we moved to a smaller house and de-cluttered - (an ill-named phrase if ever there was one - the reality is that you get rid of a load of stuff and then replace it with a load of different stuff ) - I no longer have a workshop full of tools at my beck and call.

I needed to replace a piece of skirting board with a new piece, 94cm long.  Exactly - it needed to fit into a gap of that length.  

Anyone who has had occasion to buy skirting board will know that it does not come in lengths as precise as that.  So I had to buy a longer piece and cut it down. Or rather - have it cut down, as my electric chop saw now resides in the North of Scotland.

I took advantage of the 'we cut any timber to any length on our laser-guided saw'  sign on display in the large nationwide DIY superstore where I purchased the board.  I explained my requirements to the saw operator - or rather, sore operator, as his whole demeanour was one of someone who really didn't want to be there, doing that.  

He lined up the machine - cut the board - and handed it back. All 95 cm of it.  I politely asked him to do it again.  Which he reluctantly did.  Closer - 94.5cm this time.  This was clearly good enough for him and off he went.  

Fortunately another operator standing nearby and watching all this, took over and I finally got my 94cm board, which is now snugly in place awaiting Anniemay and her paint-brush.