That is the thing. If you don’t hammer in all those little nails that are provided that fix the back board of your Billy you will end up with something very unstable. Follow the manual and if you have parts left in the end you have made a mistake somewhere!

Sure, I love putting together drawers. Where do you live?

I’ve assembled lots IKEA furniture for myself, friends and family, and I have never encountered these problems. What happens is that people throw small parts away with the packaging, and don’t read the instructions before they start. Make sure you are under no time pressure, unpack carefully and lay out the parts,…

Assembling IKEA furniture is one of my favourite things. I loved building model cars and planes as a kid, and this is just like that but more useful. The instruction sheets are fun, and it’s always nice to see the ingenious ways in which these things are thought out. And the feeling of achievement when it is all done…

It’s not as bad as the media like to paint it. I’m card carrying autistic and I love the place, at least when it is fairly quiet. Go on an ordinary week day morning. Don’t go on the last saturday before Christmas.

Sure! Though I really don’t know how private messaging works in Kinja. I can’t tell you what to do, of course, but for me, having a better understanding of my limitations made it easier to accept myself.

Because you have a disablility that does not affect your ability to walk, drive and park a car, I assume?

I’m not here to make a quarrel, but I’ve got Asperger’s too. I only got the diagnosis at age 43, after a life of being very good at certain things, and piss poor at others (social skills!). I have a very good intellect, and I’ve spent my life kicking myself half to death over my many social failures.

Sorry, I was wrong about the religious connection of the shapes. In reality, the differences are due to regional variation.

I have to admit that I looked it up, and the bit about religion is not true. The various ornaments of the oorijzer are related to location, and not religion. But there were subtle differences in other parts of the costume that indicated the religion of the wearer, especially in some mixed-religion towns in the Zeeland…

You could be very right there. Every town had its own variation. But I’m pretty sure there was a way to tell the woman’s religion from her costume in Zeeland.

So, an image of an antique oorijzer with books.

I would like to point something out that nobody seems to have noticed about this particular outfit of hers. It is based on traditional Dutch folk costume. She is wearing metal headgear that strongly resembles something called an oorijzer (“ear iron”) The rectangular bits (“books”) and the “curls” are usually not…

all birds are dinosaurs, and the ones that are big enough to get away with it make sure you know all about it. They never forgot.

I live in Europe, so I guess I’m just seeing this more now. It makes me sad.

I keep expecting these types turning out to be actors doing a gig for the Onion or something. Surely a caricature that overdone and uncreative can’t be real?

She has a beautiful smile!

Actually it was quite big news in the Flemish newspapers I read.

Of all the cities I have visited, Kyoto was the most romantic. It was a beautiful time, and I hope to be back some day.

It is a gradual process, which has so far led to the country being split into 3 federal states with some degree of independence. There are some Flemish nationalists who are pushing for full independence, but they have gotten quieter in recent years. So, I think it’s unlikely to happen. But, you never know.