Why did I agree to do this?!

[scott spencer]

Have you ever agreed to help someone out only to have major regrets later when you find out the job is far different than you anticipated or had been led to believe?

While at my nephew's birthday party earlier in the week, my brother's inlaws were commenting on some of the pieces I've made for him. Then his MIL tells me (in front of everyone of course) that she'd like her cherry coffee table cut down to size to fit their new home better, and wondered if I could do that. "Sure....I guess" . Then she requests that the cut off be turned into drop leaves....."ok..." Her coffee table has an elliptical top with a rectangular shelf at the base....another omission from the original discussion. Her "cherry" table is really birch veneer over crapola wood and pressboard. The finish was such that it was hard to tell until I crosscut the table top! It's past the point of no return now....and there's not much I'm going to be able to do to make the drop leaf seam look good.

Neither the request nor any of the little complications or setbacks seem like that big of a deal alone, but the combination of "issues" vs the potential end result has me frustrated. Working with crapwood takes as much time as nice wood, but will never ever look like cherry or even birch for that matter! Anyone else ever find themselves in the middle of something they'd just as soon haul to curb and forget about?

Sorry for the vent....now I'm off to spin gold out of straw.