HO, Ho,...Oh No-o-o-o!!!

Let me begin by saying that Christmas was great this year. My dad, who is eighty-seven, joined the grand kids, the honorary elf and myself at our home on Christmas Eve. We had dinner, the two oldest grand daughters read the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-14 and we opened the presents. It was a perfect evening. It just almost wasn't going to be that way, which is what brings me to this post.
The youngest grand daughter loves to draw, paint, color, etc. So, the honorary elf (alias Nana) and myself decide to get her a drawing/craft desk for Christmas. Just after Thanksgiving I ordered the item from Wal-Mart.com. A week later the box arrives and I carefully put it in the garage to assemble later. Later was Christmas eve day. Around 1:00 p.m. I began assembly of the table. Since I am an architect and have dismantled and assembled more full size drafting tables than I care to count, this project is no-brainer. The frame goes together relatively quickly. I am now ready to put the tilting mechanism on the table top and attach it to the frame. I pull the top out of the box and it is damaged!!! Remember, it is now 2:00 p.m. Christmas eve and we are going to open presents in about four hours! You can't give a six-year-old damaged goods. You just can't. And you can't explain to them that you will return it and get them a brand new one in a couple of weeks, after the crowds thin out at the customer service desk. So, I remember that we saw a similar desk at Hobby Lobby (at twice the price), so I called to ask if they still had one and what time would they be closing. They were going to be open until 5:30 and yes they still had a craft desk. WoooooooHooooooo!
It is a 14 mile drive to Hobby Lobby and it is now 2:30 p.m. I'm not panicked, but I am not really happy either. When I get to Hobby Lobby, they actually didn't have a new desk in a box like the one I was looking for. They did still have the floor sample, which had a little tape residue on it. We got it cleaned up and I bought it....no assembly required!!! Christmas is saved!!!
Yes, had I opened the box three weeks earlier when it arrived, I would have discovered the damaged goods and had plenty of time to correct the problem. So readers and lurkers, learn from my experience. Anything that you order and must be shipped to you should be carefully inspected immediately upon arrival. Otherwise, you may find yourself saying Ho, Ho...Oh, NO!!!