It was in a box. It rattled a bit. It was reasonably heavy. It was unexpected and one of those things way down on my list of needs, or perhaps something I didn’t think I needed. Based on this information, I made a mental list of what it could be. I came up with a list of three.

Having opened it, I thought it could be a bookcase for very small books. Or a Scandinavian rack for very small computer monitors. Or maybe a place to keep several terabytes of hard disks. It was none of those fortunately.

My new shoe rack is the first practical Christmas present I’ve had for years. It’s number two on that list of three. Hint hint. Most people don’t know what to buy me, so I usually get money or gift vouchers. The shoe rack is a nice little addition to my porch. Unfortunately it now means I need to get the other side of the porch tidied up.

It even has the ubiquitous Chris “wobble-factor”, as does everything I build myself. Except my shelves, which have the Chris “were-you-drunk-when-you-put-these-up?-factor”.