Thursday, March 22, 2007

Babygate

In anticipation of the arrival of Helios and the chaos (read: destroyed home) that would follow, my M went to the departmental store and bought a babygate that was on promotion. She was thinking that Helios can be kept away in the kitchen if she has to run out for errands, thus minimising any potential damage.

Babygate


Something funny happened after my M bought the gate and was on the way home. A lady ran up to my M and asked if the gate is for dogs and where did my M get it and the price. Of course my M shared the information with her, but not without wondering why the lady naturally assumed that it'll be for dogs and not babies. And she's not the only one who made this assumption, as I shall explain further later.

Anyway, back to the gate. I don't know if my M was dumb, (she'd rather put the blame on the manufacturer's instructions), but she can't get the gate to stay put. She thought that it might be a lousy gate since it's on promotion, so she took it back to the store again for an exchange.

The very nice salesgirl there told my M that it's impossible that the gate would be so flimsy as they have tested it before, and proceeded to show my M how to fix it. It turned out that my lousy M had tried to fix it the wrong way all this while. AND the salesgirl also asked if the gate is for dogs. Why didn't anyone think that my M may have a baby at home?? (M: Ahem, because I look too young to be a mother? Hiak hiak hiak...)

Oh Puh-leeeze!

Anyway, my M insisted that it's not her fault. She followed the instructions and this is what it said:

Instructions


Note point 2, which said while holding the gate with the locking bar toward you, lift the locking bar and slide the locking pin into the slot that matches the opening size.

This is what the locking bar and pin looks like:



So this is what my M did, not too sure if you can see it clearly in the video.



She 'lifted' the locking bar, slide the pin into the slot and with just a push, the whole thing toppled.

When in fact she should be doing this:



Which is to totally unclasp and lift the wooden bar up.

In the end, because of her stupidity, I mean the manufacturer's stupidity, she had to make a wasted trip to the store and make a fool out of herself. And the cost of the babygate, which was $29.90, is now $45 after including the return cab fares for the 2 trips.

My only wish now is that if the babygate is made to keep Helios in the kitchen, then I want to be locked in there with him.

I'm separated from all those food!


Will someone please let me into the kitchen?

17 comments:

Molly the Airedale said...

Hi Herbie,
I'm can't wait for the new arrival! It's not far off now! Mom has these same baby gates but she's afraid to put them up to keep me and Mitch separated plus she doesn't want to lock herself and Mitch together, like when she's using the computer, and leave me locked out! BTW my mom had trouble with those gates the first time she tried to use them too! They can be really frustrating!

Love ya lots,
Maggie

Anonymous said...

Hope that your new baby gate is working fine.

Actually, my slave do know of a shop at Outram park that sell baby gate and provide delivery and installation FOC.

Molly the Airedale said...

Herbie,
Mom wants to apologize for the above comment. It sounds like she's preaching and she's not at all! As a matter of fact, she's using that baby gate right now between me and Mitch so that he stops chasing me and nipping at me! She says these gates are a God-send and I agree!

Love ya lots,
Maggie

Furkids in Hong Kong™ said...

Lol, thanks Herbie for the funny story. Our humans are just as silly. Dad has often walked out home forgetting to put on his shoes -_-"

Have a great weekend!

Herbie said...

Maggie: Tell your mum not to worry, the thought of her preaching never even crossed my M's mind. :) I think she bought the babygate to use when she has to like run to the store for something and doesn't want to crate Helios up.

anon: It's working fine now *cross paws*. Are the stuff in the outram shop expensive? Where is it located? In case Helios decide to rip this gate to pieces. lol

Mark & Cream: Yes, humans are so silly sometimes, but we still love them!

Fu Fu said...

Hee.. Herbie you're so funny. You sure look sad to be kept out of the kitchen.

~ fufu

Luna said...

Herbie, how wide opening can that baby gate cover? The gate doesn't look that high, will the smart Helios be able to jump over?

Huskee and Hershey said...

Hi Herbie
My mum and I are so so excited abt Helios' arrival!!
Make sure you stand your ground and not budge when they want lock you outside the kitchen ok!

Anonymous said...

Herbie

Can u jump over the gate? If you can, you can still get into the kitchen

Anonymous said...

Why do I have a feeling Helios isnt going to jump over, but gnaw and tear through the gate instead? Hiak hiak hiak

Anonymous said...

Herbie ~ Here the contact of the baby gate distributor : Blk 34 #03-132 Upper Cross st Tel: 65323855

Click the link to view my baby gate - http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyang/432095025/

Cheers

Amber-Mae said...

Now that'[s what I call a smart mommy...Hehehe, we also have a child's gate in our kitchen separating the cats territory from the dogs.

Hugs & Kisses from us!

Rafv said...

You are alway welcome to my house kitchen. If you need to be in the kitchen, do come over. plenty space for you, cz I am not a kitchen god like you :)

R

Joe Stains said...

hm I hope my mom doesn't get any ideas from this post

Luckie Girl said...

Hey Herbie,
Mom uses a child gate to keep me in the kitchen too cos the hoomans don't trust me around the house on my own. :P
PS : Our gate is from Ikea. I like gnawing on it. haha..

Anonymous said...

Hey Herbie, I hope you're growing more accustomed to being the big brother in the family :) I highly recommend the Ikea baby/dog gate because you can easily get in and out without having to remove the gate iteself (it has a door mechanism). It used to drive me crazy having to climb over the gate I first bought (one very similar to the one your M bought) everytime I'd set it up and then realised that I'd forgotten to get something now on the otherside of the gate.

Anonymous said...

hi herbie,
can i know where your M bought the baby gates as my M wanna buy one for the E.cocker that she's adopting soon.

Thanks!