With a perspective of going to work in East London the following day, I was looking up last-minute GoodGym gigs for Thursday night. Options: DIY odd jobs vs gardening? I consulted my GoodGym peer about what would they go for if they were me.

DIY challenge, of course!

That's how I landed the mission for the lovely Mrs S. I was not surprised that she was a bit surprised when she saw me.

Is it a mistake? I thought you'd be a man

First task was to open the window that wouldn't open. We removed all the items from the windowsill and the frame. Then I slid the window up and brought some fresh air from the garden. Mrs S was shocked.

Two men had tried to open it last winter and they couldn't!

Neither of us could explain that, so I moved to the next step:

Usability

We had to make sure that Mrs S can open the naughty window on her own. She had to put a little bit of effort into it but managed to do it herself. Now, it was time for step three:

Security

If Mrs S and I could push the window open from the inside, it could be as easily done from the outside. I found a mechanism blocking the sliding, figured out how it works, and explained it to Mrs S. She was so grateful for that window-opening experience that she thought it would be too much to ask for something more than the ability to get some fresh air on a hot summer day. Luckily she did.

You don't want to look at the arch, do you?

Of course I do!

That's what I came for. The assembly of the garden arch promised a more interesting challenge than the window. We went to the garden where I found the pieces of the arch. It was obvious that the structure was assembled before and then dismantled.

Two people had a go before and couldn't put it together, said Mrs S.

Do you know what it should look like? I asked.

Mrs S said she had a picture of the final product and brought me the instructions. Usually, I like to jump right into action but I thought I'd do my due diligence. Time for...

Investigation

I looked up the list of parts in the instructions. The prognosis was that the fun with assembly had to end prematurely.

Conclusion

I'm sorry, I cannot assemble the arch. Parts are missing. And without screws and tools, it's going to be loose.

Mrs S was only slightly disappointed. Apparently, none of the previous challengers got to the stage of counting the parts and identifying the problem.

Mrs S brought me some chilled water and we had a chat. I listed the requirements for the follow-up mission to go ahead.

I wasn't too impressed with the mission outcome but Mrs S was. We bid each other goodbye, then I ran and later descended underground just about when I felt the first rain droplets on my face.