An Alarming Day

I had a busy, mostly productive weekend.

On Thursday, my rug arrived (a week earlier than I expected), but I couldn't get it into the apartment myself. I phoned Skippy, but, after an hour, I gave up and drove to the furniture store, to pick up my nightstands. I arrived minutes after they closed. Cursing Skippy's name, I drove home and asked Thing One to help me carry the rug. We got it into my bedroom just before breaking her wrists. (That's funny; my end wasn't that heavy.)

On Friday, I chauffeured Thing One and her dog to the vet then took Thing One to breakfast at Aretha Frankenstein's. I finally got a T-shirt there! (Yay!) It cost $20. (Gasp!) I also enjoyed the kielbasa they used in the Polish Eggs.

Afterwards, we drove to the Idiotville Maul so I could purchase more place settings at Dillard's. The substitute saleswoman was helpful (even though her perfume was overpowering), but since she was just filling in, she didn't know if we could order the out-of-stock colors for in-store delivery. When her supervisor finally got back (I did find a tablecloth, table pad, and these humongous (9" tall, 26 oz. capacity) beer glasses on clearance during that time) from whatever he had been doing, he told us that he couldn't and that I'd have to order directly from the website. (So much for saving on shipping.)

We also stopped by a place called the Yankee Candle Company (Thing One's idea, not mine). I don't care how large it is; who would pay $25 for one candle?

Then I went back to the furniture store and got my nightstands. It's just as well my telephone stand hadn't arrived yet, since both boxes filled the cargo space of my vehicle. (This time, the trick was fitting the boxes through the doorway narrowed by my bookcase.)

Speaking of my bookcase, I phoned customer service and was told that there is no technician in my area to inspect my reported damage, but would I mind if they replaced the bookcase with a new one? So, I'm expecting that changeover this Friday.

While I was getting the nightstands, Thing One was browsing and fell in love with a sofa, but she wasn't sure her mother would like it, too. So, on Saturday we stopped by the office to borrow the digital camera, so we could e-mail pictures to her daughter to show to her mother. It turns out the security system in the main office is different than the one in my office and my apartment, so I couldn't figure out how to shut down the alarm that went off. It made me feel better that the security guard on duty was just as puzzled as I was. (I should've tried my "disarming" smile.)

Back at the furniture store, we took photos (and discovered that the fabric looks entirely different under the store's fluorescent lighting, under natural light, and under a camera's flash). I also collected the incidental table that I had ordered (I think the drawers are the right size to store my napkins, and Thing One suggests I put booze bottles in the cabinet portion), and that filled up my cargo area again, so it's just as well the telephone stand still hadn't arrived.

I filled the rest of the day by filling my bedroom. I swept and mopped the floor. I laid the rug. I set up the two nightstands (in the process, discovering that I can lift 43 kg. straight up out of the box - go me!). I saw that the incidental table projects a few inches in front of my closet, but if I can't live with it there (and if Froggy can't or won't install an electrical outlet which would let me rearrange my living room and free up a space in there), Thing One found a space in the hallway, just outside my bathroom, so everything seems to be working out.

The only letdown from the weekend was Sunday, when I couldn't finish taping my living room closet for painting because I ran out of tape. Well, that and I ran out of motivation after Friday and Saturday. (By the way, did I mention that we had Friday off from work?) So, I need to buy painter's tape... and some more shelf liner, since Thing One gave me a shelf she didn't need in her closet (it's handy having mirror-image apartments)... and I need to refuel my car... and I need milk and bananas.

Oh yeah, we did retrieve her dog from the vet on Friday, in case you were worried that we had left the poor girl behind.

Since I did all that driving (and have more to come), I think today's favorite song should be this.



When I was little, I thought the D.J. on my parents' radio station had put the horn sound effects in himself. When I grew up and bought the CD for myself, I was surprised to hear that's exactly how the song was recorded.