Well, that was fruitless.
May 28, 2007, 5:12 PM
Turns out I can’t order any of it online. It’s all in-store only. Drat. It means I have to brave that which is Ikea in person again. Well, I’m going to be sleeping on the couch for a while, since I’m not going back there today. But at least I have my list. Next time, when I’ve properly prepared myself mentally for this adventure, I will get the stuff.
And I’m going to go with someone next time I go, I believe. Mom’s likely going to come up on the third weekend in June, and so maybe we can go to Ikea then.
Still, though, I’m just glad that everything’s starting to come together in the apartment. It’s starting to feel like home.
Categories: College Park, IKEA, Move to DC area
I went to Ikea. That was a touch overwhelming.
May 28, 2007, 4:54 PM
First of all, hello from College Perk coffeehouse! I went to Ikea in College Park today to go bed-shopping. Talk about an overwhelming experience. First of all, the place is bigger than a Wal-Mart Supercenter. And it’s two floors. Then I got over there, and the parking lot was full. I mean full, like park-in-the-back-of-the-lot full.
I went in, and went up the escalator to their showroom. I saw the map coming in, so I kind of knew where I was going, or at least I thought. I got in, and got a bit disoriented. Lots of partitions made it less than straightforward about getting to the back where the beds were. I did find it, though I had no idea what was going on. I ultimately found a salesperson, to whom I admitted I was overwhelmed, and he was quite helpful and helped sort me out. I ultimately did figure out what was going on, though.
Bed shopping is interesting, though. To properly shop for a bed, one must try it out. I’m sure I looked amusing testing mattresses. The way you test them out is to get on them in a sleeping-type position and feel it. It reminds me of a scene from Today’s Special‘s “Shoes” episode. Jodie walks past a row of shoes, and comments on each pair:
Too big! Too small! Not right… at all! Too loose! Oh, too tight! Ah… (puts shoes on) these feel just right!
Continue reading…Categories: College Park, IKEA, Today's Special
With my desk and real computer in place, it’s really starting to feel like home in here…
May 27, 2007, 11:52 PM
At last, the Lappy is back to being the “other” computer. My real computer is all set up. My desk is together, and feels a lot like the old one. Sure, the color is slightly different and the edges are rounded, but it feels like home. I like it. It certainly says something about a desk when you have to replace it, and replace it with an exact duplicate.
I also upped the resolution on my monitors while I was at it. Working on the Mac in my office and also on the Lappy made 1024×768 on this computer look huge. So I upped my resolution to 1152×864. This harmonizes with the Lappy and my office Mac.
And now that the computer desk is set up, I only have one thing left to acquire. I need a bed. I’ve been sleeping on the futon couch in my living room. It’s not a bad bed, but I don’t particularly like sleeping in the living room, especially when I’m paying for a one-bedroom apartment and not an efficiency. So tomorrow I’m going to Ikea in College Park and going bed shopping.
This might also be an opportune time to go over to College Perk and have a cup of joe. After all, they’re both on Baltimore Avenue in College Park. You may recall that this is where my friend Rose used to work. I’ve been to it three times in the past on DC trips. Depending on how close it actually is to Silver Spring, College Perk might just become my equivalent to Daily Grind in Staunton, which you may recall is where I spent many happy hours with the Lappy and a cup of coffee during my unexpected six-week vacation.
And now, it’s late. Good night!
Categories: Computer, Furniture, Move to DC area
First thunderstorm in the new apartment…
May 27, 2007, 6:15 PM
My first thunderstorm in Silver Spring is now upon me, as the wind picks up, lightning starts flashing, and thunder starts crashing. This is actually the first storm I’ve experienced in Maryland since July 7, 2004, when I was at New Carrollton station when a big storm came up. Mom was in DC that day as well, and met former president Bill Clinton at a book signing.
So this ought to be exciting. Either way, I’ve got something to do in here in the meantime, since I’m putting the desk together tonight.
Categories: Weather
“Consolation of Ruin” was a very interesting and thought-provoking art show…
May 26, 2007, 10:03 PM
All in all, it was awesome! The Borf show was definitely not your mainstream art show. The building, in a somewhat run-down neighborhood in Northeast DC, was covered with graffiti on the inside, for one. And that makes sense, since “Borf” is primarily known for graffiti. The outside of the building even had a giant, elaborate “Borf” tag on it near the roof. This, of course, was all part of the show.
Then inside, there were several sculptures of people. One, in a room with red-painted walls, and the only room free of graffiti, depicted a person hanging from the ceiling, with a belt being used as a noose. This was how Bobby Fisher, whose likeness graced Washington as “Borf”, committed suicide. That was a very shocking and thought-provoking scene, all wrapped together as one. Then another sculpture of people shows three working as a team to make graffiti tags. All three are wearing ski masks, and two are holding a pole, which carries the third person, holding a can of spray paint, up high to place a tag.
Categories: Street art
I have a cell phone, and I have a desk.
May 25, 2007, 5:49 AM
Everything showed up Thursday evening. The desk showed up right outside my door, and the phone sat right next to it. So life is good. And I didn’t have to be a he-man, either, since the desk was brought right up to the door. So all I had to do was drag it in. If they had left it at the main door to the building, I would have had to drag it up three flights of stairs. And then I could have saved myself the trouble and brought up the old desk.
So, yeah, I’m happy. Cell phone is working again, same number as before, so text away. And I’ll be putting the desk together this weekend.
Categories: Cell phone, Furniture, Move to DC area
I realize that the 4000-series cars are 16 years old now, but still…
May 23, 2007, 7:30 PM
Let me say that my ride on Breda 4045 this evening on the way home from work was not pleasant. And it’s because the car was experiencing a mechanical issue, but not enough to pull the train from service. If you can imagine this, the car was vibrating pretty hard near the wheel truck on the “blind” (non-cab) end. And it was making a sound resembling that of a lawn mower. This from a car that’s normally supposed to make that nice buzzing sound that Bredas are known for.
And I had to deal with this from Dupont Circle all the way to Glenmont. All that vibration started to make me feel a little ill, too. After all, I was sitting on the right side of the car, facing the blind end, in the first row after the doors. In other words, I was right on top of it. Not fun.
And for those of you who are wondering, even though I now ride the Metro every day, I still take my little notepad with me and write down train numbers.
Is anyone else going to the Borf show this weekend?
May 23, 2007, 2:42 PM
Is anyone else planning on going to the Borf art show this weekend in DC? I’m thinking about going either Saturday or Sunday to check it out. Seems like it might be interesting. After all, I go past the giant BUSH HATES BORF tag twice a day every day on my way to and from work. Plus I saw Borf’s face on a protest sign from J27. Then I spotted another possible Borf face on a wall near the Red Line’s giant Borf tag, where the face is partially painted out in white.
So if anyone else is going to the Borf show, let me know! Like I said, it might be interesting.
Categories: Street art
Wireless Internet is now set up in my apartment…
May 22, 2007, 9:17 PM
Okay, everyone. I’m online in Silver Spring. I’ve set up a wireless network, and the Lappy is online. My real computer comes online once I get the new desk set up. That will be a breeze now that we know that everything else works.
So life is good. I can now go sit out on my balcony with the Lappy and send messages to people and surf the Internet.
Now what I’d like to know is what the heck did I need to have the cable guys over for? All they did is bring the cable box and such and hook the cables into the jack. Big whoopty-doo. They didn’t have to fiddle with anything outside. They just went in, hooked it up, and left. I could have done that myself and not have to wait around the house.
But at least it’s set up now.
Categories: Internet, Move to DC area
Two days from now, I will have a phone.
May 21, 2007, 6:33 PM
Good news! I will have a cell phone again two days from now. Verizon is sending me a replacement phone after the first one got crushed during my fall in Logan Circle. So all in all, good deal. I backed up my contacts, and so that’s not an issue. I am, however, going to have to download all my games again. But at least I’ll be whole again, after I mail back the old phone. My apologies for being out of contact for so long, but you know what they say… stuff happens.
Otherwise, the cable guy comes tomorrow and sets me up with TV and Internet service. I can’t wait. I’ll be able to, like, update the Web site and check my Email and such again. As it is, the computer’s up here now, but it’s just not set up yet due to lack of a desk (which is on its way). Then on this long weekend coming up, I might see about finally getting a bed. Sleeping in the living room on my futon when I’m paying for a one-bedroom apartment is not a good thing, since the bedroom is basically wasted right now.
So that’s what’s going on.
Categories: Cell phone, Move to DC area
Trust me when I say that carrying a large desk up three flights of stairs is not my idea of fun.
May 19, 2007, 11:44 PM
First of all, hello from my parents’ house in Stuarts Draft.
In continuing to outfit my apartment in Silver Spring, I’m bringing my real computer up with me this time, and it will get set up in a little corner of my apartment. And then I’m going to have Internet service on Tuesday, so all in all, life is good. And the first week with my new employer was awesome. Now I’ve kind of caught onto how this whole thing works, and I feel confident. It’s not like the first day anymore, where my level of anxiety was so high that I could barely eat my cereal in the morning, and forgot the lunch that I’d packed.
So what does this have to do with the desk? Well, the original plan would have had me returning to Maryland with the computer in the Sable, and the desk in either the truck or the Sienna, depending on who went with me. Then in looking at the cost of gas to take a second car back and forth to bring this large piece of furniture to Maryland, we realized that it wasn’t exactly a worthwhile proposition. Thus we had a slight change of plans. My parents will put my computer desk of nine years to work for them. Translation: It’s staying. Meanwhile, I went to Staples and ordered a new desk. It’s identical to my original desk in almost every way, except that it’s a lighter shade of brown (I don’t know what you call the original desk’s color, but the new one is “natural oak”). And it’s getting delivered to Silver Spring. That satisfies everyone. No one, including me, really wanted to drag that thing up three flights of stairs. However, I liked the desk. It was sturdy and well-designed. I’ll happily put a new desk together on site after it’s delivered to my door, and I’m sure my parents will like the old desk.
Categories: Cell phone, Move to DC area, Schumin Web meta, Shopping, Work
If anyone has been trying to contact me…
May 16, 2007, 3:03 PM
If anyone has been trying to contact me via the phone or AIM to Schumin Wireless for about the last 24 hours or so, I’m sorry, but I have not received your messages. Turns out that I did a bit more than skin an elbow and shred my pants when I tripped and fell in Logan Circle yesterday. It seems I also jarred something out of place in my cell phone.
Here’s the problem. Since the accident, the phone will come on and do whatever internal functions it does, but it is incapable of receiving wireless service. In other words, it plays the games that I have on there, and it will take pictures, but I can’t make calls, I can’t text message, I can’t transmit pictures, I can’t get on the Web, and I can’t do anything else that actually requires communication with other devices.
Since my cell phone is now officially my only telephone, this bumps this problem up to a very high priority issue. Since I have no Internet at home right now, I am basically out of contact. Translated: Not good. So I’m going to Pentagon City later today to get one of two things. I’m either going to get this phone fixed, or if it’s terminal, get a new phone.
If I get a new phone, I might as well upgrade, perhaps finally get a Blackberry device or something. I’ve wanted one of those for a while, especially when you consider that I refer to my present phone as “a poor man’s Blackberry”. Add to that the fact that I don’t really like my current phone all that much. I never particularly liked the way everything was laid out, and it lacked some functionality that the phone I had before that had.
So, yeah, if you tried to get a hold of me, sorry, but the phone is currently on strike. It shouldn’t be long before everything’s working again, though.
Categories: Cell phone
So far, I like living up this way…
May 15, 2007, 5:28 PM
I’ve been up in the DC area continuously now since Saturday, and I have to say, so far, I seem to like it. I won’t get Internet service until next Tuesday, the 22nd, however, so I’m writing you from the Infoshop, though I’m using the Lappy. The Infoshop is seven blocks straight east on P Street from the building where I work, through Logan Circle.
Speaking of Logan Circle, I had a little accident there on the walk from work to the Infoshop. I was turning to cross the circle, stepped on a curb wrong, lost my balance, took one very unstable step to try to regain my balance, and then splat. I hit the asphalt. I skinned my elbow (ouch!) and tore a few small holes in my pants pocket where my keys are – enough to consider the pair wrecked. So now I have to buy a new pair of pants. Not my idea of fun. But at least it was nothing major – I got right up and continued on my way.
Otherwise, since last we spoke, I got to go grocery shopping for the first time on my own. That was interesting. I went to Giant in Wheaton, and did my best. I think I did all right, but I was going through this store and basically thinking to myself, I used to work in a grocery store, and I still have no idea what the hell I’m doing! But I think I did well enough.
Categories: Giant Food, Washington DC, Wheaton
Sable is packed to the gills…
May 11, 2007, 9:53 PM
I don’t think I’ve filled a car so full since I left Potomac Hall at JMU for the last time back in 2003. Back then, I had the Previa stuffed to the gills with my junk from the dorm. Now, I have the Sable filled to the brim with my stuff, headed for Silver Spring. That car is literally packed full. The back seats are folded down, and I’ve put stuff in every possible spot. There’s even stuff sitting in the passenger seat. I just hope the car doesn’t think it’s a passenger and sound the seat belt alarm when I get going. That would look odd to have the seat belt buckled over there, to keep the alarm quiet.
It reminds me of a rhyme by Muffy from Today’s Special:
There was an old woman who lived in a hat,
With fourteen kids and one smelly cat.
The hat was bulging, filled right to the brim,
And inside, things were looking mighty grim.
And then when the woman came back with one more kid,
The hat shouted, “Fifteen!” and blew its lid!
That was then followed by the top flying off a nearby top hat. But yeah, I think if I put anything else in there, the car will shout, “Fifteen!” and blow its lid, too.
One thing that I will really appreciate with this run for stuff is the lamps. Those four torchiere lamps that I have are coming, and will be placed in strategic locations in the apartment. It’s helpful because there are few light fixtures in the apartment, and lots of switches attached to electrical outlets. Thus since I brought no lamps on the first run, I had to kind of find my way around in the dark upon leaving the apartment, feeling for walls and furniture, to avoid running into them, and the subsequent cursing. And I don’t particularly like to swear, though I’ve been known to let them fly fairly easily.
Speaking of swearing, I remember something I did for a professor at JMU that both the professor and I found amusing. He said that we could write whatever on the tests themselves, “Just don’t write any swear words.” So I decided to be a bit of a wiseguy. I wrote “SWEAR WORDS” in all caps near the top of the test paper. Not actual dirty words – literally the phrase “swear words”.
All in all, I’m excited about living in the DC area…
Categories: JMU, Language, Mercury Sable, Move to DC area, Silver Spring, Today's Special
A little housing update for you…
May 11, 2007, 8:24 PM
Just so you know, I am now partly moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Silver Spring, Maryland. It’s nice, too. It’s right up the road from Glenmont station, and also close to shopping. Westfield Shoppingtown Wheaton is very close to where I live, and it’s home to a two-story Target store.
By the way, shopping with a cart across two levels is interesting. There are two escalators. One for you, and one for your cart. Basically, you put your cart in the special cart escalator, and then you ride (roughly) next to it on a conventional escalator. Shopping in a two-story Target is certainly something, but it’s kind of fun. Target is also so much cleaner than Wal-Mart, which always impresses me when I shop there. They also trust that their customers will do such simple things as flush the toilet and turn off the sinks, which Wal-Mart does not. Wal-Mart has automatic sinks and flushers which don’t work half the time. Target has faucets with handles, and flush handles on the toilets.
By the way, I outfitted much of my apartment on my first trip to this Target in Wheaton. I blew $300-some on stuff for the apartment, across two shopping carts. That’s the most I’ve ever spent at Target. Prior to this, I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than $20 in a visit to Target.
Categories: Move to DC area, Shopping, Target, Wheaton