IKEA!!!

I can hardly wait! The new IKEA opens on March 12th. Woo hoo! Of course, I will avoid that area like the plague for a few weeks, at least. The pictures I've seen of opening days at other IKEAs make Black Fridays at malls look like normal shopping days. I really, really need a dining room table, some new tall bookcases, and I'm also looking for a platform bed frame (or wrought iron, can't decide). Platform beds just look so "clean" to me...I can't describe it any other way. It's modern, but not too modern, you know? I think I might use that rebate check we're supposed to get in May for some home furnishings. Why does it have to be May??? Can I wait that long? We'll see.

Tags: IKEA, Black Friday, platform beds, home, home furnishings

My Apartment, So Far

So far, I really like my apartment. There are a few drawbacks, like the fact that I have to flush my toilet to get the whining noise in my shower to stop. Or, the fact that my water pressure isn't as great as I've had in the past. Or, that the hot water takes forever to heat up. I sometimes wish apartments had tankless water heaters, which provide almost instantaneous hot water and save you a lot of money. The water is heated as it travels through an element...it's not sitting there being stored, just waiting to be used. Maybe for a huge house, it's not the best idea in the world. But for an apartment dweller, it'd be great.

Winter Weather Clothing

I was watching some skiing and snowboarding event on some cable sports network (sorry, can't remember which one), and amidst all of the Nike and Adidas wear, I saw some Volcom clothing. I've never heard of it before, but apparently it's all the rage with snowboarders and skateboarders. It's along the lines of The North Face and Patagonia (with the same prices too). I myself don't own any, but it's rather stylish. Maybe if I could afford really expensive winter weather sportswear I'll never use...I'd buy it.

Tags: skiing, snowboarding, cable, Nike, Adidas, The North Face, Patagonia

Time to Go Back to School?

With all of my recent, unwanted job changes (in other words, a reorg)...it's made me think about going back to school again, not for a degree, but to take some classes in marketing or PR writing, because I really need to get another skill set besides publishing project management. It'd be great if I lived in Chicago, Boston, New York, or maybe Los Angeles. But Cincinnati isn't exactly a publishing mecca. Yeah, my company is huge, and I could probably move around in it. It's just that I can't see myself here for the rest of my life. I think I might have to jump out one of the windows here if that were the case. So, I think I need to start looking at student loans, or else ask my dad for some support. It's just that he gave me about $6000 in financial assistance last year. Granted, it was mostly taxes for freelancing and a medical thing I had done, but still. Classes are expensive, and I don't feel like being beholden to this place for tuition reimbursement.

Thinking Way Too Much

You know, with my dad's recent stay at the hospital and subesequent recovery, it made me think about getting one of those medical ID bracelets because I'm allergic to penicillin. Now, I don't think I'll die if I get it administered to me. But from what Mom told me as I was growing up, it'd probably make me feel like I wanted to (I won't go into the details of what happens...it ain't pretty). And if I'm hospitalized without knowing about it...like, you know, I'm in a car wreck or something, I wouldn't want to have it administered to me to avoid feeling worse than I probably already would when I would come to. Yeah, I know...I think about things way too much sometimes. But I can't help it, it's genetic! So yeah...maybe I will get one of these. It'd mean one less thing for me to worry about, heh. :)

Staying at Dad's

When I stayed at my dad's place after his surgery, I slept on a bed with a memory foam mattress, or at least that's what the mattress cover was made out of (never took the sheets off to look). You know, it wasn't that bad. The first time I sat on it, it felt unforgiving. It was hard to get used to at first, and I always have problems sleeping in unfamiliar places. But after the first two nights, I slept pretty well. It definitely conformed to my body in all the right ways, probably better than a standard mattress. But these things are tres expensive, so I don't think I'll be getting one for myself anytime soon. Maybe I'll look into a mattress cover, because those aren't as expensive as an entire mattress made out of memory foam. We'll see.

Tags: memory foam, memory foam mattress

Still Unpacking

Yes, I moved over a month ago...and I'm still unpacking. In all fairness, I had a bad case of tennis elbow (or in this case, mover's elbow), so I couldn't really do too much. What I didn't know what to do with went in the second bedroom, so it's completely full. My desk and home computer are in there, along with a myriad of cables (for all I know, I have some HDMI cables packed away somewhere). It's insane, and I can't figure out how to organize the closet in there. So I'm procrastinating beyond belief and just pretending like it's not as bad as it looks. My dad will be coming over when he can to help hang pictures. That'll help make it feel more like home and less like a temporary residence. That's my theory, anyway.

Tags: tennis, tennis elbow, HDMI, home computer, computer, home

Closed Captioning - A Source of Amusement

Have you ever watched a television on mute with closed captioning? I'm doing it right now, actually. Sometimes it's hilarious what appears. Of course, now that I say that, I can't think of any good examples. And other times, having a closed captioning service available is very useful to see what someone actually said, because sometimes I just can't get what people are saying (speak too fast, garble their words, whispering, etc.). I shouldn't pass judgment, because I'm sure you just have to type whatever you hear, and as we all know, some actors are better at annunciating than others. And these people who do the typing type faster than I ever will in a million years, so my hat goes off to them. But man oh man, sometimes...I just chuckle at what I see.

Something I Just Don't Understand...

Around here in Cincinnati, there are a lot of customized cars. Some of them just make me laugh. I mean, it's a Honda Civic! It's not gonna go any faster because you've got a weird looking spoiler and a billet grille on the front. I mean, I get why people do it. But it still gives me a good chuckle when I see an old, beat up Civic try to go faster than everyone, making these loud, awful, sputtering noises because of the new exhaust system that also seems to go with the other stuff. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't succeed. I still roll my eyes at them, regardless.

Folly Beach SC Real Estate - The Place To Be?

I'm always on the lookout for places to go that have a beach, and Folly Beach SC real estate looks very promising. Not that I'd buy anything there, or anywhere for that matter, but it looks like a lovely beach. And given it's 10 degrees outside with a few inches of snow on the ground, anyplace that has a beach sounds great to me right now. Seriously, it's so freakin' cold right now, I don't want to go outside. Of course, it's going to be in the 50s later this week. Why it can't just be in the 30s or 40s like it's supposed to be, I have no idea. I just hope that we don't have a repeat of last year, where February was full of days in single digit temperatures, and nights below zero. That would suck, and might make me flee to warmer climes if I can.

Gifts Galore

One of the gifts on my cousin's wedding registry was some luggage, very nice luggage actually. And they got it, along with the LCD television they said was their "what the heck?" registry item. Lucky for them, my cousin has a very generous aunt, because she took them to get it while we were there. Now, the television they had was this thing you had to hit to get it to work, so they really did need a new one. I don't need a new one, but I want an HDTV in the worst way possible. I am such a geek when it comes to new technology. I suppose there are some who are worse than I am, but not many. Maybe if my tax refund is big enough...that's what I'll get with it, an LCD that's at least 26", probably 32" in width. Here's hoping...