luckykaa

It takes up too much space!!

Saw a second hand reclining sofa in the nearby furniture shop. They offered to deliver for a tenner. Seemed worth it.

Have assembled my desk. It's a bit big... Still, room for a printer a scanner and whatever else I might be working on. Can probably fit my Raspberry Pi and a display on there too.

Fitting it into the bedroom is trickier. Tried turning bed around. Realised I'd have no room to open any of the underbed drawers. Tried turning bed so it was against the window. Wouldn't be able to open the drawers and access them. Moved bed back to where it was in the first place. This involved some devious moving other stuff around because the desk is too heavy to lift. I think I have allocated the space in a manner tat pleases me though.

I need more walls to fit in all my bookcases. Perhaps I just need to move one of them to the bedroom. What I hadn't thought about was that the sofa takes up a chunk of wall space. TV cabinet takes up most of another wall. Storage heaters (two of them ) get in the way a bit. And I don't want to block the windows. And flickums will be moving in in a few months, with another epic pile of discs needing room. There is an entire spare room, of course so we'll have to decide how rooms are allocated. There is the issue that we both want our own space but we'll have to see how that works.

Still need to assemble a wardrobe, underbed storage, another bookcase, and a chair.

I think I have more books than bookcase space.

Really pleased the block of flats has large recycling bins for dumping all my cardboard boxes in.

I have room to sit and watch TV/play games though. If I empty a couple of boxes a day I should be done fairly soon.

So, having breakfasted, unloaded the van, and turned the new flat into a box fortress wed decided to get an early start to Ikea.

Holly The Evil Satnav took us most of the way there but decided to send us right when the entrance to the store was to the left. Damn you Tomtom! Why can't you store entry points? Once again I was uirged to make a u-turn which I ignored. Instead I took a wobbly route around the streets to turn around. Plenty of room to park but no specific parking spaces for larger vans.

Too early to eat so we set off. For those not familiar with Ikea, the bulk of the store is a showroom, where items are labelled with a location in the self service storeroom. You write down the item code and location of the items on a pad (provided at various locations) with a pencil (also provided) and pick up the flatpacks at the end of the trip. Smaller items can be picked up on the way, and put into a heavy duty plastic bag (also provided). flickums started loading the bag with scented candles.

Sofas first. We needed to test several for snugglability.I found there was free wifi, plus a handy app for the shopping list so downloaded that while testing the comfort of the sofa. The sofa was quite comfy. Had a tryout of the desk I liked the look of. It was too low. This is why it's better to go to a showroom than mail order. I did find the idea of a pop-up power socket kinda cool but it was horribly expensive. My vanity demanded that I get a wardrobe with mirrored doors. Actually it was a really nice configurable design. I have a rail various hooks, a couple of shelves and some pull out drawers. Will enjoy building that. Also bought some under-bed storage now that I have a bed I can store things under. Have since realised that I probably went overboard here. I won't have access to two of those drawers.

Was a little disappointed at the pickup area. The sofa was way too big and heavy for the two of us. And the staff weren't willing to help. Also the hinges for the wardrobe were out of stock. Although decided to go for a 4 pack instead of a 3 pack, oddly, for the same price. Decided to get an armchair as a temporary measure while I decide on the sofa situation.

But, mustn't forget the most important aspect of any Ikea trip: meatballs! Flickums insisted. I was tempted by the loganberry jam.

Really should have bought some jam when I was there.

Also a cutlery tray.

Maybe I should head back. Get the jam.

I want to make a rocket stove.

This is essentially a large metal tin, with a hole in the side for air and fuel and a hole in the top for fire.

Anyone know where I can get the large metal tin from?

Unrelatedly - this Sims 3 story is quite a nice piece of creative writing. 

So, went to Ikea.  My mum wanted a highchair for my nephew and wanted something that looked nicer than a cheap plastic one.  I wanted a lamp, and didn't feel that the journey really justified that on its own so I gave her a lift.  Actually I let her drive.  She doesn't get a lot of practice and my dad isn't exactly a good passenger. 

Ikea is a perfectly okay place if everything goes perfectly.  When it doens't it's a hassle.  The staff are useless.  They appeared not to have the main item we wanted in stock.  My mum asked someone wearing clothing marked Ikea whether tere were any more.  He said no, but if we asked they might be able to give us a display one.  So mum went off to see, and I waited.  and waited... and waited. 

Just as I was about to send out a search team she eventually returned.  She'd had a long negotiation with the people as to whether she could have the display model.  I realised there could be a problem...  She'd have to explain again to the checkout person, then again to the various increasingly higher ranking members of staff they'd have to call.  And the display model has no barcode.  On the other hand,  I had noticed an information desk so I went there and joined the queue to find out it there actually were any in stock.  Yes there were!  Grrr!  Useless staff.

And I was reminded that the rules of the road change once you're within the M25.  Someone was in the wrong lane at the lights, so tried pushing into the lane he should have been in.  Fair enough.  People mess up.  But generally it helps other drivers know what you're doing if you indicate.