Category: Life

  • IKEA Sofa Beds, And Supply Chains

    See, we need to replace our sleeper-sofa, which is from IKEA (Have I mentioned I’m a little obsessed with that place?) and we have been having some issues with ordering a new one.

    As we live in a tiny New York City apartment, we only have so much room for a couch. Also, we want to have a sleeper sofa to allow us an extra sleeping space, just in case. You know, if one of us were to get sick, or the fact that I snore and the wife kicks me out of bed, there will be another place to crash. Anyway, we need a very specific sleeper-sofa, which is FRIHETEN, and we could also deal with HOLMSUND.

    But as we tried to order one of the two sofas online, we kept getting the error message saying delivery was unavailable in our area. Then, when we went to the Elizabeth, NJ IKEA two weeks ago, they told us that they couldn’t guarantee delivery to us in Manhattan. I really didn’t understand their reasoning behind it, but what they offered was for us to book an appointment with their Design Center on the Upper East Side, as that place could order the sofa for us, and guarantee the delivery.

    Last night, we had our remote meeting with a person from the Design Center. She was very friendly, and tried to solve our delivery problem. What we found out is that the sofas we want, which are the only ones that will fit in our livingroom remember, are out of stock everywhere. None are available, and it is unclear when they will ever come back.

    Why? Because there is a foam shortage. Look what Furniture Today has to say about it. Seems like this has been building since last summer, and has been complicated by weather, and, this is my two cents, with everyone sitting at home. There has a been a rush of people wanting a better-quality sofa to sit their butts on, which means foam is in high demand.

    The pandemic is affecting the world in still new and surprising ways. But for us, we might have to go through Wayfair… which makes me feel a little dirty, like I’m betraying a friend.

  • Covid Weight Gain

    I put on some weight over the pandemic. Let’s say it’s close to twenty pounds. And when I say that it’s close to twenty pounds, I mean that it is over twenty pounds. I have put on over twenty pounds. In fact, I just weighed myself, and it’s 21.3 pounds. Mind you, I was a little pudgy around my middle before the pandemic, but that was due to driving everywhere in California, and not walking like I used to do in New York, But, before California, I had added a little weight after the kid was born, that I never took off. So, I’m thick in the middle. I’m a thick in the middle, middle aged guy.

    And I want to do something about it.

    Part of it is that I have been eating my feelings. Especially eating my feelings late at night when I watch MST3k on Pluto TV. (That’s my happy place.) I used to walk everywhere in pre-pandemic New York, like close to 9,000 steps a day without trying. I just looked at my phone’s pedometer, and looks like I walk about 4,000 steps a day. So, not doing too well there, even for the low hanging fruit. To be successful, I know that I have to change my lazy grazing life style, along with doing some exercise, and just moving more.

    But the issue is just getting started. Getting off my ass and beginning seems like a million miles away. I know all the benefits that will come if I just start working out a little, and I can even go the super vein route and say that I want to look good when I go to the beach this Summer. (Since I will be vaccinated by the start of May, I think I should go on vacation.) And not to mention that I should do things to stay alive for as long as possible, family and kid in all…

    But…

    But… The pandemic sure has made me physically lazy.

    No.

    Actually, the pandemic gave me to opportunity to be lazy, and I took full advantage of it.

  • I Got Vaccinated, and I Waited

    I got my first vaccine today. In three weeks, I will get my second vaccine. And then I guess we start living in a post Covid-19 world.

    That’s all good. And I do want to focus on the fact that we are getting close to living in a world where you can go places and see people. That this vaccine will be my first step in moving towards this world.

    I was nervous going to get the vaccine this morning. Anxious, nervous, feeling off, and butterflies in the stomach; all of that was happening to me as I headed out to The Bronx. Everyone is handling getting their vaccine in their own way. I have friends who dressed up for it, others who started to cry when they got it, and still others who took pictures of the whole process, including the nurse who gave the shot. I had brought my journal, as I wanted to write about it, document what I was thinking and how it felt. I even thought about taking pictures.

    And then I got to the hospital and I just wanted to experience it. Just be. Let it happen, and not think. I filled out my paperwork, and sat in the waiting room. My nurse was a real nice guy, and took me back to the room from my shot. He was an easy going person, and the shot was painless, and he handed me a button showing that I was vaccinated, though I don’t think I should wear it until I get the second shot. You know you have to wait 15 minutes, and I set a timer on my phone, and waited. I waited, and I thought how my salvation was being confirmed by waiting. Not doing, just sitting.

  • Sharing Photos with the Kid

    There has been a project that I have been meaning to get started on, which is getting photographs framed, and up on the walls. I have been squirreling away picture frames for some time, because when we go to IKEA, I pick up one or two. (Yes, I have a very unhealthy obsession with IKEA.) With it being Spring Break this week for the kid, I thought this might be fun for us to do together. We went out to our storage space, and grabbed the boxes for pictures and frames, and settled in on this project last night.

    When I started pulling out the pictures from the box, all still in that folder envelope that your pictures would come in after they were developed, the kid wanted to know why they were like that. (She has only lived in a digital world, and will never know that you used to have to wait for your pictures, and even then, you weren’t sure that they would turn out.) The pictures that I had were from Fall of 1995 to Summer of 2006, as after 2006, I used a digital camera, and never when back to film.

    And as I shared these pictures of my early and late 20’s life with my daughter, she had a perplexed look on her face. I remember feeling confused when my parents would show me pictures of their life at Southern Illinois University, or back in their high school days in Kankakee. Little six-year-old me was confused because it was hard for me to fathom my parents had a life before me and my brothers. My parents were fun, but serious, responsible people who ate their vegetables, paid their bills, and went to bed on time. Who were these people with beers in their hands, smoking, captured mid-laugh in photographs? Who were these people?

    The kid looked at the photos of me, with long hair, circle glasses, beer in hand, smoking, and wondered what I wondered when I was her age; who is this guy? Who are these people with Dad? What are they doing? Why is that guy hugging a tree?

  • Everyone! Let’s Get That Shot!

    Yesterday afternoon, New York State finally made all New Yorkers eligible for the Covid Vaccine starting on April 6th. Starting today, Tuesday the 30th, all New Yorkers over 30 can get the vaccine. I don’t know what the hold-up was, as every other state had made plans to get the vaccine to everyone… Oh yeah! Cuomo!

    We have been very patient in this apartment, waiting our turn, and trying not to freak out about it. And the wife and I both took turns of freaking out over it. “What if we never get it?” “What if we get sick before we get it?” “What if it’s just too late!”  We freaked out, a little.

    But now we can go get the shot!

    Well…

    Not exactly.

    I thought that since all of this was announced on Monday, that starting at midnight, you could begin signing up. Right? So, I stayed up to midnight only to find out, that the state website hadn’t been updated with this new clearance. Not a big deal, I’d just take care of it this morning.

    Well… Seems like there is no place to get an appointment in Manhattan right now. Actually, I could get an appointment over at the Javits Center for May 28th, with my follow up being June 28th. Preferable, we would like something a little sooner.

    Hence the new game; You Have Access, But That Doesn’t Mean You’ll Get It Now.