Tag: #Algot

  • Site Update, and What Am I Doing?

    After I posted the ODDS and ENDS blog on Friday, I decided that it was time to start monkeying around with the blog site. The old site was just the blog, and an ABOUT page. It was more basic than basic, and thinking back to when I originally started this blog, I wasn’t too concerned about how things looked. But, being that I am blogging twenty times a month now, and on some days have four views, I decided that I needed to step up my game. Hence, the new:

    matthewgroffblog.wordpress.com

    I have a Home page now, as well as an updated About page. There is a dedicated Blog page, which I will talk about more later. I created a page specific for The ALGOT Blogs, which are my most popular posts, and now the three-part story is in one location. (Also, Ikea discontinued the ALGOT line of products, in case you haven’t heard.) Last, there is the Archive page, so you know, you can read my progress as a blogger.

    And the Blog itself. I decided that it was time to drop the “250 Word” theme. I don’t think the four of you that were reading this were here because of the concise word format I chose to use. The original idea was to train myself to write effectively, while using the fewest words as possible. Not sure if I have attained that skill, but I have started to move away from the idea that I need only write 250 words.

    The last thought that I had, as I was finishing up the site on Sunday night, was should I bite the bullet and buy the domain, and stop using the free WordPress.com site? That question raised some other questions that I haven’t answered yet, but am still thinking about. Spending money on this site is like saying that I am taking it seriously now, so am I serious about this? I have been doing this for a year, going from one view to four views on average, so what do I hope to achieve with the purchase? I’m not setting the world on fire here, so what’s the point?

    The point? For me, I’m a stay at home parent now. I take care of my family, especially my daughter, and I need a creative outlet. I need something that I can work on, look forward to, that is for me. I need to do something that validates my existence in this very strange and odd world that I live in. So… Do I need to pay to attain that?

  • Another IKEA Blog

    I think I do have a problem when it comes to IKEA. But in my defense, I wrote a blog back in July 2020 about IKEA’s Algot line that got discontinued, and man, that’s the little blog that could! I keep getting hits on that thing weekly if not daily. So, there is a demand out there for people to hear stories about IKEA.

    That having been said, we had another IKEA weekend, sort of. We are trying to finish off our daughter’s room before Christmas, which we will clearly achieve. This weekend, we had to flip the ladder from the left to the right side of the bed. I then had to take all the shelves down, and patch up all those holes, because we are going to repaint her room. Also, we moved her wardrobe from the corner of the room to be closer to her bed. Basically, that was my job.

    The wife’s mission was to run out to the Paramus IKEA to pick up the ELVARLI shelving unit. (Also, ELVARLI might be an elvish language Tolkien created.) The IKEA website said there were a few left in stock, and what that really meant was that none were in stock. The advice she was given was the check online for the availability, as they aren’t sure when things will be back in stock. (Supply Chain.)

    There are few corporations that have this much pull in my life, and IKEA is one of them. There is the bank my money is in, the media company that controls my internet, and then there is my furniture supplier, who keeps feeding my desire to put all of my life in neat tiny boxes, which will make my small space feel larger?

    I think I am admitting more about myself than I was expecting…

  • ODDS and ENDS – Sadness Bowls, DnD, and Algot

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    The other morning, I saw a commercial for Panera Bread which offered their Mac n’ Cheese served in a Bread Bowl. I did what any American would do, which is go on Twitter and make fun of it. After I posted, I immediately remembered Patton Oswald’s “KFC’s Sadness Bowl” routine. I wasn’t trying to steal a bit, but I do think Panera’s Carb-n’ator meal is like a slightly fancier KFC Sadness Bowl. What they have in common, other than shorting your life, is that they both taste great while weeping in your bath tub at 2am.

    I am thinking about writing a fantasy Dungeons and Dragons type of story. Not from the perspective of some noble heroes trying to save their world, but from the vantage point of people living in a small village dealing with the randomness of a world that can be destroyed by magic, or dragons, at any moment. I have a feeling this has been done before, but I haven’t been able to find it. Or as I sit here, I had a thought; what if there was a story about a fantasy world were all the NPC’s have been killed off, and there is nothing but heroes and villains left. Wouldn’t that world grind to a halt?

    Thank you to all the people for reading my “Algot” series of posts. I had no idea that Algot would be the gift that keeps on giving. Also, we might just buy more IKEA stuff…

  • Algot Saga; Conclusion

    Our struggles with our living room wall, and the Algot modular storage system came to a conclusion this Sunday. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it was a resounding success, but we got the shelves up on the wall.

    As some of you may know, IKEA discontinued the Algot line of products, just at the moment that the wife and I needed it most. Also, for those of you in the Tri-State area, we are the people that bought up all the remaining Algot products from the Paramus, Elizabeth, Brooklyn, Long Island and New Haven Ikeas. (Are we committed and loyal to this product? Yes. Does it border on the illogical and obsessive? Also, yes.) With the supplies assembled, we were ready to finish out project.

    It was not anything special, but we took our hodge-podge of rails, brackets and shelves, and screwed them into the wall, and hung up all the Algots. Some the anchors didn’t sink into the drywall correctly, and I swear there is no rhyme or reason on the placement of studs in the wall, which just reminded us that the “renovated apartment” we moved into was constructed by incompetent workers. It took three and a half months, but we can cross this one off the list.

    In the end, I still don’t understand why Ikea canceled the Algot system. Nor do I understand why they didn’t make an Algot compatible with some new system. Either way, I do have to say Ikea needs to do a better job of at least putting the information out there when a product line is discontented.

  • The Algot Saga Continues

    To recap what is going on in my life; our daughter will be doing remote learning, and as such, we have made a corner in the living room to be her “school” area. We were planning on using the Algot series of shelves to complete this area, as that was what we had been using in our living room.

    But no, Ikea thought it best to stop making these shelves and not tell anyone.

    In the NYC area, we bought up what we could and have been trying to make something usable out of it. What we are left with is a mix match/mish-mash of braces, brackets and shelves that just can’t work together to give us a desk for the kid, storage for school supplies, and a place for books. We have been trying for months now, and nothing works.

    We gave up, and bought a wood wall mounted flip down desk, which looks awesome and the kid loves. We are hanging art in the corner, with the hopes that one day we will come up with something to do there.

    But we have all of this Algot stuff. There is nothing wrong with it, and could work in another space, if we ever get another space. It’s just here, mocking us in our futility to add pieces to make something else.

    Modular solution, my ass.