IKEA Tires Me out

I drove up to Princeton today to go with my brother to the IKEA in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He had two coupons -- buy $150 and get $25 off -- but they had to be used at the Elizabeth store. The store is directly across the NJ Turnpike from the Newark (pronounced "new-erk," as opposed to Newark, Delaware, which is pronounced "new-ark") airport.

All told, I spent 5 hours in the car today and, while I love my car (1995 Honda Odyssey), that amount of time in the car is way out of my comfort range. Having company made a big difference, as did having a Discworld book on my iPod to listen to.

Anyway, as I write this, I'm sitting in my brand new chair, weirdly named Moses. I only screwed up the assembly once (put the armrests on the wrong way) and misplaced one of the washers, but found it when I shook out the couch blanket. I was able to get that baby put together in about 15 minutes, all told. Plus, now I have another allen wrench to add to my toolbox.

This chair is made of genuine "pleather," or some such, and adjusts up and down, which was beyond the capabilities of my previous chair. I am a very happy camper.

This is the coffee table that I want to get. In my little fantasy world, I image those cubbyholes holding attractive baskets into which we could all throw the crap that we're currently piling on top of our current coffee table ... and dining room table ... and recliner. (All four of us are accumulators. It's a character trait or a character flaw, depending on who's doing the defining.) I just wasn't up to the purchase today, because I was too tired to go back into the marketplace to find the appropriate baskets for the table. Oh, well. I can always go back, I suppose.

I've been on the run since 9 this morning, and it's nearly 8:30 now. Time to kick back and veg out until it's time for bed.