The Corporate Shill’s son and the Redheaded Kid have the same name, so my dad calls and I’m all “Zach’s coloring and watching SpongeBob” and my dad’s all “Why are you talking about him like he’s an idiot?” “Because he’s two!”
I clearly need to hire the Shill as my personal motivator. She’s all “pack this. Pack that. Pack some more stuff. Here’s our plan for tomorrow, which will involve more packing.” I’m all “Noooooo.” and she’s all “You can whine and cry and pack at the same time, B.”
Even though someone stuck tape to her belly, Mrs. Wigglebottom was surprisingly good… Um, I mean, completely expectedly good, just like I’ve spent hours a day training her to be… with the kid. She had to show him her bone and then act a little distressed by the tape on her belly and after that, she pretty much just slept by the door in that manner dogs have where they seem to keep one eye open while they snore.
I think our goal for tomorrow is to conquer the altar and the books in my room.
Monday, the cable is gone, so I’ll have nothing to do in the evenings after work but pack. I have to back myself into corners about packing like that or it would never get done. My dad said we could just leave it for Saturday, but that seems unfair.
I went shopping today for a bookcase, too. That was an adventure in stupidity. I want something nice for the den because I made a promise to myself that there would be no particle board shelves in my actual house. I basically want a large box with an open side, with five or six shelves. I want to pay, I don’t know, around $600 for it, I think.
I went to that furniture place on Whitebridge Road and, first, to find a bookcase that didn’t have fancy lights or glass shelves that also lit up was nearly impossible and then, when she did find me something I liked, it was $1,600. I mean, it was good looking, but it’s not like it fucked you until you couldn’t stand and then sang you to sleep and then left you a poem about how much it longs to be with you because you are the most magnificent girl in the world and if only it had met you under other circumstances it could happily spend its whole life losing itself in your eyes but alas, it must return to the village of its people and continue to fight for their freedom. I don’t require that poem to actually be true, mind you, but I expect a lie I can cry wistfully over later for $1,600.
I also feel like I should have picked up a bunch of small plastic trays at Target, but I did not and so I’m sitting here wistfully over that.
The Shill and I also had a good head-shaking laugh at the giant line of people trying to get gas at the KwikMart on West End. People, if you would stop buying gas like nincompoops, we would have gas. There is no real shortage yet, just a bunch of panicking assholes.
Filed under: Stories About Me
I’m in hysterical tears – that would be worth the $1600…
you do ask a lot – I’m just happy when my bookshelf doesn’t pull out, jimmy on my hair, and leave.
“Whos your daddy?”
There is a shortage, though. And people need to buy gas to get to work. Not sure I’d laugh about it.
Hence also the head-shaking. It’s laughter, but rueful. After all, we are also ones who need to drive places.
There’s this row of thrift stores and such on Charlotte across from the Richland Library. One of them always puts stuff out front and some of that stuff consists of new furniture made of some primitive (local) poplar wood. It’s pretty cool. And cheap. Check it out.
Or, you know, look online. http://www.homedecoratorsoutlet.com/Furniture/
Why not build your bookshelves. Go to the Storage section at home Depot, buy some rails and shelves (we use the ones made by Rubbermaid) and get someone with a level and a drill to hang them straight on the wall. Buy the number of shelves you need — usually 8 or so will fit floor to ceiling — and the brackets to hang in the rails.
The rails cost about 4 bucks each and you’ll need 4 of them for a quarter-wall case or 8 for a half-wall bookcase — so either 16 or 32 dollars. The shelves cost between 5 and 8 bucks each, depending on how wide and long you want them — you’re looking at about $64 for a really big half-wall case. Each shelf needs as many brackets as they are rails — 2 or 3 each; the brackets cost 2 bucks each — so $16 to $24 bucks. We have put in several quarter, half-, and full wall bookshelves of this type in the house and even the quarter-wall jobs hold about four hundred books each. Just make sure you anchor them in the studs and you’re good to go.
Maybe I’m not fussy, but I think they look pretty good for the cost and they accomplish the purpose, which is to get the books out of boxes and out where we can use them.
I’d pay $1600 for shelves like THAT
We bought some okay looking shelves from Lowe’s, though you do have to put them together yourself. I like doing that, though. Even though a six-year-old could probably do it, I feel like I’m a carpenter or something because I’m using a screwdriver and a hammer.
Good luck with the packing!
oh, my that is hilarious. definitely would be worth 1600 bucks.
B, just wanted to say that you were missed at the blogger meet-up Saturday night…but we all know how packing and moving are all-consuming.
Just wanted you to know you were missed, though. :)
I got some bookshelves at Target recently, 6 ft. tall, five shelves, real wood (they come in three finishes) for about $85. There was also a smaller 48″ one for $60 or so. The back is a thinnish particle board, but the shelves themselves are nice wood. Who sees the back anyways when they are full?
I heard on the radio on the way home that Atlanta is out of gas as well. Crazy.
I’m sorta weird in that I like packing. It’s very satisfying. Then again, I always start early and end up slightly freaked out at the end that I won’t make it. Take it in chunks — finish the desk downstairs, put all your cleaning supplies in milk crates, pack up the lesser-used kitchen stuff. Before you know it — you’ll feel okay about Friday. And (related to your other post) stop feeling bad about calling The Butcher on his sh*t. He doesn’t need to panic, but he needs to demonstrate a sense of urgency.