I just erased two paragraphs that sounded kind of complain-y. Complaining is not cool. We all are tired, and everyone is going through something difficult. Instead, let’s watch a guy have a sleepover with some cheetahs. Why can’t this be me?
Archives for January 2022
One a day
Wordle. I’ve only played it three days, and I’m not great at it, but it’s fun! You get six chances to guess the day’s word. If a letter appears orange/brown, it is somewhere in the actual word. If the letter is green, it is in the correct spot in the actual word. If it is grey, it does not appear in the word. You have to use real words as your guess.
It’s pretty fun. :). The whole world is playing, though, so when you find out the word, don’t tell! (Some people on Facebook unknowingly let a clue slip yesterday.)
A long, boring fabric story
The new sofa and chairs are working out very well. We bought that little ottoman for one of the chairs and are still on the lookout to see what we’ll use for the other. The trunk-with-cushion in front of the couch is a mainstay but the cloth that’s currently on the cushion is just not going to work out. The plan was that we’d buy some matching chair fabric and recover it.
The information about the fabric came with the chairs. I had already done an online search for the fabric, and could only find dapple grey 30103 and linen 33117 at the place that manufactured the chairs, Best Home Furnishings. When I contacted them, they told me I couldn’t order as a private citizen – I’d need to have an ‘authorized retailer’ make the purchase. *sigh*
As it turns out, there’s a local furniture place in town that is an authorized retailer! However, the owner of the establishment is…. how shall I say this…. prickly. When I went in to ask if she could order the fabric, I phrased it as, “Can you do me a favor” instead of my intentions: “I will pay money for you to order this fabric for me.” She told me that since I ordered the chairs in Omaha, I could drive to Omaha to buy the fabric. Um….. ok.
So on Saturday, we did. We went to Nebraska Furniture Mart where the chairs were purchased. I had all the information in hand and asked to order two yards of the grey and a yard of the .. taupe? The sales lady was very nice and when she found the ordering information, she told me the price: $93 a yard.
I yelped audibly. Yelped. That was waaaay more that I was expecting. I was thinking $60-$70 a yard, perhaps, since it was pricey stuff.
I backpedaled the order. ” Um…… I’ll take one yard of the grey.”
A HUNDRED DOLLARS for a yard of fabric?? A HUNDRED DOLLARS?? Lloyd didn’t seem bothered by it and wondered why I didn’t get more, but I told him at fabric stores, that kind of cloth is maybe $30 – $50 a yard. This explains why our chairs were so expensive!
Whatever.
On Sunday, though. We processed the idea that the fabric had to come from somewhere, and there had to be a fair amount of markup on the product. As it turns out, there is indeed. After some sleuthing, I found that searching for Bianca dapple grey and prose linen, they appeared….. for $16 and $24 a yard, respectively.
Expensive order cancelled, two yards of each ordered. With shipping, I still came out ahead. Yay!
Off on my days
I’ve been off on my days this week. I thought Tuesday was the 12th and it hasn’t really settled yet. Yesterday felt so much like Thursday, and I was wrong about that, too.
Not much to tell around here. My days have not improved regarding length of classroom time due to some COVID stuff, so I’m pretty tired still. Luckily, we may get some snow this weekend that will require I stay inside and watch lots of television. That’s …. how many days away? Two? Two, right?
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Here’s something good to read that I just saw – it’s about Deborah’s family!! (And, with the addition of the bride, the Royuk family!) Yay!
Fire Starter Safety
Long ago, Samith bought a box of fire-starting….fire starters. That sounds crazy, but let me explain. They are fire-starting sticks that have that chemical stuff on the end, like giant matches. I used up the box he gave me – that’s what has started Council Fires lo, these many years. I just break of a bit and it’s plenty.
Here’s what a new box looks like:
See all that red stuff? That’s the chemical. Want to see what the box says?
“Do not drop”, Lauren. Your clumsy self will drop this box and set your house on fire with friction.
Would you like to know how I solve this problem?
There. Solved. I know you are wondering if I made a fire comprised entirely of matchstick-head fire starters. The answer is yes. Yes, I did. It was glorious!
“Puzzel”
On Saturday I went to Lincoln to do some errands. On fun, foolish one was to go to Wholesale Logistics, a place that sells overstock/returned items. I just wanted to see it. Their business model is that new stock comes in on Saturday morning. You have to get a ticket (I don’t know how) to be one of the first ones to come in at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and that’s when the good stuff goes like hotcakes. They charge per-item, but a different amount each day. Saturday is $8, Sunday is $5, I forget about Monday and Wednesday, but Tuesday is $1. (They are closed Thursday and Friday.)
It was crazy. The place is a big warehouse with stand-alone bins, and by the time I got there, everything was incredibly picked over – boxes and bags opened and dumped out. I was uncertain of the pricing, and asked, “Is each item $8?” Yes. Yes, it was.
I wanted to buy something, though, and I saw an unopened puzzle. Better yet, it was a picture of children’s books! This is my wheelhouse! I knew most of the books and when the photo has a collage with letters, that solves the up/down orientation problem and speeds up the process. I wanted to finish it in a day, but that didn’t happen.
The company that made this spelled it ‘puzzel’, and after finding a small hiccup, I don’t have high hopes for finishing this completely. Look at these two pieces:
Um… yeah. This is a problem…..