Good Saturday

Well, I had a pretty good day today. Not everything went my way, but more on that in a sec.

George came over to help me purchase, transport and assemble the bookshelf for the living room. We went to the Target that is just around the corner from me, and of course, they don’t have any in stock. But, they called the other store, and they had one. Of course, that store is about 10 miles away, and Saturday afternoon traffic was a zoo around there. Undeterred, we ventured over to pick it up. George was driving his Jeep Cherokee. We try to load up the box into the truck… uh… shit. The box is about 4 inches too long. Well son of a bitch. We don’t have anything to tie tailgate down with. And, wouldn’t you know it, it starts to rain. We headed up the road to the nearby Home Depot to buy a little twine. After a little hassle, we are tied down and ready to head back to the apartment.

Upon arrival here, the rain really opened up. It was absolutley pouring. We wait around a few minutes to see if it will die down. Well, it didn’t. So we decide to just bite the bullet and lug this box that is like a foot and a half square that is some 65 inches long. Big box. Pretty heavy. Its wet outside and we’re going up 3 flights of stairs. Luckily, the transportation was uneventful. Got a little wet, and the box got a little slick, but no worries.

After getting some lunch at a nearby deli, we start assemblage. George is in charge of the parts and instructions, and I’m doing the actual screwing and whatnot. Took a good hour at least to put together. We were a good team, apart from arguing about just how the picture looks and how the pieces go together…

While we’re working, George says, “Uh… look at your sprinkler, dude”. My apartment has those industrial style fire sprinklers in the ceiling. I look up there, and due to the rain (that is still coming down hard, by the way) there is water dripping from the damn sprinkler! Goddamn it. I don’t have a bucket… I don’t have anything. What the hell am I going to do? After drying off the couch, cd tower, etc, I find something that will catch the water. My little sister made me a ceramic wine bottle holder. About a foot tall and 6-8 inches across. It will have to do. It seemed to do the job well enough, even though the drops would splash out of it a little bit. Laid a towel down and went back to work. I don’t even want to think about what kind of hassle that will be for them to repair. Ugh. I just checked the volume in there… there is about 3 or 3 inches of water. Good thing that wasn’t all dropping into the carpet, my cheap-ass-heavy-cardboard-steamer-trunk-coffee table.

After we get done, we put the new piece of furniture up on the wall, and I do have to say, it looks really cool. I’ll post pictures tomorrow, if I can find my camera, and download cable which might be tougher than it sounds. I did put a bunch of the pottery Kristen has given me and my Sinatra books on there. It’s still a little sparse, but I can find some more knick-knacky sorta things to put on it. I really like it.

I also got some pictures hung up. I bought some art that is kinda like a stylized jazz bar scene, with a band and singer on stage and a bar on the other side. Very cool. I also put up a nice framed matted Sinatra poster. Combined with the rug I bought on Wednesday for out there, the room is just about done. Need a lamp or two, and some more decroative shit for the walls. I like it when a plan comes together.

The other positive about George coming over is that it made me actually clean this shithole up. Its amazing how fast the bachelor life comes back to ya. I rounded up all the mail that was all over the place… dishes around… clothes all over… etc etc etc. You’ve all seen places like that. Some of you might even be in one as we speak. I don’t think I’ve had anyone over since the last time George was here 3 weeks ago. So, it was getting bad.

I’ve got more to write about, but this post is getting long and I’m getting tired. Big day. I also worked out tonight and ate more than one meal… I’ll have to tell you that tomorrow.

Good night.