Off to the chapel

It's just after 6am, and within the next hour I will be leaving for Montreal. When you next hear from me I will be married. Ta ta!

Ikea, Thou art a False Idol

Yesterday I built 6 chairs, 2 bookcases, a sofa bed, and a TV/entertainment stand. All of this glorious plastic and particle board furniture was designed by Ikea. I think it took me 7 hours, and there were no problems or delays at all.

The chairs were by far the most difficult piece(s) of Ikea furniture I have ever assembled, with 9 different items under my belt (some items I have assembled more than one of). The reason for such difficulty was that the ÖGLA chairs are a hairpin bentwood-style bistro/cafe chair, but are made entirely of a plastic/wood composite. I had to use about 75% of my maximum strength to screw in each of the 8 screws necessary for each chair. I would be surprised if most people could even assemble one of these chairs without a power drill. Honestly.

Anyway, how can one argue when the price is cheap. And by "cheap" I mean "1/10th the price of any equivalent chair in NYC".

So that was half my day yesterday. How about you?

More Clocks!

I am still alive. Working harder than ever, but still alive.

Yesterday Yilin and I spent 6 hours in Ikea, eating both breakfast and lunch there. Six hours. She was not happy during the final hour or so, becoming impatient with the throngs of customers everywhere. I told her afterward that we are not buying any more furniture or home... anything.

It's been blinds, air conditioners, bookcases, shelves, storage bins, lamps, end tables, slipcovers, cabinets, recirculating above-the-range vents, shower curtains, extension cords, TV stands, kitchen chairs, sofa beds, kitchen tables, towel racks, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

The one cool thing that I bought at Ikea was a clock. Actually, I bought 3 identical clocks. They are round wall clocks with white faces and black tickmarks instead of numbers, and thin silver frames. They look very 1960's (or so) to me, yet definitely modern. I am going to put them on the wall and have each set to the appropriate time zone with the following cities (labeled underneath the clock): Montreal, Taipei, Winsted. (Think movies where you see clocks labelled 'New York', 'London', 'Tokyo' or such.)

The best part about this plan: Montreal and Winsted are the same time zone and Taipei is exactly 12 hours different. Thus all three clocks will read the exact same time.

Yilin thinks it is ridiculous, but I love it. I also love that 'Winsted' is thrown in there with Montreal and Taipei. Ha ha.