New Apartment…and stuff
I moved into my apartment Friday afternoon…and this has been a truly exhausting weekend. I can’t wait for the work week to start up so I can finally get some rest. I got my key at around 3:00 and immediately headed back out to get a few things I knew I’d need. I was back by 6:00 so that my dinette set ($450, 6 months @ 0%) could be delivered. I unloaded all the big stuff from my car (other than randomly scattered books and dvds), inflated my air mattress, put my desk back together (lugged it out here from ATL), and then put together two humongous matching bookshelves ($30/each). I’d originally gotten them for books…but they’re a little imposing for my room. I think I’ll keep them in the living room for DVDs and gets some more normal sized ones for my room.
I won’t call it a great night’s sleep (Diana wanted me to go back to her place…but I put my foot down and insisted on sleeping in my new apartment on its opening night), but that’s just the sort of motivation I needed to go get a real bed. After breakfast the next day, we headed to the San Jose flea market and looked at furniture for most of the day. There were a couple I liked, but I’m not quite ready to commit to $800-$1000 for a couch when I have more pressing needs. After the flea market, we went to Best Buy and Circuit City. Both were still running their sales from last weekend (Memorial Day). My dad bought my brother a $600 TV as a present for getting a job, and he’d told me to go pick one out. For that much, I could’ve gotten a low end 32″ HDTV…but I didn’t really want a low end. If I upgraded the money he was throwing in, I could move up to 42″ and a better brand for right in the neighborhood of $1000–very reasonable. I ended up going with an open-box (the last one they had of that type, used as a display unit) special–54″ Samsung DLP. I trust Samsung a lot more than HP or Westinghouse (the two 42″ tvs I was considering), and this one is 1080p instead of 720i…and it’s 54″. After delivery fee, 2-year service plan, and tax, the total came out to about $2250–from a sticker price of $1699. The selling point, though, was 18 mos @ 0% interest (if I signed up for a “Circuit City Rewards” Visa). I was willing to pay the $400 extra for 42″ on the spot, so I figure I’m really only psychologically on the hook for another $1250 over the next 18 months–for a much more badass TV.
The downside to getting such an expensive TV, though, is that I’m much less inclined to get a fancy couch until some of this is paid off. After the TV was delivered, I headed back to Ikea for furniture. For around $600, I landed my bed, a foam mattress (surprisingly comfy), a nice TV stand, a reclining chair with a footstool, and two end-tables. Miraculously, I was able to fit all of this into Diana’s mom’s Volvo. It was lucky that I went to Ikea alone–there’s no way anything else could’ve possibly fit. After returning home, I unloaded everything (about 8 trips of heavy boxes up–mercifully–only one flight of stairs). Too tired to assemble anything and WAY too tired to spend another evening on the air mattress, I went over to Diana’s and crashed.
We got off to a late start this morning (pancakes and bacon can do that to you), but eventually got moving and headed off to Home Depot. I bought myself a fledgling lime tree, a nice big wooden box, some potting soil, and some plant food–all for around $100. I don’t know exactly why that seemed important, but I felt the place needed a little bit of life–I’m thinking of calling the tree Pete (though Diana is opposed to the name).
We dropped the tree off and then split up–I started assembling furniture, and she went off to Target for things like toilet paper and trash bags. Four hours, a broken toe, one run through of Monsters Inc, and a bleeding finger later, everything was assembled and in working order. Even more amazing, EVERYTHING matches.
As soon as everything was done, we left to go have dinner with Diana’s grandmother (who speaks maybe 25 words of English). Yay sushi. She dropped me off here and went home, leaving me to sort my massive pile of DVDs. This place is finally starting to resemble an actual apartment. My desk chair, my kayak, and a few boxes of clothes are still over at Diana’s place. I still need a couple of bookshelves for my room. I need a couch and probably a grill. I need kitchen stuff (pots & pans & cups & silverware…pretty much everything except knives). I need food to stock the kitchen. I need a few floor lamps. Other than that…
I need a vacation. A relaxing one.
