i spent so much time trying to get over the trauma of watching that damn Transformers movie, i totally forgot to post anything on Sunday. but, because i’m sure there are some Nablopomo participants who post-dated canned entries, i’m totally back-dating this one. hell, i’ve only been awake for fifteen minutes. it’s still practically yesterday for me. ;)
yesterday was the annual camera show at the Croatian Cultural Centre. Christopher and i got up early and headed out in search of… stuff. neither of us really needed anything new, but you just never know what you’ll find! this year, i found two new flashbars to use on my SX-70s for only $3 each!
both Jamie and Chris came away with awesome finds — Jamie, an absolutely mint condition Minolta; Chris, a battery grip, with battery, for a third of the price new — so we went out to the Three Lions Cafe for brunch to celebrate. i’d heard good things about the place from a bunch of local people, so i suggested it. well, the food was good (i had the traditional english breakfast), but the service was a little lacklustre. i think i’d rather go to The Tomahawk for a really expensive plate of breakfast food.
after food, Jamie left us to go back south then the boy and i took off for parts Granville Island. i was still in search of some items for crafting, so i wanted to take advantage of being in the neighbourhood while i could. after spending a bunch of money and taking a few photos we headed home to chill with pizza and Zombieland (which was FANTASTIC, btw). after the movie, i did some craft prep and then went to bed before nine-thirty — i’m such a party animal.
next up is a busy week! there’s: showdown at the office; american underpants; super crafting binges; and, fighting for my rights at a union meeting.
can i just skip right to next weekend?
today, i procured the fifth christmas gift for family/friends. i’m 45% of the way to a completely complete shopping list.
now, if i can manage to get cards and baking done, that’s when i’ll be impressed.
sorry for the sucky post today. gotta go watch Transformers 2: ROTF now!
this day held so much promise, what with the six people i was going to see naked and the potential for a yummy lunch from the awesome thai place. i should have known it wouldn’t hold up.
let’s just say that when i had to resort to mcdonald’s drive-thru for lunch, i suspected it was all downhill from there.
my work-day ended with my “awesome” supervisor pulling rank and reminding me that he really doesn’t care — something i’d realized before i left, but obviously forgot what with all the near-death trauma. oh well. if he wants to play it that way, all i can say is he might not actually like having me not being able to do anything without checking with him first. trust me, i do a lot on my own initiative, but hey… if he doesn’t trust my judgment in matters relating to my job, i guess he’ll have to deal with me running every. single. thing. by him every. single. day.
luckily, i have the best boyfriend in the world. when i finally got home, he was cooking dinner and there were a dozen red roses on my desk.
now we’re just chilling and enjoying a quiet night. although, it really does not feel like friday to me for some reason. that’s not so bad, because then getting to sleep in tomorrow morning will feel extra-decadent!
i drove to work today.
now, before y’all get your panties in a twist, i have a perfectly valid and reasonable explanation for this turn of events: my dad is going on a cruise.
i can almost hear all of you cocking your head to one side, thinking “huh?”.
you see, when my father goes away for one of his expensive and awesome vacations, i get the use of his car. this started when i still had the Geo and he refused to ride in it when i drove him to the airport (actually, it started in early 1990 before i even had a car of my own; but, i digress). i’d drive him in his vehicle and he’d just let me keep it while he was gone. now, it’s a tradition of sorts. dad takes a trip, i get to drive the nice car.
this week was to be a real-world test of what it would be like for me to not own a car. if i didn’t own a car, damn skippy i’d take his and use it at every opportunity! therefore, i don’t see any reason why i should feel bad for doing so.
okay, so it’s a little bit cop-out-y, but hey! would you turn down the use of the car with power steering, remote door locks and brand-new transmission if it were handed to you on a silver platter? besides, it’s supposed to be all stormy the next few days. you wouldn’t want me to get wet, catch a chill and then die of H1N1, would you?
i didn’t think so.
so… road trip, anyone?
i think i like taking transit to work.
now, before you go calling the men with the straight-jackets and padded rooms, let me explain a little. i like taking transit to work. the length and leisure of it isn’t so bad at all. especially on days when the sunrise is so spectacularly beautiful that half the bus stops their navel-gazing to stare out the window at is as we ride across the Lions Gate Bridge. i don’t even mind the long walk from the station into work now that my body’s starting to get used to this whole “moving” thing i haven’t subjected it to in earnest for a far, far too long. i get to listen to music or an audio book on my ipod, people-watch, look at all those buildings i can’t rubber-neck at while i’m driving past or just turn off my head and go to a happy place.
all of this for the low-low price of leaving the house at 6:30 a.m.
of course, when they turn the clocks back in the spring and 6:30 is actually 5:30… well, i might not be quite so positive about the whole thing.
while i kind of enjoy taking transit to work, i absolutely LOATHE taking transit home from work.
oh. my. god. there’s something calm and soothing about transiting in the morning. it is the exact opposite going home. i don’t know if it’s that more people are awake or that they’ve all had crappy days or what, but man… the train is fuller and more annoying. the bus is packed to the gills — sidebar PSA: if you go out in the world and interact with people, don’t stink. please. it’s painful for those of us with working olfactory senses. thank you. — and takes way longer than it does in the a.m. it’s just all-around sucky.
plus, it’s freaking DARK out! ugh. how many months until the sunlight comes back?
so, if i could find someone to drive me home every day — hell, even someone to just drive me to North Van and drop me at a bus stop would work — my commuting issues would be mostly moot. alas, i don’t think i’m that lucky or well-connected.
just for fun, i’m going to try taking a whole different way home today! maybe a train and two buses will be less trying than dealing with grumpy (and stinky!) down-towners.
today, a bug flew into my eye and got stuck there.
that was the best thing to happen all day. well, except for my sandwich. that was pretty awesome.
the most memorable part of my transit commute today: the fart someone let loose on the train.
other than a bit of stink, taking transit wasn’t a big whoop today. i did have to leave 30 minutes early to arrive 10 minutes late and, because i needed to go get stuck by the vampires, i didn’t get home until an hour later than usual. otherwise, it was fairly uneventful. it just took longer than normal and i couldn’t easily stop for this or that. of course, the weather was nice and neutral for both my trips. i’m sure i won’t be quite so positive if i have to slog home in the rain tomorrow night.
what’s interesting is the different reactions i get from people when i mention what i’m doing and just how close i am to ditching my car. the first reaction is usually “oh, what’re you going to buy?” then i have to tell them that i have no immediate plans to purchase a replacement vehicle and they look amusingly perplexed. some people get it, but the majority kind of jump into car-buying-advice mode without really getting my motives.
i suppose this whole carlessness will really start to settle in once the novelty of transit commuting wears off. or, i have to lug home a package of toilet paper home on the bus.
gesundheit!
since i need a reason to blog more and november seems to be the randomly picked month to write as much as you possibly can no matter how bad it might be — just write, dammit! it’s november! — i’ve decided to try to post something every day this month.
oh shut up. i can hear you snickering.
i know, i know… my blogging record for the past couple of years is lacklustre at best, but hey, if i can post for thirty days in a row, that’s pretty much my quota for the rest of the next twelve months and i can just slack off as soon as december arrives. ;)
besides, if i’m really strapped for content i can just save up all my tweets and post them at the end of the day as some random 140-character-at-a-time train of thought melange!
here’s to the blogging!
in eight months i’ve managed to increase my net worth (or decrease my negative value) by over six and a half thousand dollars. i find that kind of insane.
it was accomplished through a combination of accelerated debt payment and regimented savings, but i’m still shocked at how fast that line on the graph has been going up. that is one of the reasons i’m seriously leaning towards ditching my lemony car and becoming a pedestrian. that line will practically skyrocket out of the red!
now that i think about it, i’ve not had a single day since turning 20 years old when i wasn’t in debt; when my net worth wasn’t less than zero. i think i should have a “positive net worth party” when i’m finally worth something — monetarily, that is.
in order to remove as many stressors from my life as possible, i think i might actually dump my money-pit of a vehicle.
as i’ve previously posted, i have spent a total of twice the purchase price of the car on repairs in the two years i’ve had it and shit just keeps on breaking! things which need replacing as of today:
– transmission (i can only reverse if the car is warmed up)
– all four wheel bearings (oh, the howling)
– rear brakes (thank goodness the front ones are still good)
– right front cv joint covery thingie (i’ve seen the rip, but it doesn’t seem to be doing bad things)
– slow coolant leak (i pour water in every other month or so)
– valve cover gasket (the engine eats oil like college kids eat twinkies)
– the oil dipstick tube thing (it just broke off today. no kidding!)
each time i get in the car to go somewhere, i have honest doubt that i’ll make it to my destination. that doubt is making me crazy and miserable (among all those other things making me crazy and miserable, of course). something has to change.
so, i find myself listing the pros and cons of dumping meine deustche auto. and, since this is the internet, sharing them with you:
pros
– no more worrying if my car will get to where i’m headed
– $200 extra every month i can use to pay down my debt faster
– heck, ANOTHER $100/mo i can use to pay down debt since i won’t have to give it to ICBC
– did i mention no more car-related anxiety?
– paying off my debt more than eight months earlier than planned!
– incidental exercise
– more fresh air
– commuting stories to blog about
– opportunities to do things downtown since i’ll have to go through it to get home anyway
cons
– public transit
– winter without a car is a scary thought
– losing two hours a day to commuting (on public transit)
– how will i get things home from ikea or walmart or [insert place with big heavy things here]?
– getting anywhere will require more effort, time and planning
– getting some places will be impossible without imposing on others or paying for cabs
– scary transit stories to relate to officers of the law
– sore feet
if i’m going to dump the clunker, i really have to get going with it, but… as with a lot of things in my life right now, i’m kind of stuck in indecisionland. it’s been a very long time since i’ve been car-less and i don’t know how i’d adapt to going back there, even if it’s only for a little over a year.
GAH! part of me actually wants the car to just not move anymore to make the decision for me, but i’m hardly ever that lucky.
who wants to do this for me?
today is all about what hurts.
my knee sometimes hurts (i think my surgery has turned it into a barometer — the rest of this winter will tell if i’m now carrying around my own weather station in my pants). i have a sore spot in the middle of my chest which, the last time i felt it, was diagnosed and an inflammation in the cartilage near my sternum. my arms are chock-full of pains of various sorts and intensities due to the over-zealous Wii boxing i participated in yesterday afternoon (oh lord, i’m so out of shape). my neck has been seized up for over a week now and two hard-core massages have barely managed to put a dent in the strain. returning to work has brought back a headache from thinking about all the shitty shit i have to do every day. oh, and my work chair gives me a backache and sometimes an ache in my hips.
fuck, i sound like my mom’s 80-year-old friend.
friday was a bad day. i shouldn’t have gone to work, but i did, and i paid for it. unfortunately, our sick plan doesn’t really accommodate the ability to work as much as you can then go home. even when you’re newly returned from seven weeks off for whatever reason. if you go home, you don’t get paid and, well, i need to get paid.
my kingdom for a sugar daddy (you hear that, Christopher?)! ;)
the other side of this coin is the anxiety. because i hurt in weird and scary places, i start to get anxious and the panic attacks return. you know, the ones where my heart starts to race, i think i’m going to pass out (or die) and, well, then i start to cry. they’re fun, especially at the workplace. you know, the one where i can’t just go crawl into bed and go to sleep until the fear goes away.
i need to call the work-sponsored counseling service to find someone to talk to about all this. to help me deal with everything i’ve gone through in the last few months. i have the card with the number. i know it will help. i just can’t seem to make myself make the call…
part of me is afraid. part of me is ashamed. part of me is resentful. yet another part of me is skeptical. the one part of me which wants it isn’t yet strong enough to pick up the phone and i worry it never will and i’ll just continue to sputter and suffer.
anyway, there’s a big juicy work scandal afoot today, so i’ve got to go find a water cooler to go gossip around. i hope that’ll distract me enough to make it through the day.
as you can see by the boobs and the posting i am not yet dead. actually, for the past week and a half (or so), i’ve been feeling almost entirely alive, which is a pretty good feeling let me tell you.
as you could tell from my last post, things were Not Good during the month of September. the surgery, the complications, the hospitalization, the embolism, the illness, the anxiety, the panic attacks, the ER visits, the paramedics, the blood tests, the hospital hair, the doctor visits and the fear all served to make 09/09 the Month Of Suck. seriously. actually, what’s more serious than seriously? that’s what it was. seriousliest!
in addition to all the shit i was going through, Christopher was rear-ended while riding in his dad’s car as has been suffering from a fairly dire case of whiplash. then the transmission in my dad’s car blew up so even he was unable to attend to my every whim and desire as he said he would. my men-folk just couldn’t come to my aid! good thing i wasn’t having fainting spells (well, except for that one time at the farmer’s market).
now, it’s been six-and-a-half weeks since i’ve been off work and tomorrow is the Big Day. i’ve set the alarms for 5:50 and 6:10 am. i’m making lunches and doing laundry. i sent my mom home to Parksville and will soon dismiss Christopher from my presence so i can spend the evening in quiet contemplation and sobbing as i prepare to go back to my day job.
i didn’t get a single thing done i meant to while i was off work. not. one. i didn’t even get to finish watching season 3 of Buffy! yeah, yeah, i know i should cut myself some slack. i did almost die, after all. but, still. the control freak hyper organizer in me is severely disappointed in my lack of performance. and, now that i’m feeling so much more human than last month, it’s hard to give myself a pass because i didn’t for so long.
so, now that my life is returning to it’s Monday-Friday drudgery, i just don’t know what to think. again, i feel as if i should be changing myself in some way as a result of my recent experiences, but the fear is still strong and it’s hard to figure out a direction to go in when you’re scared to push yourself too far.
i do have plans, but they’re all dependent on how i survive the next three days back in the Real World. i may be pushing it a little with a work party tomorrow night and a physio appointment the next, but hey… what’s better than just diving head-first into shallow water? i just hope my boss is receptive to a plea to change my work hours. if nothing else, this time off has cemented the knowledge that my body and brain do not like getting up at 5:30am. i hope to adjust my schedule to that of normal working people which means i might just get to sleep until 7am. on a work day! can you even imagine the decadence?
okay, gotta go make my lunch now. oy.
so, i’ve had a fairly busy three weeks.
i had knee surgery, a night at the Villa Casino hotel, a gall bladder attack of such excruciating pain i was drenched in sweat and visited by the paramedics, a sudden pain in my left leg which woke me up at 2am which turned out to be a blood clot that suddenly decided that my left leg wasn’t the cool place to hang out and rushed straight for my lungs which precipitated my first ambulance ride and a six-day hospital stay. then, just as i’m getting used to the idea that i’ll be taking rat poison for the next six months to keep my blood all thin and non-clotty, i get a cold.
really? did all that actually happen to me in the last three weeks? it certainly did and, you know what? i may still be a little gimpy and be weak as a new-born baby, but i survived it.
through all of it, my parents and Christopher have been so devoted and amazing. even when their own life threw wrenches in the works, they’ve been so awesome to me.
Christopher stayed with me in the ER for almost 24 hours, standing or trying desperately to sleep in the most uncomfortable chair ever made, not leaving my side for a second. my dad was on call to shop or visit or drive me or someone somewhere if it was needed and sitting with me, loving me in his solid, quiet way. my mom rushed over on the first available ferry from the island to swoop into the hospital and ask all the questions i didn’t know needed asking and to tend me once i got home, holding me tight when the tears finally broke through.
it’s also been a very scary three weeks.
i was afraid of the surgery, but that all went well. i was scared when i was suddenly doubled over in pain and sweating from head to toe. i was terrified i was going to die when my heart suddenly started bouncing around in my chest and i felt like i wouldn’t ever get another breath. i was scared when the doctor confirmed that i had a very large clot somewhere in my lungs and he wouldn’t tell us where, exactly, it was. even now, when i’m feeling better and i know my medication is working, i am petrified every time i exert myself that i’m going to have to call the ambulance again.
i’ve been afraid, every night, that i won’t wake up the next morning.
i keep thinking that nearly dying should somehow have made me want to do, to live, more. instead, it’s made me want to do nothing. to hide in my apartment, where it’s safe, where i’m alone and i don’t have do anything which will jeopardize my health.
it was a beautiful, sunny & windy day yesterday — the kind of blustery day i love — so i got dressed and went for a walk. i didn’t get a quarter of the way around the block before i got scared and had to come home. it was physically exhausting and the further i got from my apartment, the more frightened i might not make it back i became. i don’t know what part of that is that i’m still weak from surgery and Pulmonary Embolism or the cold i’m fighting off and which is the fear i’ve been living with for the past twenty-some-odd days.
there’s not much to like about being scared all the the damn time. about freaking out every time you breathe a little fast or feel any kind of twinge, flinch or gurgle inside your body. hell, i even have to be scared about eating too much broccoli, green beans or garlic while i’m taking this medication!
fear sucks.
but, i guess it’s better to be alive and scared than not.
i’m sick and tired of death. i know it’s an inevitable part of life and, as i get older, i’m going to experience it more often, but that doesn’t mean i can’t be fucking pissed off whenever i’m confronted by it.
so far this summer my step-mother and great-aunt passed away. both my best friend and kimli lost their beloved felines. one of the biggest-hearted women i’ve ever known, my amazing and caring co-worker, just recently lost her husband to a long and awful fight with leukemia . not to mention the celebrity deaths we’ve all heard of.
i’m so tired of crying and losing people, near or far.
this has no point, i just needed to vent. sorry.
i’ve recently learned that the transmission in my car is on its way out. failing. wearing out. dying. going kaput. which means either replacing it with a used one for approximately $1500 (a mere $1100 less than i paid for the whole car) or, as Rod from the Spa mentioned, get another used VW Golf for the same amount. well, i don’t have $1500 for a new-used transmission or a new-used car. and, really, in the 24 months i’ve had this car, i’ve spent many thousands of dollars on it. many more thousands of dollars than i either had or wanted to spend.
so, now i’m back to where i was in August 2007 after my beloved Geo lost the fight with the Range Rover: facing carlessness and transit commuting.
i don’t know how long the tranny will last. it could blow up at any second. for the time being, i just have to make sure i really warm up the car up before i get into any driving situations which require immediate shifting ability as it seems to only misbehave when it’s cold and when i need to back up. my main concern right now is keeping it going until i’ve fully recovered from the upcoming knee surgery.
oh, and before anyone gets smart and suggests i go buy a new car (look at al those deals! interest rates are so low!), there’s no money for car payments anywhere in my budget. every available penny is going to paying back the bank for my fiscal stupidity. there is no room for anything extra for another two years. August 2011 is my projected debt-free date. until then, consider me cash poor and unable to acquire new wheels.
that, of course, doesn’t mean i haven’t been looking at new cars. i think that, of the new batch of sub-compacts out there, the Honda Fit might be my next auto. my dream car is the Mazda3 Sport, but there’s no way i could afford that (without winning a couple-dozen grand from somewhere). then again, there’s no telling what’ll be on the market for the 2012 vehicle year. they’re still working on flying cars, right?
all that being said, my irony for the day is that i’m debating spending ~$85 on either a Tivo or Wii Sports Resort. both have pros (fun! convenience!), cons (drain of bank account) and added expenses (monthly fees, cables, extra motion controller thingies) all of which are manageable to an extent.
i just feel like a douche even considering them when the whole car thing is all up in my face.
i’m not a douche, am i?
holy crap, i’ve been putting shit up on the internet for NINE YEARS. what the fuck was i thinking when i started this?
oh, right. i wasn’t:
anyhoo, this is the first of what will probably be at least three entries i’ll make. who knows, it may not even go the way of my other attempts to journal and will evolve into some really weird, yet compelling, place to be.
happy birthday little weblog! you’re my longest relationship, ever. *smooch*
what do you do when you can’t tweet? that’s right, you figure out a way to blog instead. heh.
the last month has gone by in a complete blur. honestly, i’m not actually sure what i did with myself for the last 30 days. there were a few more birthday celebratory things. i saw a movie or three. my tomato plants started churning out cherries. saw my dad a lot — which is a nice change. ate dinner with famous politicians while wearing a dress. went to see The Decemberists rock out at The Vogue. went to the hospital. had to get my car towed. went swimming. discovered the awesomeness which is homemade pesto. got tranquilizers which i’m afraid to take. oh, yeah, and i nearly died from a ridiculous record-breaking heat wave.
huh, i guess i wasn’t as boring as i thought. that’s nice. i was hoping my first month being 37 wouldn’t be too disappointing.
my upcoming knee surgery is consuming my thoughts these days. from worrying about going under to trying to figure out how much money i’ll need to save to ensure i have enough to pay my bills with my reduced income while i’m off to trying to develop a training plan which will cover all eventualities my temp might encounter. it’s only three weeks away and it’s stressing me out to no end (hence procuring tranquilizers).
i keeping wanting to see people but their fun and exciting lives either intimidate or thwart me from making plans. if it didn’t mean dusting, i’d totally invite y’all over to hang out and watch MST3K movies with me. preferably sans pants.
now that, THAT, was how you’re supposed to celebrate your birthday! awesome people, awesome food, awesome weather. seriously, the day couldn’t have gone any better!
thanks to everyone who made it out to help me eat meat and cake and bowl and drink beers.
for the rest of you, you SO owe me dinner. ;)
thirty-seven years ago, at 9:03 am, i was born. just two blocks from where i now sit. by all accounts it was an ordinary, albeit sweltering, Monday morning, except for what was happening on the third floor of Lions Gate Hospital to that poor couple whose lives would be irrevocably altered by my tiny, squirming emergence.
my thirty-sixth year was mostly unexciting. i didn’t go any further than vancouver island. i didn’t become rich or famous. i didn’t get fit or skinny. i didn’t appear on any Most Wanted lists (for good or ill).
i did, finally, wrassle my financial life into submission and have been pummeling it monthly to keep it in line. it’s hard to be a single person, living alone, owing the bank money. but, with persistence and a little luck, by my birthday after next, i should be able to declare myself debt-free! now THAT will be a natal anniversary to celebrate!
thirty-six was the year i withdrew. partly because of the aforementioned debt-slaying, partly because i’m starting to feel my decades a bit more keenly and there aren’t many places left i’m more comfortable with than my own abode. plus, i’ve discovered that the more people you know, the more difficult it is to see them all on a consistent basis. i hope to change that this year, but… we all know what the road to hell is paved with. after thirty-seven years, i don’t think i’m going to suddenly turn into a social butterfly. i need far too much sleep for that.
i’ve been to see medical professionals more in the last twelve months than i have in the twelve years previously. my GP, a trip to St. Paul’s Hospital for an MRI, a few trips out to Richmond to see my surgeon. in two short months’ time, i’ll be recovering from my left knee arthroscopy. i’m both excited and terrified about that. i like the idea of being able to walk without fear, but i’m terrified i won’t wake up from anesthesia. good thing i have two months to yet worry about it get over that, huh?
this year i made things and *gasp* people bought them. it’s still a little boggling to me, but if i want to keep it up, i really need to develop my self-marketing skills. blushing and digging my toe into the carpet when someone expresses interest in my product isn’t the most successful selling solution, i’d imagine.
today, i’m going to make baked beans because tomorrow, there will be celebrating.
happy birthday to me!
this is the story of how i went shopping for a salad spinner yet ended up with a whole new bed.
eight days ago, Christopher and i walked into Metrotown in search of a salad spinner so i could wash leafy greens without wanting to tear out my hair. after eliminating the $40 and $50 versions available at the specialty kitchen store, Chris suggested we look in The Bay. i immediately reasoned that there would be no lower-priced spinners there, but hey, he’s the boy, so i let him have his way. especially as i was quickly proven correct.
while in the bay, nature called and i had to hurry off to use the ladies’ room. by the way, if you’re experiencing a bathroom emergency at the Maul, use the Bay’s loo — they’re definitely above-average public washrooms. as the bed section is directly adjacent to the washrooms, and i’ve been talking about getting a new mattress for at least two years, i dragged the boy over to lay down on floor models.
that’s when it happened. i found the perfect mattress. it was firm, yet giving. it didn’t poke me with springs or jiggle when i moved. hell, even the fabric — you know, the stuff you cover up and never see again — was luxurious. and the price? only $750 on sale until Sunday. suddenly, i was seriously considering emptying my bank account to rid myself of sagging springs and waking with numb arms. after getting the information from the very sweet sales lady, i walked out of the store crunching numbers in my head and loathing the thought of going to bed that night on my wholly inferior second-hand mattress.
the next day, i whipped out the financial recovery spreadsheets and sussed out what was what. i tried to figure out a tactful way of letting people know i didn’t want gifts for my upcoming natal anniversary, just cash for the mattress, but quickly doused that idea as i didn’t want to seem greedy or uncouth. by the end of the day, i’d decided that, yes, i needed a new mattress and i could afford just a little less than what the final cost would be at The Bay. therefore, i reasoned i should go to Sleep Country to see if they had something comparable for a reasonable price (they won’t be beat!).
off to the bed store i went. Rod, my sales guy, walked me around the store a couple times with me sitting on mattresses declaring “too soft” or “too hard” or “almost, but not quite” at least fourteen times until we got down to the final two contenders. in this corner, the Sealy. in that corner, the Kingsdown. the Sealy was almost $100 less than the awesome Bay mattress; the Kingsdown was a mere $0.50 cheaper. the Kingsdown felt better than the Sealy; not by much, but definitely by some. that’s when i decided my plan of action.
i called Rod the sales guy over and asked him my deal-breaking question: “so, if i buy the awesome mattress at the Bay, they’ll give me 10% off if i apply for their credit card. will you do the same?” he definitely didn’t see that coming. it was cheeky as hell. the Kingsdown sale price was already almost $400 off, but i was going for broke. he choked a little, then said he’d have to go ask his boss. he came back rather quickly, asking if i’d like the $80 protection package in lieu of the discount — i said no. he left again, probably calculating the hit to his commission, only to return even more quickly with the discount code from his boss. WIN!
not only was i getting a better mattress for the same price as the Bay, i wouldn’t have to pay delivery, they’d take my old mattress away for free (hopefully to ritually burn it) AND i was getting my precious 10% off! i had won the retail battle of the bargaining!
then, i promptly spent all my “savings” on a fancy new latex pillow, new duvet and all new sheets. oops.
i spent the rest of the week waiting for Saturday, and, of course, mine was the very last mattress they delivered that day. but, by 6pm i had a brand new shiny supercomfy tall firm soft luxury Kingsdown Hush mattress of my very own. and i was WAY too excited to sleep on it. irony!
oh, and i even found a salad spinner from Zellers which totally spins salad right round, baby.