IKEA in Tampa

I’m still posting about our vacation in Hudson FL. I have mentioned we were really stressed out during our holiday but I haven’t touched the stress’ source yet. I’m keeping it for the last post of the series.

We had 3 weeks of vacation as Christiane is still getting treated for cancer and the treatment is administered on Mondays, every 3 weeks.  Aside from the travel time, our time in our home in Hudson was 15 days total. It was really short for what we had to do.

The house has been sitting empty for a year and a half; no furniture, no household goods. There is a fridge, stove and dishwasher but that’s it. It was so easy keeping track of the inventory :)

On our first day, priority number one was to get a bed and a couple of living room chairs or a sofa. If we had had time we could have run around and check Kijij or Greg’s list, shopped at used store or attended estates sale, but we didn’t have this time luxury so our plan was to go to IKEA and get most of our furniture. 

The chair, it came in 8 components!

 Because of the traffic, IKEA Tampa is about an hour and a half from our home, ONE way! The very first day we drove there, spent many hours going around and writing down aisles and bin numbers where we would pickup the furniture we selected. Our preliminary list of furniture to buy included a sofa-bed for the visitors, living room chairs, dining room set and a bed for us.

You might wonder why we were buying a sofa-bed for our visitors in our first run to the store. Well, at our daughter Caroline’s condo, we have the same Ikea sofa-bed and it is very comfortable.  We spent a good part of last winter on it so we know. The sofa-bed’s is made of two parts, the frame and the mattress and until we had time to shop for a mattress for our bed, we were planning on using this one.

The sofa-bed in the guess bedroom (don't tell but there is things hidden under the blanket)

 When we finally made it to the cash register, it seems to me that we had half the store with us! We had 3 full carts of boxes. Between the 2 of us, pushing 3 carts with heavy boxes was not a ride in the park! A good thing we had previously emptied the truck, we were loading it again.

By the time we got back home, it was getting late in the afternoon. We unloaded the truck and started to assemble our living room chairs, foot rests and tables. Once they were done, we closed the furniture assembling factory and went to Walmart to get some food for our next breakfast. We did more than stop at the food section; we also went and got a TV.

Our first evening in our home, we sat in our new chairs with a glass of wine, turned on the TV and watched a couple episodes of a TV series we had brought with us: “Friday Night Light”. We had set the mattress on the living room floor as it was not as warm as the bedroom. Let me tell you after 2 days on the road and one day of shopping, sleeping was not a problem!

The main bedroom

Engineer at work!

 The next day we were up early.  After breakfast in our home, Chirstiane did some cleaning and started to unpack the boxes, putting things away while I attacked the assembling of the bedroom furniture. It’s a bed with drawers underneath. By the time I had successfully accomplished this task, we had empty carton boxes all over, both from the furniture and the unpacking of our boxes.

On our park, there is a garbage dumpster for paper and cardboard, when I arrive to dump the first run, it was empty. After we had finished assembling the furniture the dumpster was full! Talking about garbage, this is the ‘spot’ to meet every one in the park (let’s call it the retiree’s water cooler station). I was never sure how long I would be gone; I was meeting our neighbors and could never tell how much time I would be chatting, all names are already forgotten, I will have to spend more time by the dumpster next time we are down in Hudson!  

Look at that even had time to put up a painting

  

When we were almost done with the assembly line, we were looking at what we had and noticed we were missing the visitor’s sofa-bed frame, oh no did we forget it at IKEA. Christiane started to check our receipts and we were relieved to find out we did not pay for it, we simply forgot to buy it! Easier to buy one than trying to prove that we forgot it at the loading section but it also meant we had to go back to IKEA in the near future.

We had been looking at TV stands at Walmart.  Hey, we had a TV but having it sitting on cardboard boxes was not the long term plan and even though it didn’t attenuate the quality of the image we needed a TV stand. So, on our second trip to IKEA, we wrote down all the aisles and bins numbers for the new items we selected and headed to the pickup section and started filling up a cart with more boxes. If you have never shopped at IKEA, you might not know that most of the time when you buy an item, its components might be located in different areas. Our TV stand is such an item. One of the components was not available. We could see it on a pallet in the overhead bin but you can’t get to those. We asked one of the employee and they can’t get to it during business hour; something to do with insurance. So, our choices were to put back all the components for the TV stand and get another model or come back after business hours and they would have brought down the component for us, or come back later… grrrrr We decided to stick with our choices and come back at a later time (not the same day) for the last piece of this IKEA puzzle.

There is 5 components still missing

On our third trip, we finally got every thing. Our TV is now so glad of its standing! We also took the opportunity to go to the beach and we even found our way to Costco and had a meal at Five Guys.  

This is NOT what was stressful!

She had to get deeper than I

Even the truck need time off!

  

   

Wanted dead or alive – Spring

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.” – Henry Van Dyke

Just a quick personal message: "Bonne fête André!"

Hopefully last of winter pics

Day 1 of spring

This first day of spring was greeted by 3 more inches of the white, fluffy, cold, has-to-be-shovelled, flurry, crappy snow!

As I’m typing this post, more of that winter-matter is coming down, it makes great pictures but now I have no more space left in my camera to store those winter-perfect shots!

Fresh from this morning!

Pretty soon, it will be the Tulip Festival in Ottawa. They might have to move the festival indoor, but first, they will need to dig to get the bulbs out of the permafrost!

Seriously, where is Mother Nature when we need her? What did we do, lately she is so cold with us!

Even the eavestrough seems to try to get rid of the ice

 End of rant… it was not really my rant, I just wanted to sound normal for once because personally I love winter hahaha 

 

A family of moles had been hibernating all winter. One beautiful spring morning, they woke up. The father mole stuck his head out of the hole and looked around. "Mother Mole!" He called back down the hole. "Come up here! I smell honey, fresh made honey!" The mother mole ran up and squeezed in next to him. "That's not honey, that's maple syrup! I smell maple syrup!" The baby mole, still down in the hole, was sulking. "I can't smell anything down here but molasses ..." 

Happiness 101

 

 “Be Happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam

These past few days, I have been seating, looking outside at the frozen lake and mountains and philosophing (I know spell check this is not a word… just deal with it!) about what do we have to be so happy about?

In the past 6 months, life had a lump in our road. My wife lost a breast to cancer. We had just sold our house and had bought a condo in Florida. We were winter clothing less, house less and health less. I would think that happiness would have been so far out of reach! But we are happy! Why?

Happiness is not what is around you, it is inside you!

Let me give you an example, we are presently in our “summer” home at the camping, there is no running water. For most, this is enough to stay away and we are, most of the time, the only ones here! We get visits from friendly deer, birds and an odd cat, we are happy with that. Pretty soon, the deer will be replaced by our dear friends, doesn’t matter, we will be happy with that. So if we are alone, we are happy and if there are people we are happy!

My favourite season is fall followed closely by winter. This might seems like a contradiction as we bought a condo in Florida and I was about to loose one of my favourite season… but I was happy. Why?

To be happy you must welcome compromise and be adaptable. There is no magic formula, that’s it! We are not fretting on trivial (and sometimes not so trivial) events that we don’t have control over. When we make a decision, we assume the consequences and take our responsibilities.

Things you don’t have control over are out of your control, you still can be happy. When Christiane came back from her mastectomy, I can tell you I was so happy to see her coming back that I was tear-happy!

One more ingredient in the happy-pot-pourri… Faith! I pray daily, we all have our own and privilege relationship with God. I’m not saying my faith is the exclusively good one, I think even people without Faith… have Faith! Faith in man kind, Faith in themselves, Faith in others, Faith in the future, it doesn’t matter, I think all Faiths are related back to One!

One more thing that always make me happy… Comments!

Goodbye Friends!

(Note:  Without my knowledge, Christiane had post on the blog. It so emotion charge and beautiful that I want to make sure to share it... To say the least, I'm a little uncomfortable from getting flowers. You can get there by clicking here.) ) 

Dear Blog-her and blog-his,

This morning I have the regret to announce you this might be my last post ever. Last week, I was so excited… the blog’s membership was about to grow into the double digits. But life is not always fair, right?

I probably shouldn’t even take the time to write this, but all your encouraging and touching comments were highlights in my life!

If you post comments, I might not be answering as I might be busy with my funeral arrangements. Since Friday, I suffer from a cold, I don’t see a light yet, and all I see is Contact C. Not that anyone asked but my nose is running faster than my cat; I’m so hot with fever that there is no need to turn up the heat in the house; my throat must have Soda crackers stuck in it; my wife, the cancer-patient, is taking care of ME!

I just hope that I have enough in my good-deed account to pay off my credit bad-deed card, it would surely help when I get to the traffic-police-in-the-sky (you know the big Guy).

Don’t feel bad for me; I had a great life, I married at 18, had 2 daughters and a female cat, but I assure you other than that, my life was great (just so you know, I might have to pay dearly for that joke!)

If I have one regret is that last week I had my eyes checked at Costco and I payed in full for my glasses, which I might never use!

The end (might be literally)

To keep with the blog’s spirit, here is some humour.  I don’t think it’s that funny but I might not be the best judge right now?

Man Flu - The Facts...

1. Man-Flu is more painful than childbirth. This is an irrefutable scientific fact (Based on a survey of over 100,000 men.)

2. Man-Flu is not 'just a cold'. It is a condition so severe that the germs from a single Man-Flu sneeze could wipe out entire tribes of people living in the rainforest. And probably loads of monkeys too.

3. Women do not contract Man-Flu. At worst they suffer from what is medically recognised as a 'Mild Girly Sniffle' which, if a man caught, he would still be able to run, throw a ball, tear the phone book in half and compete in all other kinds of manly activities.

4. Men do not 'moan' when they have Man-Flu. They emit involuntary groans of agony that are entirely in proportion to the unbearable pain they are in.

5. Full recovery from Man-Flu will take place much quicker if their simple requests for care, sympathy and regular cups of tea are met. Is that really so much to ask? Florence Nightingale would have done it

6. More men die each year from MFN (Man-Flu Neglect) than lots and lots of other things. (Like rabbit attacks or choking on toast).

7. Men suffering from Man-Flu want nothing more than to get out of bed and come to work, but they are too selfless to risk spreading this awful condition amongst their friends and colleagues. In this sense, they are the greatest heroes this country has ever known.

8. In 1982 scientists managed to simulate the agonising symptoms of full blown Man-Flu in a female chimp. She became so ill that her head literally fell off.

9. Man-Flu germs are more powerful than He-Man, The Thundercats and The A-Team combined. They are too strong for weak, nasty tasting 'lady medicines' like Lemsip, so don't bother trying to force them on a victim of Man-Flu.

10. While it may seem like a Man-Flu sufferer is just laying around enjoying 'Diagnosis Murder' it is a commonly recognised medical fact that the exact pitch and frequency of Dick Van Dyke's voice has remarkable soothing powers.

Every minute in this country one man is struck down by Man-Flu. Women, all we ask is that each of you offers them a cup of tea, some kind words and your undivided attention and care. Then maybe, just maybe, we'll beat this monstrous disease together. 

Good time in Italy!

As you might notice, the appearance of my blog has drastically improved. It was done by an expert who offered a free consultation to re-design it as a birthday gift. Please let me know if you see anything that could be improved.

I like to thank this expert who happens to be my very own daughter Caroline :)

Honey did I have too much Vino?

  

Leaning at the top of the leaning tower!

 While serving in the military, Christiane and I spent a lot of time in Italy. We attended several courses at the NATO school located at an Italian base in Latina, which is between Rome and Naples.

St-Peter Square in Rome

Vesuvius - Naples is between the volcano and the Mediterranean Sea

In the spring of 1983, we had driven from Germany to Italy to attend one of those courses. The course was about crypto Equipment, so I can’t tell you much about it. It was in a part of the school that was secured and no one could go in without their valid ID card. Before starting class, a teacher would come out and get us. We would be waiting in the hallway until the door opened.

Those were great courses! We couldn’t take any study material out, so we never had any homework to do!

One Friday afternoon, we were told we would be given a test first thing Monday morning.

At the time, we were staying in an Italian hotel downtown Latina. I don’t remember much about the weekend but I remembered that Sunday we decided to go and have supper at the restaurant in the hotel. When we walked in the restaurant, the place was unusually empty. Our Italian language skill was pretty much limited to shopping and ordering food. So we ate and went back to our room.

View from our hotel room in Latina

 Monday morning, we drove to school, when we got to the waiting area in the hallway; we were the ONLY ones there.  We were confused as we usually were the first ones there. “Where is everyone?” we were asking ourselves. We rang the bell to gain access to the secured classrooms and found out that this particular weekend happened to be the spring time change… the time had moved ahead by one hour! grrrrr

Small Italian fishing village between Latina and Naples

Inside the coliseum in Rome, lucky for us... No lion!

Timely letter

Mr/Mrs Government,

Tomorrow we are collectively going to move ahead… by an hour. In 9 months, we are moving back by an hour… next spring we are moving ahead by an hour… RIDICULOUS!

This traveling clock was first adopted to replace artificial lighting so we could save fuel for the war effort against Germany during World War I… You might not look at the news much but that war is over!

There are many countries, states and one province in Canada that are not manipulating their clock twice a year… why not us?  

In my case, this back and forth has happened 108 times… I don’t remember the first few times but I’m sure to my mom it must have been infuriating to explain to her infant son he has to sleep one more or one less hour before getting his milk because of this non-sense! 

What would happen if we kept the clock from jumping back and forth?

Would the economy suffer?

Would our country fall in the ocean?

Would the sun stop for an hour to make sure we are on the right time?

For this instance, I will be the one making a promise, whoever pledges to stop this twice-a-year-time-travelling will get my vote in the next election!

I don’t really care about any other issues because you are putting your spin on them.  But if you think about it, to unwind this change would cost nothing, and while you debate this issue for several days you will not be miss-managing the economy, so it will be a win-win situation.

I would have time-stamped this letter… but once it is stamped there is no back and forth!

On time, yours truly,

Richard

Politically correct

 

This week, the government of Quebec decided to launch an election. I already have my mind set on who I will vote for and I’m not shy and will tell you: No One! I will not vote… some people would say that I don’t do my civil duties, I have this to say about that: “phliftlllllll”, all right maybe I could try to voice it better.

On Facebook, I was saying that I have as much respect for politicians as I have for dirty dishes in the sink! However, I had to retract myself because it wasn’t fair… for the dishes! After all you can always clean the dishes.

I really think that politicians are really good at one thing: Manipulating the population. To me the only issue that would be worth listening would be quiet promises, like they don’t make them! This will get MY vote!

An ideal speech would go like this:

“Dear Sirs and Sir-ettes, Elect us and I take the engagement that my wife and I and those guys standing behind the curtain will do NOTHING for the next 4-5 years.

We are not going to do a shopping spree to re-furnish the house of common; we are not going on trips at your expenses; if we have to eat while not doing anything, we will bring a lunch! If we have visitors, we might order from Subway.

The red carpet doesn’t need to be changed, we will have it cleaned by Bob carpet cleaner, this being out in the open, we won’t need to accept bribe to give this contract to a company that over prices.

Furthermore, since we are doing as little as possible, we won’t increase your tax, the money that is coming in will go to pay some of the debt.

After our day at the office, when walking out, we will empty our own garbage can and turn off the light.

We will issue some clothing article to the senators: mittens, hats, parka, and polar boots because we are going to cut down the heat in the senate. If they complain about this, we will help them fill-up the unemployment questionnaire.

All limousines will be returned. We have been telling everyone to take the bus, let’s lead by example.

For those who don’t get it and want to make a donation to our party… send your money to the Red Cross, they are there when you need them, not really the case for us politicians!

If you hear my message it won’t be by a pricy advertisement on prime time TV, nor from a sign on someone’s lawn; it might be a friend telling you: “Hey you have to listen to future president/Prime Minister Richard, he promises NOTHING!””