I'll get back to the main thrust of the post in a second, but can I just say that rugs are amongst the stupidest inventions ever... almost all of them are incredibly ugly, and while I'm sure that they involve a vast amount of work, they're hideously expensive.
My main complaint however is that they're just generally hideous. They're either unendingly beige or some other neutral colour, or they feature 103 different colours that clash in an overtly eye-bleeding kind of way. Or they're gigantic or seem to be a weird shape.
Oh, and while you're fucking yourselves, Rug Manufacturers, could you also take the people who design net curtains with you, that's be super, thanks!
Can you tell my efforts to acquire a few soft furnishings didn't particularly go according to plan?
To be honest it was a little bit of a peculiar day all around. It started out with the fact that this week was Ma's haircut week... which is fine, I'm a big boy and I can go shopping on my own when necessary. However I can't drive with this cast on my arm, and I really can't carry a plethora of shopping with my one good arm. But I didn't want to wait until Ma came down after her hairdo... the later we hit the supermarket, the more people are out and the crazier it tends to get.
So instead I took my one shopping bag in hand and pottered off down the street to the North Adelaide Village and wandered around until I'd filled up the bag but could still (mostly) carry it.
Yeah, I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that we drive ten minutes down the road to go to the same supermarket that's down the road from my house, but even though they're both Foodland, I always think that our regular one has a better range of stuff and is slightly cheaper.
By the time I was finished (I had a slightly later start than we normally do, but I didn't have to go as far either) Ma messaged me to let me know she was on the way down, but I still had time to put everything away before she arrived.
After the usual catch-up session we headed into the city to run a couple of errands. First up was a trip to the art supply store for some tracing paper to see if that will work as a diffuser for the living room window. If it doesn't work out I can always turn the pieces into some sort of photo softbox.
I was also on the hunt for a clock... I know I floated the idea of making my own with the Lifescout pins, but that's more of a longer term, two functional hands, kind of project. So we had a bit of a look in Typo... and seriously, I could spend so much money in both the art store and Typo... mostly on stuff that I don't really have a use for, but it's pens and papers and notebooks and assorted geegaws... and I'm all about all of that.
I restrained myself however, although I did mentally earmark a couple of the clocks for another look on the way back.
Then we headed down to Spotlight to look at net curtains and to see what they had in the way of DIY clock innards and a couple of other bits and pieces. The net curtain shopping was somewhat disastrous... I mean I get that net curtains as a concept are more often to be used by your Lady of a Certain Age... but seriously, the designs are just UGLY. And the few that aren't ugly are more than twice as much curtain as I need.
So that's another plan that still needs some consideration. I'm leaning towards the "twice as much" idea and just cutting them down to size, possibly getting one of those places that do clothing repairs to put a hem on it.
We had a further poke around Spotlight and Lincraft, and other than a new body pillow there was more looking than anything else.
Then we stopped off for something to drink at Boost, then had a bit of a wander around the second floor in Harris Scarfe where all the homewares and kitchen stuff is. And amongst their leftover sale stuff I found a cool mantle clock for $10. I'm not completely sure where it's going to end up, but it's found a temporary spot on one of the console tables (the one where everything is black and white with a few spots of red, since the clock is black and white... and mostly made of glass).
After that we'd run out of things to do in town, so we headed down Anzac Highway to check out Rugs A Million.
And I actually found a rug I kinda liked... it wasn't a horrible design, it wasn't too expensive... but after talking to the dude he suggested that rubber backed rugs were okay on hardwood floors but wouldn't prevent the buckling problem I was having with the rug the landlord left in the apartment, which gets a giant hill in it as soon as you look at it the wrong way. I know that's his job and everything, but I'm not completely sure I believe him. But I didn't buy the rug.
So then we went across the street to Le Cornus and looked at what they had for all of about five minutes (nothing great, and nothing that cheap), then headed down to Kmart on the off-chance they had anything. And then we detoured around to the Mile End Homemaker Centre. The short version of the story is that I came home without a rug.
When we got back to my place we actually pulled up the rug that I had down as it's more trouble than it's worth... I mean I get that they landlord wanted to try and protect the carpet, but it's fucking carpet, it's going to get at least a little dirty. The only downside is that the carpet isn't anywhere near as soft as the rug was. Maybe I just need to get a couple of little circular rugs from IKEA or something to put in front of the chairs, that may be a better idea all around.
Now I just need the land agent to come over and take away the four rugs, the big ugly print from the bedroom, and the assorted unnecessary accoutrements from the bathroom. I'm guessing it won't be too long before they come to do the first inspection, it was supposed to be within the first five or six weeks, and then I'm on the regular six monthly inspection cycle.
And tomorrow morning when it's hopefully a little bit cooler I'll test out the tracing paper proof of concept.
Oh, and I always like it when a Gentleman Caller is just generally decisive... I'm usually the one doing that, so it's nice when it's somebody else and there isn't a lot of time wasting.
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