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The Great Room Swap: Monday Mattress
Jul. 21st, 2020 12:47 pmMonday was a doozy.
So Escape Calico is A Cat, and cats are Gross. What happened to Alex's mattress was Not Good, and Nature's Miracle was (as I understand it) Not Sufficient. So I've been looking in the usual places for a Mattress to replace.
Requirements:
* Queen (fits the existing sheets & new protective anti-cat bag)
* Not gross
* not terrible to sleep on (Alex is Very Ouch)
* inexpensive
* can be transported
* not sniped out from under me because I wasn't fast enough
* needs cooperation of Belovedest for transport help & muscle
All of that more or less came together Sunday evening, when I saw a Craigslist post about a barely-used mattress that needed a new home, pickup time the next morning between 7:30am and 8:30am. I negotiated with Belovedest, who (somewhat reluctantly) agreed (this whole room swap saga is wearing on them a bit), and they got a set of tie-downs. We went to bed earlyish, even though I hadn't heard back from the person. As I was climbing in, there was the message. I replied to confirm. Of course I had trouble falling asleep. I made ready for the morning, tried to get the package of tie-downs open, succeeded only partway, and gave up and went to bed.
We rolled out of bed in the morning, and I learned that Google Assistant only reads from one calendar unless you've gone deep into the settings and enabled all your calendars. So that wasn't the morning briefing I was hoping for. We got on the road. Belovedest hadn't grabbed their power brick. I offered mine. My phone needed the car's charge cable, and in any case it ran out of power (it was starting from 100%, mind, and was on the cable) at Tacoma Dome. Belovedest restarted, and replied to the person with our ETA.
I-5 was fucked up. There was a crash. The map rerouted us, and we spent about 10 minutes in the correct lane behind a string of people getting off at the exit before ours; in future I will try and go around if that's the reroute.
Belovedest was working on getting the tie-downs out of the package. I'd grabbed the pair of screwdrivers we usually use for prying in addition to screwing, and that went all right. The unrolling went less well, but was ultimately successful. (I can only deal with one thing at a time, and the terrible traffic plus Belovedest getting furious at the project was too much at once. So at my request, they waited until the traffic was less terrible to finish.)
We got there 15 minutes after planned, but updating them and within the window. They'd just arrived downstairs with the mattress when we pulled in, and we pulled around for the loading. The couple giving the mattress away heaved it up, waved goodbye, and left to go about their day. Bye, nice people!
One of the little customizations on the car was those little bug/wind/rain shields around the window tops. Those are incompatible with a tie-down strap going through the windows. Fortunately I'd considered the possibility that they might have to be sacrificed, so I wasn't pissed off when it turned out they had to be. I pulled them off with little fuss.
The tie-down straps were short enough that it took both of them to go around. We'd also discussed this, and there was a Home Depot not that far away. So we went. Belovedest got a second set, longer.
The next little bit was Difficult. The package was even harder to open, even understanding how it was supposed to open. Then I managed to use the thing wrong, and tangled it enough that neither of us could untangle it in a short amount of time. We tried the next one, and I used that wrong also, but slightly less wrong. We got in and made for the freeway.
On the freeway, it became apparent that a) the tie-down wasn't tight enough, and the thing was trying to catch air, and b) we could not tighten it further, so pulling it down from the inside would have to do. C) there was a vehicle behind us that had the low-profile bar on the top that said it was probably law enforcement.
Belovedest found us an exit for a slower route home. We took it. The law enforcement vehicle passed as we exited; it was border patrol. BORDER PATROL. IN SEATTLE. I know they're here, I've seen them before, but in the context of all the fascist shit this country is doing right now, I was shaken. (I keep being upset when I see them here.)
I had left plenty of time for Belovedest (remember Belovedest) to get to their dentist appointment ... given a 55+ MPH trip home. The minutes ticked by. They were visibly Stressed. Their phone rang, and they noticed just as it went to voicemail. It was their boss.
Their boss is good at leaving messages. Today's message: I know you were scheduled for 11, but it turns out we don't need you in the building until 4, so please feel free to work from home until that point. Relief.
We pulled into our driveway safe and sound. I bolted for the house and bathroom. They bolted for the garage, their car, and the dentist.
I took a much-needed nap.
Later, Belovedest went to work. I gathered all the equipment I needed, and went out into the back yard to deal with the carpet.
Call-2-Haul takes 1x6 foot rolls of carpet as a "large object", so if we could just cut that carpet into sections of the correct size, 2 max...
I measured, and marked my measurements with spots of neon pink spray paint (why not, it's garbage carpet anyway). I dotted several measurements on it, figured out it made most sense to fold it in half the opposite direction of the one I'd guessed, if I cut a small square off the side. So I did, with many pauses for water and rest. Kevin and Ursula kept me company with Productivity Alchemy.
I figured I could stuff the carpet pads into garbage bags if I sliced them in half. That was terrible going. Belovedest had come home by that point, and got me the hose so I could rinse off (and cool down). They brought me garbage bags and duct tape, and helped secure the carpet rolls and get them out of the way.
Hooray.
Alex had made hamburgers by this point, the hamburgers that had not been made Sunday night because we were all too tired. I took a shower first, and flomped down. The hamburger was good. Alex opened the sangria. I sliced myself some fruits and had a lovely big cup, mostly ice and sparkling water and fruit, but enough sangria to make me wobbly and in need of bed.
Yay, bed.
So Escape Calico is A Cat, and cats are Gross. What happened to Alex's mattress was Not Good, and Nature's Miracle was (as I understand it) Not Sufficient. So I've been looking in the usual places for a Mattress to replace.
Requirements:
* Queen (fits the existing sheets & new protective anti-cat bag)
* Not gross
* not terrible to sleep on (Alex is Very Ouch)
* inexpensive
* can be transported
* not sniped out from under me because I wasn't fast enough
* needs cooperation of Belovedest for transport help & muscle
All of that more or less came together Sunday evening, when I saw a Craigslist post about a barely-used mattress that needed a new home, pickup time the next morning between 7:30am and 8:30am. I negotiated with Belovedest, who (somewhat reluctantly) agreed (this whole room swap saga is wearing on them a bit), and they got a set of tie-downs. We went to bed earlyish, even though I hadn't heard back from the person. As I was climbing in, there was the message. I replied to confirm. Of course I had trouble falling asleep. I made ready for the morning, tried to get the package of tie-downs open, succeeded only partway, and gave up and went to bed.
We rolled out of bed in the morning, and I learned that Google Assistant only reads from one calendar unless you've gone deep into the settings and enabled all your calendars. So that wasn't the morning briefing I was hoping for. We got on the road. Belovedest hadn't grabbed their power brick. I offered mine. My phone needed the car's charge cable, and in any case it ran out of power (it was starting from 100%, mind, and was on the cable) at Tacoma Dome. Belovedest restarted, and replied to the person with our ETA.
I-5 was fucked up. There was a crash. The map rerouted us, and we spent about 10 minutes in the correct lane behind a string of people getting off at the exit before ours; in future I will try and go around if that's the reroute.
Belovedest was working on getting the tie-downs out of the package. I'd grabbed the pair of screwdrivers we usually use for prying in addition to screwing, and that went all right. The unrolling went less well, but was ultimately successful. (I can only deal with one thing at a time, and the terrible traffic plus Belovedest getting furious at the project was too much at once. So at my request, they waited until the traffic was less terrible to finish.)
We got there 15 minutes after planned, but updating them and within the window. They'd just arrived downstairs with the mattress when we pulled in, and we pulled around for the loading. The couple giving the mattress away heaved it up, waved goodbye, and left to go about their day. Bye, nice people!
One of the little customizations on the car was those little bug/wind/rain shields around the window tops. Those are incompatible with a tie-down strap going through the windows. Fortunately I'd considered the possibility that they might have to be sacrificed, so I wasn't pissed off when it turned out they had to be. I pulled them off with little fuss.
The tie-down straps were short enough that it took both of them to go around. We'd also discussed this, and there was a Home Depot not that far away. So we went. Belovedest got a second set, longer.
The next little bit was Difficult. The package was even harder to open, even understanding how it was supposed to open. Then I managed to use the thing wrong, and tangled it enough that neither of us could untangle it in a short amount of time. We tried the next one, and I used that wrong also, but slightly less wrong. We got in and made for the freeway.
On the freeway, it became apparent that a) the tie-down wasn't tight enough, and the thing was trying to catch air, and b) we could not tighten it further, so pulling it down from the inside would have to do. C) there was a vehicle behind us that had the low-profile bar on the top that said it was probably law enforcement.
Belovedest found us an exit for a slower route home. We took it. The law enforcement vehicle passed as we exited; it was border patrol. BORDER PATROL. IN SEATTLE. I know they're here, I've seen them before, but in the context of all the fascist shit this country is doing right now, I was shaken. (I keep being upset when I see them here.)
I had left plenty of time for Belovedest (remember Belovedest) to get to their dentist appointment ... given a 55+ MPH trip home. The minutes ticked by. They were visibly Stressed. Their phone rang, and they noticed just as it went to voicemail. It was their boss.
Their boss is good at leaving messages. Today's message: I know you were scheduled for 11, but it turns out we don't need you in the building until 4, so please feel free to work from home until that point. Relief.
We pulled into our driveway safe and sound. I bolted for the house and bathroom. They bolted for the garage, their car, and the dentist.
I took a much-needed nap.
Later, Belovedest went to work. I gathered all the equipment I needed, and went out into the back yard to deal with the carpet.
Call-2-Haul takes 1x6 foot rolls of carpet as a "large object", so if we could just cut that carpet into sections of the correct size, 2 max...
I measured, and marked my measurements with spots of neon pink spray paint (why not, it's garbage carpet anyway). I dotted several measurements on it, figured out it made most sense to fold it in half the opposite direction of the one I'd guessed, if I cut a small square off the side. So I did, with many pauses for water and rest. Kevin and Ursula kept me company with Productivity Alchemy.
I figured I could stuff the carpet pads into garbage bags if I sliced them in half. That was terrible going. Belovedest had come home by that point, and got me the hose so I could rinse off (and cool down). They brought me garbage bags and duct tape, and helped secure the carpet rolls and get them out of the way.
Hooray.
Alex had made hamburgers by this point, the hamburgers that had not been made Sunday night because we were all too tired. I took a shower first, and flomped down. The hamburger was good. Alex opened the sangria. I sliced myself some fruits and had a lovely big cup, mostly ice and sparkling water and fruit, but enough sangria to make me wobbly and in need of bed.
Yay, bed.
