About patience and karma

This nifty drafting table was one of my Christmas gifts from LAM.  It sort of started out as a joke when I was working on a project a few months ago and needed to transfer a design from one sheet of paper to another.  I do not have a lightbox, so I made a makeshift one with a small clear plastic box lid and a flashlight.  It worked about as well as you can imagine and a lot of bad words were uttered as I tried to use it.  When I started looking around for a proper box, I came upon this table and thought, Wow, what a great idea!  With the glass top, it functions as both a drafting table and a light box with the simple addition of a light source underneath.  The price was an absolute steal on Hayneedle, so I sent LAM the link as a hint.  Let us never say that LAM can't take a hint.  Two days later, the UPS man showed up at our office (not sure if I ever mentioned that we work together), with an enormous box that had a gigantic photo of this table on it...and plopped it right in front of our door.  It stayed pretty much where it was left and so for the next month, I walked around my Christmas gift.  After a while, I sort of forgot about it and it became part of the landscape.  As we were leaving to go home the last day before the holiday, it occurred to me that maybe we should take it home.  At this point, the cat was out of the bag, so I helped him put it in the car (thank goodness for BMW fold down rear seats!), and then helped him assemble it and then put a bow on it--Surprise!

Once the holiday was over, I needed to find a home for the table so I could actually use it.  Prior to this moment in time, our living room, which happens to be the largest room in the house, had been used only as a spying perch for Zoe to spend her time either on the couch or at the window trying to herd the children at the bus stop in front of our house.  The room is fully furnished, but Zoe is the only family member that ever goes in there for anything.  I decided that putting the table in there would give some purpose to that room once and for all...and then I remembered that I didn't have a chair for it.  D'oh!

After an exhaustive search to find something that did not really look like an office chair, but a regular piece of furniture (sort of), I finally settled on this 24" leather covered stool from Crate and Barrel.  It was perfect in every way--just the right height for someone with smallness of person and my feet fit perfectly on the metal covered chair rungs.  I was extremely tired and cranky from going to about seven different stores and not really finding what I was looking for.  When I finally settled on this stool and tried to buy it, I was met with a phrase that has been plaguing me for some time..."We don't have that in stock, but we can order it for you."  BIG SIGH.  I'm not sure whether it's the economy and stores don't want to keep inventory that they may not be able to sell, or that things are actually starting to get better and merchandise is blowing out the door, but whatever the reason, I am REALLY starting to grow tired of going out of my way to visit a brick and mortar store only to be told that the item in question is simply a display model and that it will have to be ordered.  That was the straw that broke the camel's back after a very long and frustrating day, so I had a small hissy fit, left the chair in the middle of the store and we retired across the street to get some dinner.  Just to note, the reason this practice bothers me so much is because although I do a great deal of shopping online, I do also try to support my local retailers by shopping there when I can.  When I go out of my way and waste gas and time only to have to order an item, well I could have done that without leaving the comfort of my laptop.

At any rate, I had some time over dinner to reflect on the situation and to recognize that waiting a week for the right piece of furniture would not be the end of the world, so after dinner, we went back to the store to order it.  The salesman, who was previously not helpful at all, took some pity on me and agreed to send it second day air at no charge.  I apologized for not ordering it the first time, he was gracious about it and we all left with a smile.  Fast forward three days to the arrival of the stool...that I unwrapped to find had a very broken foot.  Great.  Back to the store we went to return it, waste another trip and order another one!  I will never know if this is my karmic retribution for getting so mad about the situation, but you have to wonder.  My desk is still without a chair and I'm really anxious to start using it--I have been walking around it for over a month!

Now that I have found the chair (assuming that it eventually arrives in one piece), the next task is to find suitable lighting.  In order to take advantage of the glass top / lightbox feature, a regular clamp-on style studio light won't do much good.  I need one that has a the ability to go over or under the glass top.  I also found out that you can't clamp a heavy studio lamp to a glass top regardless.  This one, also a Hayneedle find seems to fit the bill since it's LED and very light, but has the ability to either clamp or you can use the magnetized base to attach it to the metal frame, which would give a variety of positions.  It seems win-win.  I'll let you know how it goes.

-ESM

A look to the positive side

"Whenever I get gloomy about the state of the world, I think of the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport". ~Love Actually

Best first line of a movie ever, particularly in light of the previous week's events.  It's a reminder that love is all around us, all we have to do is look for it.  If there is any shred of anything good that can possibly come out of a tragedy (any kind of tragedy), it is that the rest of us are reminded just how very lucky we are.  This quote is also somewhat fitting for me in that in an effort to remain positive, I am looking to good things planned for the future, such as a  trip to the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport, as fate would have it.

It is no secret that I love to fly.  In fact, the best part of any trip for me is actually the anticipation.  The packing.  The careful choosing of just the best of the best version of yourself that you will present to a new destination or one that you haven't seen for some time.  Then, you wake yourself at (usually) some absurd hour of the morning, but you are glad to do it, because you're getting on a plane!  Simply being in the airport has its people watching, duty free shopping, unusual magazine perusing benefits.  There is always something new to see and experience.

In my effervescing anticipation, I decided that one of LAM's Christmas presents this year would be a proper carry-on.  He has one, and it is nice, but it is actually a rollaboard garment bag and not really properly sized.  Invariably, it ends up gate-checked and it is awkward to pack and handle.  I hadn't given much thought to what I might replace it with and then I read Maxminimus' famous Tumi rant and ran away screaming from that idea--not that I really needed his help.  I have been on company "trips" with the Presidents Club douche rockets who carry the Tumi and bellow into their cell phones upwards of 90 decibals.  For us, quality and style are paramount.  Generally, we'll pay more for something if we know it will be around forever, or at least a very, very long time and so, the first choice that popped into my gray matter was the Rimowa Topas:

It says many things to the world, not the least of which is that you aren't the sort of person with whom to mess around.  You could be anyone--CEO of a major corporation, celebrity, or simply someone who understands and enjoys German engineering in all of it's aluminum glory.  But then, there is one flaw--the price tag.  If either of us traveled for a living, it would be a no-brainer, but we don't and I'm not entirely certain that this is really LAM's style.  A somewhat lower cost option would be the Rimowa Salsa:

Essentially the same bag, but made of a ballistic polycarbonate.  It actually weighs less than its aluminum big brother and looks almost as cool, but as with hard sided cases, it has no external pockets, which can only mean one thing: I will get the pleasure of carrying all of LAM's items that need accessability (wallet, glasses, magazines, etc.) in my tote bag, which will already be too heavy carrying all of my stuff.

In the end, I actually ended up going with the Bric Pronto spinner model.  Somehow, it seemed more his style, nice and light and the ballistic hunter green was unusual.  During my searching, the following models must be given an honorable mention.  First another Bric product, the Pininfarina made my toes curl:

I mean, come on, carrying something with the words "Pininfarina" on it cannot hope to be anything but cool.  I suspect that if LAM does not like the bag he is getting, this might be an option for an exchange.  I passed it up, because again, it had no external pockets.

Another viable option was this Victorinox model, which happens to be my carry-on.  It is beautifully constructed and I love it, but it weighs a lot more than it should.

Another hardsided option was the Zero Halliburton.  These babies ruled the skies in the 80's and 90's and while it is cool, it's priced equally with Rimowa and as I could not find one to touch and feel in person, it ended up off of the list.  We'll see what LAM thinks about his present and which one ends up joining us on that big 'ol jet plane.

Stay positive everyone.
-ESM

Start Your Engines

I am not one of those people who gets excited about the holiday season the day after Halloween.  Not even the day after Thanksgiving.  Nope.  For me, it all starts on December 1.  The turning of the calendar page signals the green flag to begin spreading the cheer, decking the halls, baking the cookies, and my personal favorite...sending the cards.  It is hands down, the most enjoyable holiday task.  I may have mentioned earlier that I am a bit well, weird when it comes to pens.  I have high standards and strong loyalties.  For everyday writing, nothing other than the Pilot Precise V5 rollerball will do.  Black only, please.  For artwork, of course, there is the ubiquitous Micron of various thicknesses and the odd Sharpie Fine Point.  For addressing envelopes and cards, there is the Pilot Envelope Pen in Extra Fine trim.

I'm sure it has a real name besides "Envelope Pen", but I have no idea what it is because everything ON the pen is written in Japanese.  I could wax on about how much I love this pen all day.  It has a weight that is just right in the hand, ink that is shiny and glossy and dries lightning fast so you don't smear it with your hand (this is a huge boon for lefties).  Some complain that it has a "marker" smell.  I have no idea why, but I actually like this.  I think it reminds me of Mr. Loicono's second grade art classroom, which was a place where I felt safe that no one would EVER ask me to solve a math problem.  Pure bliss.

I came across this delightful little tool while searching for LAM's pencils.  As weird as I am about pens, LAM has a thing for pencils.  An architect friend turned me on to Palomino Blackwing pencils and LAM's world has never been the same.

They are curiously smooth and swift and they have really cool erasers that are replacable.  Jet Pens is a great source and they carry a lot of other great German and Japanese writing instruments.  Ok, so now I have my holiday cards all printed up and ready to go.

My engine is started and my pens are poised.

Happy beginning of the Holiday Season everyone!

-ESM