by Annie | Jun 8, 2010 | Other
What did people do before Craigslist? Every few seconds, at the click of a button, you can find several new listings for everything from fish tanks to RVs. In my quest to furnish our rather empty apartment, I’ve been scrutinizing every listing, trying to picture each item within the hodge podge of our new knick knacks. It always amazes me how valuable people think their items are and, sometimes, why they purchased said items in the first place. Take, for example, this “Leather Peach Couch”: Question 1: Why would anyone make this? Question 2: Why would anyone buy this? Question 3: Why would anyone buy this used? In addition, the listing titles can often be deceiving. Don’t be surprised when a click on “Vintage Loveseat – $400” leads to a picture of a saggy wingback chair with a faded floral pattern or “Modern Coffee Table – $125” actually refers to a strange contraption with only a small semblance of a flat surface. The ads often proceed to explain how much the items originally cost, as if that’s an excuse for the exorbitantly high prices they’re demanding for the items in their current state. Perhaps my favorite listing of the day was for a beige “microswaid” couch. Craigslist is also notorious for bad spellers. So far, my Craigslist hunt has netted me a microwave and several sofa scoutings. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? That’s the beauty of...
by Annie | Jun 5, 2010 | Other
It’s not often in life you get to start over from scratch, but that’s exactly what we’re doing here in Vancouver, at least in terms of furniture and household goods. Luckily, Ikea is but a hop, skip, and a jump from our new apartment in the Kits neighborhood of Vancouver. After testing out the slim sofa pickings, we had great success in picking out a table and chairs, bed frame, and numerous knick knacks one needs to function from day to day. It’s true what they say though – you get what you pay for. The three pots we got, while they were a mere $7.99 for the set, came with the following warnings in the insert: – To prevent salt stains on the inside of your cookware, do not add salt to your food until the contents are boiling. – The base is slightly concave when cold. Thus, always leave cookware out to cool before cleaning it. – Never let the cookware boil dry, because the base becomes skew when overheated. – Food that is stored in the cookware may take on the taste of metal. – The handle can be damaged by the flame when the cookware is used on a gas burner. Sounds like I might have better luck using a plastic cup to cook my food. The good news is, the pots did great in helping me prepare tonight’s dinner. No warping or salt stains yet. I’ll have to keep a close watch on them...
by Annie | Jun 4, 2010 | Travel
Thanks to all those who have followed along through our many adventures during this roadtrip. I will continue documenting our adventures here in Vancouver, for those who are interested. In the meantime, here are some pictures to illustrate the many interesting experiences we’ve had (click the picture below to open the album). Enjoy! DC to BC...
by Annie | Jun 4, 2010 | Travel
Well, I guess you can’t expect a roadtrip of this magnitude to go off without any hitches. During the past couple of weeks, we’ve woken up to wet pillows/sleeping bags/tents multiple times, the lens popped out of my glasses as I was laughing at a funny email (no joke), an interior car panel unhinged itself (presumably from Sofie stepping all over it), our ketchup and mustard bottles were flooded with old cooler water, and a bottle of body wash exploded in my backpack. On top of all that, we were nearly kept out of Canada as we were passing through the border today: BORDER OFFICER: So, what are you coming to Canada for? ME: I’m studying game design at the Vancouver Film School, so I’d like to apply for a student visa. BORDER OFFICER (to JOE): And you? JOE: I’m assuming I can be under the same student visa? BORDER OFFICER: Sure. Marriage license? US: Oh… Oops… Didn’t know we needed that. We’ll have to get it from the car. [We walk to the car, spirits still high, while security cameras pan toward us and the guard outside eyes us suspiciously.] JOE: Do you know where it is? ME: Yup, it’s in one of the large plastic boxes. [I beam at my supreme organization, immediately pulling out my iPhone to access the annotated lists of the contents of each box.] JOE: Great, so it’s in the rooftop carrier. [JOE rummages around, trying to find the key for the rooftop carrier.] ME: Oh yeah, I remember seeing that key… JOE: Well, where is it? ME: I think I put it...
by Annie | Jun 2, 2010 | Travel
A dozen or so days of driving and a couple thousand miles later, we are within hours of our final destination. Today’s been a long day of driving and road sign reading. Here are a few of the most interesting sounding places we’ve passed within the last several days: Salt Lick, KY Effingham, IL Ho-Chunk Casino, WI Blue Earth, MN Crazy Woman Creek, WY Tensleep, WY Wisdom, MT Opportunity, WA Who knew that crazy women originated in Wyoming, that wisdom could be obtained in Montana (right along the banks of the Wise River, of course), and that opportunity could be found in Washington? Oh, the things you learn on a...
