Yesterday, Kelly and I joined friends who had free passes to shop at the new Ikea store in Tampa before it opens to the public. It was our my first time in one of those stores, and it was every bit the harrowing shopping marathon I'd heard it was. For a store that boasts so frequently about how efficient everything is, having you proceed through the store in one long winding line for four hours sure doesn't feel that way, but every store has ways of getting you to buy more than you came for and Ikea has come up with a unique one.

Our friends bought quite a bit, but Kelly and I didn't spend money other than lunch in the cafeteria. I want to say that I'm proud of our self-restraint in holding back, but the real reason is that virtually nothing in that store appealed to us. I have friends with this design sense and there's nothing wrong with it, but personally, we were turned off by the tacky patterns and single bolds colors, and the flat boxy shapes, and modular look to everything. Kelly objects to the modernity and the feeling that everything in the store will be out of style in ten years; me, I just don't care for the look of it at all. I want to get into interior decorating and spruce up my home, and if I liked Ikea's style then I'd be all over their cheap prices and mix & match philosophy; I'd be in heaven in that store. I think that explains it for the people who do like it. Until we get some more money, it's back to Target for us.


Three Replies to Det är inte så farligt

Jackie Mason | May 4, 2009
[hidden by author request]

Kelly Lee | May 7, 2009
"Our first time"? I've been to them before. It's hot gay man watchin time!

Scott Hardie | May 7, 2009
That store has got to be difficult for employees to get across too, even if they know all the shortcuts. If you work on the first floor and the far opposite corner from the cafeteria and you get a fifteen minute break, how many minutes will you really have to relax?


Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

Can't Blog Now...

....Must play Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion! I finally understand why they called that earlier game "EverCrack." Go »

Difficult Should Be a Walk in the Park

They say that a bone marrow biopsy is the most painful kind of biopsy that you can get, but I found one that's worse: Starting a bone marrow biopsy, stopping partway through because the power went out, lying there for thirty minutes until the lights come back on, then resetting and starting all over again from the beginning. Zero stars, would not recommend. I'm hobbling around today. Go »

The Little Ship

Our cat Sweetie Pie passed away in her sleep on Thursday night after a very long illness. We don't know how old she was -- she was my mother's cat before mine, and my grandmother's cat before that, and belonged to some other lady in my grandmother's nursing home before then. We have that stranger to thank for giving her the old-fashioned name, but it was appropriate: Sweetie Pie was a friendly cat, who was happy when company came over (especially if they fed her treats!) Go »

Jacked

It's good to be back online. We lost our Internet connection at home on Tuesday, and it has only come back on for a few minutes sporadically ever since then, just enough time to send a quick email before it vanishes again. Making sure goos got published in time wasn't easy. Go »

Ketchup Packets

I was verbally mugged by a former coworker today, a guy I used to think of as a friend some time ago. I had the displeasure of laying him off last year, and after months of struggling to get by with nothing but condiments in his fridge, he started a blog to vent his frustration at me and a few other coworkers he disliked. The comments are very mean-spirited, from professional criticisms about my managerial competence and decision-making, to personal and apparently very nasty jokes about my weight and appearance. Go »

Back in Black

Is it already the end of December? It feels like it's been three days since Thanksgiving. Between late nights at work, holiday parties, and shopping for the big day, this month has been a blur. Go »