TV Stand Shopping (update)

Amanda and I have to give props to my mom for suggesting shopping @ J.C. Penny's for the television stand.  We finally found one that met all of our parameters including price.  That was way to complicated.

My Niners are terrible... 1-5, that makes me so sad.  I looked forward to being a season ticket holder, I am still die hard, I am still going to have 100% attendance, but I am not really excited anymore.  I hope they can bring me back with a strong conference schedule.  We have Cal State Fullerton, @ Southern Illinois, @ Mississippi State.... its going to be a long year.

Things I am thankful for (but probably shouldn't be)

A reoccuring theme in my blog is ripping crap off of Allison's blog, changing the words, and submitting them as my own.  I always try to give credit where credit is due.  I thought hers was awesome, my should be mediocre.  

... and I quote.

Okay, I could do a schmaltzy post about my extreme gratefulness for my family and friends but I don't want to. Just know that I am super thankful for my wonderful family and my awesome friends. But there are some things I'm thankful for that should probably be shared.

1. A girl working in my office.  I am a pretty girly dude, this trait is intensified when working in the automotive industry.  I am glad I can talk about my disdain for people wearing khakis and tennis shoes, mismatched belts and shoes, and my hatred for our work uniforms and the lack of professionalism they communicate.

2. Soft shell jackets.  They are a bit warmer than fleece jackets, not as hot as full coats.  They are water resistant, they block the wind, they are the utility infielder of jackets and the ONLY winter wear you need in Charlotte.

3. MINI Coopers.  It is dumb, isn't that the point of this post, but I love these little cars.  I really enjoy the community I have been surrounded with in two towns and I have a lot of fun commuting to work, who does that?

4. Chucks... f-n-cool. 'nuff said.

5.  The $5, $7.50, & $10 DVD racks at Target and Walmart.  I think about 75% of our movies come from there, and I love some movies!!!

"... turkey lurkey loo and turkey lurkey lickle, I wish turkey only cost a nickel..."

TV Stand Shopping

I never thought finding a piece of furniture would be so damn difficult.  I used to make fun of people who would leave a room empty for years waiting for the "right" piece.  To me I always thought it was just something you went and got when the time was right.  I was clearly misguided.

I remember in our big house on the prairie growing up we always had the formal living room empty.  As long as we lived there, we never had furniture in the room except for the console television that was replaced by a 21 inch Sony Triniton.  Keep in mind, in those days, that TV was the STUFF!  I remember asking mom why we didn't have furniture and I only remember walking away wondering what the right furniture for that room was.

Fast forward to today, I am looking for a television stand.  I walked to Target, I found one I liked, I started loading it into the cart.  Then some three-little-bears-syndrome hit my like a truck.  The stand was not wide or deep enough for me, I want something deep and sturdy, and since the TV is large, I don't want the sides to hang off, in fact, I would like to have 3-6 inches off each side so there can be some margin of error if someone bumps it.  

Then there is the color, it has to be black because our coffee and end tables are, and not that I feel married to them, they are cheap IKEA numbers but I don't want to have to replace them anytime soon.  I don't want shiny black, I want that wood-stained-black look.  

Now the shape, it has to be squared off with very clean lines.  I do not want fancy crowns or arches, our living room tables are very simple and I would love to the TV stand to blend in with them.  Furthermore, I do not want brass or oil rubbed hardware, stainless steel or brushed nickel only.  

Height, oh the height.  The matching one at IKEA is only 13 inches tall.  That is practically sitting on the floor (where the TV is now for free) and too low with animals and kids in the future.  I want it to be a minimum of 22 inches tall (coffee table height) but I would prefer even a touch taller than that.  The reason is that I want to sit in my chair with my feet up and not have to look over my toes or the laptop monitor to see the TV.  It should be above both obstacles when I am enjoying Palladia, a music channel I just discovered and am watching John Mayer in HD perform.  That guy is always on the tube.  

Okay, so, I guess I now have complete empathy for the crazy "perfect piece of furniture" people. The kicker has got to be that we do not want to spend a lot of money on it... ha, I found one Broyhill model that is a thousand bucks... that will NOT be coming home with me.  I should dent the crap out of the floor model and offer them a hundred bucks.  There a few on Target's website that I love but I think I can find them cheaper, not 400 bucks.  Someday, someday, I will find the perfect value packed TV stand.

I need to get that catalogue I left at the Malady's house at Halloween... see you Thursday!

Does anyone know when the IKEA opens here?

I love irrelevant statements at the bottom of my blog posts

Amanda and I are going to try to get NCDL's tomorrow

We have to register her car too.

Auto Show 2008

I used this title before, that was to cover the Chicago show... this is Charlotte.  I got to be a technical representative this year for MINI at the Charlotte show.  This was a neat experience I stumbled into with a Cooper club I just joined.  I got to talk to a ton of people about MINIs which I loved.  I ran into Eli and Colleen as well as Russ and his wife.  The most disappointing part of the entire day were the cars.  There was nothing new there, a few concepts from Ford, but who cares about Fords?  

Top 5 recent vehicles there:

5. Mazda6

4. Volkswagen CC

3. Jaguar XF

2. Pontiac G8

1.  MINI Cooper Clubman 

Worst in Show:

5. Hummer H3T (who needs a $40k mid sized truck?)

4. Toyota (the entire lineup has less personality than Suzuki)

3. Subaru Impreza WRX (edgy becomes dull)

2. Honda Accord (U-L-G-Y you ain't got no alibi)

1. Volkswagen Routan (the audacity of hope applied to Chrysler... really? A $43k Grand Caravan?)

I thought this was adorable... if I got promoted to Santa, I would "right size*" the reindeer team to a fleet of high power, great handling, and fuel efficient MINIs.

*right size is the corporate term for down sizing.

Sad News: ABC has decided to cancel Pushing Daisies... this show is so underrated. I feel sorry for all those who missed out.

The Steelers won!!! Too bad my Charlotte 49ers suck this year... oh well.

We have cable and internet, life is good. I dig it.

I do not have to go to Atlanta for a long while, I found out I am done going there effective two weeks ago

The Movie of Jon's Life IV

My "girls" from high school and beyond will see a lot of screen time.

Ashley: Teresa Lisbon

Dhara: Gwyneth Paltrow

Emily: Daniele Fishel

 

Neighbors

Just to chronicle the new house... we had our first neighbor visit today.  We were visited by Renee and her daughter Madeline.  They dropped off some brownies and we enjoyed them... immediately. They, with the husband/dad, are a very cute family from Michigan who moved in two weeks before we did.  

  

Tomorrow the plumber is coming to fix the dishwasher, the cabinet people are coming to fix... you guess it, the cabinet.  Then I am hopping on a charter bus and heading to Boone.  I am going to watch my Charlotte 49ers play the Appalachain State Mountaineers.  

The Movie of Jon's Life III

Uncle Rege: Sean Connery

Aunt Barb: Florence Henderson

Aunt Annie: Janine Turner 

mom would say before she let herself go

Paula: a special guest appearance by 

Sarah Palin

p.s. The Obama's new dog is going to be a bichon frisse named Whirlpool.