I should have been packing

I just got back from seeing Slumdog Millionaire. Yes, I should have been packing, but at least I got a fair bit of work done.

On Saturday I went and bought myself a bed. My method, like most things in my life of late, was hurried and poorly timed. I had already checked out a store near my soon-to-be-former apartment and decided that I was going to buy a bed there. I could get a regular one for $250. Last Friday I went to a Sleep Country USA store and ended up offending the only guy working there when I told him I was looking for a bed under $300. Apparently the only bed that fit my price range had springs poking me in the back. "Well, you get what you pay for," was what the salesman told me. By then he had lost interest in me. Most likely, I wasn't going to bring him his much desired commission. It would serve him right if I went back there and slapped him with a Julia-Roberts-Pretty-Woman moment, huh?

Maybe someday.

So there I was in the other store - the one where I planned to buy a bed. I had figured I'd better lay down on one just to make sure it was going to work for me. Hell, they let me do it at Sleep Country and that guy didn't even like me! I panicked, though, when I saw that almost all of the beds had been sold. There were still plenty of twin size beds, but I would like my next bed to be a bit bigger!

So I did what I normally do. I slapped down the money without a plan.

My roommate had already told me that his daughter was using his van this weekend. He had also told me that she'd be done with it by Sunday. So when the store told me they'd only hold the bed for 24 hours, I was hopeful that my roommate wouldn't let me down.

He later told me that even if he could get me the van by Sunday, it is already so full of his shit that I probably couldn't get my new purchase in there anyway. So I called UHAUL and reserved a van for today. At the hourly rate, it would only cost me $10. My roommate did promise that he'd help me move the bed into storage where it will sit until moving day next week.

Today, I went to rent the van. Apparently, when you rent at the hourly rate from UHAUL, your hour starts when you start filling out paperwork. By the time we were done, he told me I had 40 minutes! Also, because I opted out of the insurance (hey, I'm a school bus driver - I think I know a little something about driving larger vehicles) they charged me $80 right off the bat. I was told that I would be refunded the remainder after the actual total was calculated when the van was returned. But we all know how quickly refunds are given back. They are definitely much slower than the charges.

I hurried to the store to pick up the bed. Of course, two other customers with furniture purchases had arrived just before me. Their workers had to load three beds into the back of one pickup and a crib into the back of another. The whole time I was eyeing the clock like a student counting down the minutes until the school bell rings.

When I finally got the bed "home", my roommate was nowhere to be found. I later discovered that he'd gone to a gun show in Pullayup and didn't even have the decency to get shot! I would have accepted that excuse rather than "Oh, yeah, I forgot." So I had to move the bed from the van into storage by myself.

Have you ever moved a queen size bed? By yourself? Maybe I should have gotten the twin size...

I got the van back to UHAUL with 5 minutes to spare. I even forgot to top off the tank, but since I had only driven it a total of 3 miles, the guy didn't even notice. Seeing as how they have still technically charged me $80 to rent the damn thing (as of yet, the "refund" is still not there) I don't feel bad about getting away with that.

I did a little more packing today and a lot of throwing away. I think that has been my biggest accomplishment in all this: throwing junk away.

I turned on the Oscars and remembered that I still have two free movie tickets to use before they expire on February 28th. Time is definitely running out. I had been wanting to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire, so I decided to head down the hill to the new theater that charges $10 for a movie. It's not like I'd be paying for it anyway.
I even had a $5 concession stand coupon which I used to buy egg rolls. Can you believe that? You can get egg rolls at the theater. Well, at least I think you can...

The guy behind the register told me it would take ten minutes to "prepare" them. When I told him I would rather get my seat, he told me that they can take your items to the theater for you when they're ready. I told him my theater number and waited for my egg rolls.

And waited.

And waited.

They never did come, but I didn't let that ruin the fantastic movie. Slumdog Millionaire was REALLY great! Dev Patel is cute, too! Not surprisingly, when I turned my phone back on after the movie and sent a text to my friend, he told me that it won the Best Picture Oscar while I was watching it. I really didn't know what to expect with the movie. I knew the general premise, but was unprepared for the crazy life that kid had to live to get where he did. I liked the way the questions on the game show helped tell his life story.

Did I mention that Dev Patel is cute?

After the movie, I went back to the concession stand to inquire about my egg rolls. Though I didn't have a receipt, they believed me and gave me back $5. I guess somewhere in the back my egg rolls had been sitting on a counter somewhere. Or maybe the guy ended up eating them. At least I got my $5 back. Or at least the $5 from the concession coupon...hehehe

Okay, I should now get ready for bed. I still have so much left to do as far as packing. I probably shouldn't have gone to see the movie, but I am glad that I did, anyway.