Category: 05 – Getting Settled

Four Decades to go around full Circle

Posted on by Adventurer

The “new normal”, that we are all enjoying right now, makes me reflect more on where I’ve come from, where I am, and where I’m headed with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The past nine months felt a little bit like being reborn, and a very familiar feeling for that matter – I’ve been reborn at least once before, in 2006.

I had to leave my home, my job, many of my friends, things that I’d grown attached to, and habits that I’d formed once again – all that just to go back to live in the same house that I left over fourty years ago, hoping to become an even better person, hoping to build an even better life, and helping others along the way.

As I laid in my bed one night, just before falling asleep, this image of my younger self popped into my mind: my head had been in the exact same place – just my feet were pointing South back then, while they are pointing East now.

So, you tell me, has anything even changed while I was busy changing myself and the circumstances?

Karin 1979 and 2019Life is good

Our liberties will hopefully return some day

Happiness is the one thing we personally control

Posted in 05 - Getting Settled

IKEA – not just furniture, it’s a lifestyle

Posted on by Adventurer

Living in Germany for almost half a century gave me sufficient exposure to IKEA furniture to be beyond thrilled when I discovered, that the company had expanded their reach into the USA. There’s even an IKEA within less than two hours driving from where I live now. I have yet to visit that store, but while I wait for an occasion to drive there, I can simply have my purchase delivered via FedEx.

My department recently moved into beautiful, newly renovated office space with a striking lack of book shelves. So, after searching local stores and the usual big online retailers, I found myself falling back on my trusted old friend from a previous life. IKEA has a stunning variety of modular office furniture. It was easy to find something in their catalog that matches the color scheme of my new cubicle, and doesn’t break the bank.

building an IKEA cabinetBig part of the past Saturday was spent crawling around on the living room floor, assembling these boards into book shelves. Following along with the familiar instruction booklets full of drawings, but hardly any words, made me feel young again. Nothing really changed since I built my first “Billy” bookcase, over thirty years ago. That old shelf, by the way, is still standing in my bedroom today.

I hauled the pre-assembled furniture modules to work yesterday. They just needed a few brackets mounted on the backside, to keep them together. Now that my books and binders sit on display in style, this office feels almost like home.

Life is good!three IKEA eket modules

Posted in 05 - Getting Settled

Senior Dog Safety

Posted on by Adventurer

Armani, our black labrador chow-chow rescue dog, is twelve years old now. He has slowed down noticeably, sometimes limps a little bit, and lately he seems to have a hard time walking on laminate or hardwood floors in our house. Last Saturday he slipped and fell hard on his right hip. After that he had absolutely no use of his right hind leg for a day or two. He was just dragging that behind himself, hobbling around the back yard on three legs.

We had to do something fast, so we bought eight rugs and plastered the hallway, dining room, and kitchen with them, so Armani could walk around there without making contact with any hard floor. That worked, but I really didn’t like the way it looked. The dining room had three different colors of unmatched rugs laid out. Amazon to the rescue! I ordered one square 9ft. by 9ft. area rug for the dining room, and another one 10ft. by 13ft. for the living room.

area rugThe square rug arrived Wednesday, and we laid it down today. I love it! Safety and style are not mutually exclusive.

Posted in 05 - Getting Settled