Practical things that The Sycamores could use...
 

...and remember, Rho and I both have birthdays coming up.

These aren't really needed...we've lived without them for this long. But they would actually be nice to have, very functional, and well used.

--Paper Shredder: I meant to look into one of these tonight, but forgot. I'm very careful about destroying pertinent stuff, but a shredder would be so much easier and faster than using scissors.

--End tables: Nothing fancy, just a couple for...

--Lamps: For the first time in the 4 years Rho and I have lived together, we actually have a light that is strictly for the living room. (The new halogen lamp I just bought. Previous to this, the dining room light has functioned as light for the living room.)

--A queen-sized bed: I had a full-sized bed when I lived in St. Louis. We soon realized that a full-sized bed was not going to work for very long for the two of us. With the way Rho thrashes around, I finally had to start sleeping in the living room...that was a year ago.

--New CD displays: I have this old CD tower that stores 200 CDs, and a couple of other racks that I've picked up to hold what is now a 433-disc collection. Rho has about 300, most of which are in two large boxes. I'd like to have a bookcase-like setup for them, so that they're easier to access.

I have a PayPal account if you wish to donate $$$. :)

When you go to buy a bed, remember this: <b>everything in life is a negotiation</b>. What they're asking is never what they'll settle for, and only suckers pay it. I got my queen size for $725 down from an asking price of $1,300 (on sale from $2,000, of course - it's a Serta Perfect Sleeper). A good tactic is "give it to me for $xxx and <b>I'll buy it now</b>" - that one always seems to work. They'll haggle it, of course, but if you hold your ground, you should be good to go.

I'm kinda wary of buying used mattresses, but you can always go that route too and save a boatload of money.

Our Sealy got old pretty fast so now we got a Serta. Pillow-top. It's the shiat!

We got it from http://us-mattress.com which has a nice Serta comparison guide that explains some of the innards, better than other stores. We got the Ashland, which is 9.5 on their comfort scale. And it is, oh my ghod, everything they say it is. My fat ass has never been so carefully cradled, least not since I was a tod.

Oh yeah, and used -- I could never go that way. Man, people got weird microbes and shit! All their dead flaky skin falls off and becomes food for parasitic dust mites! And they smell bad and have disgusting personal habits. Nope, I could never buy a used mattress unless it was someone I knew well or a family member or something.

Yeah, almost as good as "I'll buy it now" is "I'll pay cash". That way they don't have to pay the credit card transaction fees.

Paper shredders are a lot more expensive than you'd think. A decent one is like 40 bucks. What the fuck.

Serta Perfect sleeper, Queen size, montage plush firm. DAMN.
The man and I were a bit dazzed in the showroom by the endless mattress options and felt unable to trust our instincts during the initial comparisons. This was a big purchase for us and what if we pick a dud?.....ack! (We were moving up from the double bed with the sink hole in the middle.)

We needed a strategy. So we went to a bar. Had some scotch, got loosened up, tuned into our hedonistic comfort, and came back to the store. Flopped from bed to bed. We honed in on our mattress within 10 minutes. Waking up enough to complete the transaction was the new challenge.

Best tip for us: get the split box spring- the solid one would have never made it up our staircase. Also if you ever move, you'll be glad for it.

Nothing is better than a good bed. Well worth the investment.

I'm a pretty lucky bastard in this regard because my wife has a good friend who works in a Sealy mattress warehouse. They had an extra pillow-top king size mattress and box springs laying around so they gave us a set as a wedding present.

The mattress doesn't match the box springs, but getting a $1200 set for $0 helped compensate for that. :)

We're on a futon with a soft core. Works for us but the things get compacted over time if you don't roll them up once in a while. I've never been keen on the whole mattress program but maybe I was never paying enough to get the right support. Either way I'm comfortable on the futon so I aina gonna change.

Almost any Mom and Pop outfit will give you the cash discount. My Mother-in-law (self employed artist) was just notified that she qualifies for a class action suit over cc company shenanigans. The suit is being lead by Wal-Mart but the little guys are along for the ride as well.

IKEA!

Except the DMV, right?

We looked at some beds last year...Jesus Christ! Those motherfuckers are expensive. We have a discount furniture store down the hill from the apartment, and we keep threatening to go over there and look around. They have pretty good stuff and pretty good deals.

Check out UT's link above, first. Good to know what you're doing.;)

Once you get used to it futons rock - whether you go hardcore - 6 layers of cotton or get some padding as well it's a great way to go.

Does take a while to get used to it though..

Who's Jimmy?

This is Jimmy.

Man, that is so sad. What a beautiful family.

My condolences, friend.