IVAR

Not too far from where I live we have an IKEA warehouse.
I try to avoid going there, but some times I embrace myself and do the grusome deed. They have things that  fit in where I have not found anything elsewhere that slides into my rather eclectic furnished house.
Since I have become quite an IKEA expert, I know that if I can't find anything that fits in the department I expected to find something, I find something somewhere else. Bathroom cabinets are such excellent DVD shelves.

Actually, IKEA as a concept is really unsuitable for me. I do not like to shop, and I am not one of those who go around and falls for inspiring exhibitions. I already know what I am having: I found it on the homepage of IKEA, so I'll just find a parking space, get in, find what I am looking for, pay and go home. I even scan the items and pay by myself at the self-service check out counter. I do not linger because I see something nice and need to make an impulse plan on where I can find space in my house to the whimsical chair or practical dresser.

I like IKEA, but not too much of it, and it's not like as if everything there has the same usefulness. It is cool and colorful and often innovative, but not always .... usable.
For example DVD shelves, which only has room for two rows of DVDs, and the last row is missing 3cm in height, so it fits Gameboy games or CDs, but not DVDs.
Thinking about it now, I guess I have a very ambivalent relationship to IKEA; a "I-hate-to-love-IKEA" sort of relationship.

There is something odd about IKEA. I call it "the IKEA phenomenon". You know how it is when you take a trip to a furniture store: heading there because you need something. You maybe look for a new sofa or a new dining room set, so you go to the store most likely to find it. And you choose from the style and price range you know they are known for.
That's not the case when it comes to IKEA. While I try to get pass the standing still groups of people who block the isle while they are considering items and exhibits as if they are on a fascinating Museum of Art, I hear comments like: "Oh, that one is really fine, wondering where I can find space for it at home? " Or I hear people who negotiate on the phone with somebody, who probably is in charge of the budget, saying "It really is about time we replace the kitchen .. at least the cupboards' interior." People go in a completely different shopping mode than what is typical for them, when they go to IKEA.
Just look at the department of packaging, for instance, it is so wonderfully welcoming that I'm sure there's a lot of people around wondering where to store all the gift bags and ribbon ties they have purchased. It was so affordable and easy to grab, and ever so delightfully displayed.

But, and to me this is a huge drawback: the  IKEA warehouse is huge! And will be larger. And there are no shortcuts ... or there is one but it is not particularly short. To not lose direction, you have to follow the arrows on the floor to guide you through the entire warehouse! (OK, Through the years I've become a rather experienced IKEA customer, so I know where I can shorten the round trip, but still.)

Nevertheless, I feel like I must wander about for half an eternity to find the ingenious storage for plastic bags. I know it is a quick thing to sew one yourself, but waiting for time and inspiration to actually find the sewing machine, and actually sew, I know from experience I have to wait for a long time, so instead I buy a gadget at IKEA for less than what the thread would cost me.

And in this case I buy cheap with good conscience because IKEA after all has a social profile.

1991 was the year I moved into an apartment I paid the rent for myself. Where I grew up it is all about sturdy local furniture production. Rock Solid wood furniture with everlasting quality. There is still furniture production. Sunnmøre has not flagged out everything... yet?
But I  didn't buy rock solid local products from Sunnmøre. I moved to Stavanger, and discovered IKEA.

When I get around to paint it all,
 in one color, it will look just great!

When I saw the need of storage space the choice fell on a section named IVAR. I did not know it then, but it was then, and remains still, a smashing good decision.
Maybe not the prettiest, but definitely the most flexible and practical.

Several vanful of furniture, and 24 years, later, I still have my IVAR section.

I have paint stained, sanded, painted and used different parts through the years. And it has served different storage purposes, but now, for the last few years, it has been stacked around the house in anticipation of the carport with storage room.

Last year I got my carport .... with storageroom. Finally.
A few weeks ago my students leveled the floor, and I've set up my cherished IVAR section.

Now the layout looks a little different, and got bigger, because I use all the parts I have. But to get it complete I had to go back to IKEA to buy some more shelves. That's right: 24 years after I invested in my first gables and shelves IKEA is still selling IVAR section and it is still compatible. They have gone from metal to plastic on the shelves, but gables, pins (some 5 cm long metal splints) and measurements are still the same.

Monday night, after 8 o'clock; that's the best time to go there. Then the young families have gone home to get the kids to bed and start assemble everything flat-packed they have purchased and brought back into their home.

I was lucky at the parking lot and rushed inside. thought I'd get away purchasing the shelves I lacked in shortest possible time .... and discovered I had made a cardinal mistake! I felt so stupid! I had not noted down the product number of the items.
Now, I would have had to trottle into the departments at 2nd floor anyway, because the kid wanted storage for plastic bags, but still.

Slightly crestfallen I found the right department and the shelf sections and looked around for help, but there was noone. BUT, I found a stack of sheets. A white folded sheet, where all parts are depicted with measurements and product number. Almost identical to what I had 24 years ago, only now are there some additional products. A new cabinets, bottle stand, hang basket and some shorter shelves.

At the computer station I found section number and shelf number on all the things I wanted ... except the short shelves, which were sold out.

I picked up what I was having, paid and loaded everything into the car.

And then ... I went back in.

Alas. I was not going for pizza, soft-ice or sausages ... not crispbread or coffee either ... although grinding coffee at IKEA gives me a blissful sense of well being when I stand there in an air of coffee grinded just as coarse or fine as I want it. There is something almost therapeutic about the smell of freshly ground coffee.

No, I had a mission inside the returns and exchanges department.
Fact is that over the years I have lost some of the pins.

There was no queue. No one who needed a trailer or wanted to exchange the mattress because the one they bought was too small.

A nice young man named Espen listened to me patiently before he began searching. With his head inside a cupboard behind the counter he asks: "How many do you need?" Slightly uneasy I answered "30".
He turns and asks, "you said 30?".
I give him the entire IVAR-story (very patient young man, Espen). He nods and says into the cupboard: "Actually, I have the opportunity to give you 9 only, but you are lucky, we have plenty".

So I got 30 pieces, paid 5 dollars, and smiled from ear to ear.
I would probably have been able to find an alternative, but it's okay to have the original parts, I think.

The IVAR section matched in the booth as if the booth was made to order.
When I get time I will paint the entire section and get it in one color, just because it looks neater. And then it becomes pretty, and it feels nicer to keep order.

When I found and brought out the last module of the section, a dresser, I could hear a rattling sound inside one of the drawers. Under a pile of colored drawing sheets lay 30 pins...

No, not really interesting, just a whole lot of other nothings.

Someone asked me: "Done anything interesting these last few days?" I sat there thinking through my routines, habits and doings, and I was totally sincere when I replied: "I never do anything interesting. I am pretty boring like that; I'm caught in everyday life, being busy doing a bunch of nothings all day long, just like everybody else."

Then I started to think my day through; What was my last 24 hours really like? What happened that made me remember the day as gone by just as sudden as a wink of an eye?

Well: Yesterday I woke up in panic. I had overslept. I have never been late for work, except for one year we had two days with snow and icy roads. Traffic just didn't move at all. I was late... but so were my students. Anyway, I have been on time for years and years, I wasn't going to be late now.

I am not really the kind of person who occupy the bathroom in the morning for an extensive length of time. I use very little make up and my hair is just straight and, well, not hair I need to spend time on. But I like to feel fresh...  my routines this morning went by in the speed of lightening, as opposed to my usual sedate listless speed.

I woke my youngest son up, made his breakfast and lunch and walked the dog while he got ready for school. When I got back from the walk I gathered my bags, and his bags and extra pair of shoes and a hat, got it all in the car and off we went.

I dropped my son off at the before- and after school program, and drove to work. I didn't even take time to stop at the gas station and grab my free cup of coffee, which I do every morning. I consider that elixir of life, and enjoy sipping to it while driving to work. It is how I get ready for the day ahead: driving to work. sipping coffee and thinking through the day's logistics.

I got a bit puzzled as I pulled up outside work: there were no cars at the parking lot.Usually we compete about the parking spaces... we, who teach at the remote department from the main schoolbuilding, rent parking spaces. We get a good price, though, but the fit, working out, tattooed Hells Angels-like, rough guys at the gym upstairs usually beat us to them. They don't pay for parking, why should they? There are free parking space, noone's car is there when they arrive.
Usually I have to park my car illegally during first lesson, waiting for the guys upstairs to finish their work out before work and take off. (Some times I run up the stairs and call out to whoever feels the shoe fits to move their car. Or... or... or else I will be very cross!)
A glance at the clock made me look twice: one hour early!

My poor 8-year old told me later I had treated him badly. Very badly! He arrived at the before- and after school program, and the door was locked. Because he thought maybe he was late as well, he walked to the school, only to find noone was there... so he walked back to the before- and after school program, and was the first kid to arrive that morning. He is never that early, so they asked him why he was so early and he told them we overslept... even he picked up on the strange looks the staff gave eachother.

On Wednesdays we always have meetings after classes. This Wednesday we were summoned to teamwork on evaluation- and curriculum. My team members were not present, they were scattered around doing other things; One was making a set of suggestions to exams, another was at the hospital supporting her daughter who was in labour.... you know: there are numerous perfectly good reasons why it is inconvenient to show up for teamwork.

My "teamwork" involved talking to coworkers who were supposed to engage in their own team's activity, and then I had a unit's meeting all by myself. Very efficient, but not very creative. Not quite sure what came out of it was of great quality either.

Came home from work, and charged my mobile phone while cooking dinner. It was low on power because I had been trying to update and upgrade the software all day, but didn't have enough space.

Went to my youngest son's schoolplay on Torbjørn Egner's "People and Robbers of Cardamom Town", which was a wonderful, very impressive show. I am so in awe over those teachers who make the young 8-year old pupils behave and act and remember the lyrics to songs and manuscript.

A couple of weeks ago my son wanted to fix his own costume. He was Jonathan, one of the robbers.
When he came downstairs and showed me what he was going to wear, the little rascal had found a pair of scissors and cut holes in a perfectly fine shirt and a pair of trousers.
He looked smashing!

So the show started and I had placed myself in a great spot for good shots... guess what: I had power enough, but not enough space, and I realised this when my videocam on the mobile shut down, just in time for my son to go on stage.  In panic I started to delete a lot of photos I had duplicates of, but I didn't get that done in time to record his performance.

Well at home again it was bedtime for my proud actor. I didn't have the heart to tell him my camera failed. I have always recorded all their performances, and I have always recorded the entire show. My mobile phone is just wonderful like that: LOTS of space and excellent quality on both picture and sound.

It took me quite a while to realize there was no hot water.
For many months there were countless attempts to get hold of our plumber. I sent text messages, emails, called him.... absolutely no response. My efforts to get hold of him were met by dead silence.

I found it very annoying because we had an annual service deal with him, and paid quite well for it too. Months went by, I gave up and contacted another plumber who was willing to take on the maintenance of the entire water and gas installation.
BUT, he was on a vacation and will not be back for another three weeks.

At 23:30 I sent a text to a friend of mine and asked if he knew about a plumber who was top notch and available to fix my problem the next day. An hour later I got an sms from a man I had never heard about before saying: "I will be there at 6, if you are not up by then, please leave the key under your mat".
I was up well before 6.

While waiting for a reply from my friend about the plumber, I sent text messages to other parents I knew had been filming the schoolplay and got hold of the scene I was missing. I transferred the pictures and videos on my phone to my laptop... and suddenly the software started updating too! (I know, I should at least have suspected memory was that low on space.)

Anything interesting? No, not really. Just a busy day doing a whole lot of everyday-nothings.
Hobbies? I have loads, and one day I will have time on my hands to try them out... meanwhile I keep trying to learn how to write.