Random Things: I promise not to do this too often.

I have a zillion things running through my mind and I need to get them off my chest, so here goes nothing:

• Penny Markt, home of Happy End toilet paper, is selling a Coca-Cola duvet and pillow cover set for 20€ this week. I want a set and I made a plan to go buy one today after work, but then it occurred to me that I already have five duvet and pillow cover sets. How many more do I actually need? Regularly I only use one set at a time, and I have three duvets that can be stuffed into the covers. I suppose I could use all five at once (leaving duvets out of two) and using couch pillows for overnight guests, but… still.. a sixth set? I must continue to resist—although with my luck Penny Markt has already sold out.
• When I was in Turkey earlier this year I bought a bunch of spices that were reserved for Berlin only. I finally bought spice bottles and (for lack of a better word) decanted the spices into the cute bottles. Now all I need to do is get creative in the kitchen. Of course the kitchen needs to be fixed first, so hold that thought for a couple more weeks.
• The cable outlet for my apartment is located in about the worst possible spot. I’m pleased to report that today I started nailing the cable to the wall so that I won’t trip over it whist walking across the living room. I got about half way done before I decided to continue the project another day. Tomorrow is another day. So is next week. That said I did put the hammer on the chair that I sit on most often to remind myself. Right now I’m sitting on my couch avoiding the hammer.
• I’m going to WEBUM (the Whiney Expatriate Blogger Unmissable Meet-up) this weekend up in Hamburg and I’m supposed to lead That Queer Expatriate’s Queer Expedition on Saturday evening. However my research so far has been half-assed and I have the name of one bar—I hope it works or I’m screwed. Perhaps I should get a map of Hamburg and plot Hamburg gay bars. Yeah, that would be a good idea.
• My washer/dryer in one machine is wonderful, for the most part. What fascinates me the most about the machine is how long it takes to finish any given task. Say, for example, I have it drying stuff and it counts down from 60 minutes to zero—zero is actually only the end of something. It usually takes another 15 or 20 minutes before the machine decides for itself that it’s finished. Until then the door is locked. Same issue when the machine is done washing clothing—there’s usually a 15 or 20 minute period before it unlocks the door—it’s not that it’s doing nothing, it turns the drug once every three or four minutes.
• In the mornings I find myself hypnotized by my new commute to work. I have the vague feeling that one morning I will ride my bus past the stop for my office and end up having to walk back. The bus ride is actually quite pleasant, as long as I miss the bus run that is filled with middle-school aged children—although they get off the bus about half way to the office.
• I went to Ikea yesterday on a shopping Sunday: What. A. Madhouse. On the plus side I am almost done with my decorative purchases. I have two or three more large items to buy and then I’ll be done—plus the lamp for my hallway, but due to return policies I am not buying that until right before the handyman comes. On the minus side Germans who are allowed into the shops on Sunday behave like this is the only day that they are allowed into the stores and consequently the lines were unbelievably long. Actually they weren’t—the self-check-out machines were a breeze. What was unbelievably long was the queue for 1€ hot dogs. It had to take at least 20 minutes from joining the queue to getting to the front. I skipped.

There are probably more things that I could write about, but I think that I’ve timed it just right. By the time I finish posting this, the towel’s drying cycle will be over.