furniture

The next four/five months/years

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If this Duke tenure lasts four years, that would be terrific. Unfortunately, I’ll be working under the three-month temp label, which I know should be insignificant, but until I go perm, I’ll be worried. And I’ll be worried today, that I’ll find out I’m in way over my head.

Meanwhile, I could’ve slept an extra hour. As I typed the above, I got a call from Melinda from Kelly. I don’t need to be there until 9:00. I now have an extra hour to kill. I’ll get some coffee and a yummy pastry at Caribou.

Geez, it’s been 12 years since I had my first first day at Duke.

Can’t sit around the apartment and pick up cat hair on my first-day polo shirt.

Not driving three hours. Will be home tonight. Yay.
– Another first day at Duke.2005.07.05

And my tenure working for OIT at Duke University lasted for four years. It lasted for 5 ⅓ years, obliterating the spans I spent at previous jobs and winding up well over a year longer than my undergraduate tenure there.

This is not the time to write about my tenure working at Duke. It’s end was necessary, but sad, nonetheless.

I am frankly petrified about my new job. I should have a lot on my plate, and I look forward to that. But I’ve got another plate to contend with…a heavy plate that I carry three times a week called dialysis. How these two significant time commitments will coexist, I still do not know. Between HR’s unwillingness to address the issue during the window of the last three weekds, and my dialysis facility’s unwillingness to level with me concerning realistic shift options, I don’t know what my schedule for even tomorrow will be.

Must try to get some sleep, though I know that, since the age of five, I don’t get much sleep the night before The First Day of &;.

…

I put together my new IKEA coffee table today. I was pleased with myself for that. It’s a massive toy for the cats; I know they appreciate it.

I also spray-painted the light-wood-colored Mission-style plant holder. It was a…I don’t know the color…but now it is black. This shall be a black living room, with some hints of brown. Like this really matters, given the average of 2.84 people who see this living room on average in a given month.

Aremid new coffee table bw

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Unnecessary remodeling

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This was perfectly fine (when it was kept clean and orderly):

Living room (with Aremid) (2)
(March 2007)

Of course, it wasn’t kept clean and orderly. Three months after I moved in was the peak of cleanliness and organization for the bungalow. A lifetime propensity towards disorder and a little kidney failure will present some home maintenance challenges.

I eventually rearranged stuff, particularly when I got a Wii and a Wii Fit that I thought necessitated some more open floor space in front of the television. Unfortunately, after a few months of Wii Fit playing, I had an arm surgery or two and never got back in the habit. I eventually sold the Wii.

I decided I was tired of my bulky coffee table and had always wanted an ottoman, so I bought a nice leather storage bench from Costco.

Herman Zellouisa and living room 2010.03.07
(March 2010)

Then my Russian neighbor split town and insisted that I take/buy (it’s complicated) her black leather couch, which clashes with the brown leather ottoman.

Herman and Aremid 2010.04.10
(April 2010)

I sold the old couch and loveseat for a bargain price to someone on Craigslist.

Aremid - new chair - 1

A few months ago, I added an IKEA chair and footrest. I could have chosen one of many wood and cushion combinations, but I chose a chair and footrest with black wood frames and brown leather cushions, as an attempt to bridge the brown and black I had in my living room. It kinda worked.

But then I was back at IKEA last week, and I decided I was done with the ottoman experiment. I found a black coffee table. And a matching black bookcase. And a matching black sofa table. And I will incorporate all of those into the latest living room revision, ideally, this weekend.

The brown ottoman and the coffee table are now on Craigslist.

But, really, how everything looked 3 ½ years ago was perfectly fine.

Home decor inquiries

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If you’ve seen my pet pictures, you know what my living room furniture looks like.
Loveseat

I’ve got a couch and loveseat, both generous hand-me-downs from when my friend J got married. The pets obviously love the furniture. I, at the age of 34, have still never bought a new couch. Given that my pets spend half their waking hours on my couches, that may have been a smart thing.
Zellouisa Cat Napping - 09-07-08

I have a neighbor who is about to leave town. She has a nice black leather couch. I agreed to help her sell this couch, but then she offered to sell it to me at a very reasonable price.

Question 1. Would it be absolutely appalling to have both the black leather sofa and my old loveseat in the same room? My sister thinks so. I can see her point.

Question 2. Would it be absolutely appalling to have both the black leather sofa and my only-one-year-old brown leather ottoman in the same room? My sister thinks so. I can see her point, here, too.
Herman, broken laptop, ottoman
The obvious solution is not to keep this black leather couch that I don’t really need, but it is somewhat of an upgrade, and some change would be nice.

Since I just about never have anyone over, should I ever care if my furniture clashes? I mean, given the other problems I’ve got, is this worth stressing about? Then again, since it’s something within my control, should I try to get it right?

UPDATE Oh, so here’s a picture of the neighbor’s couch, which is still in her apartment, because we could not figure out how to get it out her front door. This little problem may make this all moot.