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04/21/2003 Entry: "Weekend Wrapup - Easter: Ikea, Legos, and Candy" This weather had been crazy on my joints and asthma. Most of the weekend I was lying down, trying to breathe normally. It was a miserable way to end a week off. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another. I am 34, and complaining about a string of health problems like I am 80. I have been reflecting this week off, and while I got a lot of stuff done, like yardwork and finances, I didn't get as much stuff as I would have liked done. I am at work now, wating for my department manager to answer a question about a project that's been a big PITA for years. Saturday, we went to Ikea to get CR some new furniture. I was very happy I stayed within budget, and I got him some nice things. Ikea used to be part of Potomac Mills Mall, but they got so overcrowded, that they moved out, doubled their floor space, and then added a second floor on top of that. It's "ginormous," a word someone on a board made up once, and I use a lot. It's a combination of gigantic and enormous. Ikea is simply ginormous. And it made me miss Sweden, too, even though it's not terribly Swedish, really. I mean, apart from the names of the stuff, it looks just like some cheap furniture warehouse. The names always get me. I know they are all Scandinavian, with a mixture of Swedish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian, but there are so many names that sound like nonsense words small children would make up like "Firp" and "Glorg" and "Lista" and "Besok" and "Ocrit" and "Marf." I also got some Marabou, crisp breads, and other "godis" as the Swedes say. We got CR a new computer desk, chair, chair mat, 4-drawer dresser, 3 lamps, and two more rolling end tables. Our Saturn wagon has a flat tire, so we had to have the stuff shipped to our home, and it arrives today (Monday). The last time we did this, it was in September of 2000, when we moved into our new house. I recall half the stuff was missing hardware, and I sort of expect the same thing to happen again. Luckily, when I got new hardware last time, I saved it for the future. After Ikea, we went to Potomac Mills Mall to the Lego Outlet store, which for me is like Mecca. I didn't spend a whole lot, I am not sure why. I could have, but money has been good lately, so my mind goes, "Uh oh ... trouble ahead." Every bad financial disaster in my life have been preceded by a boon. Everything is paid off except my mortgage, of course, so I am very wary ... like when the enemy suddenly stops shooting at you. What's coming? But back to Lego. I got a cell phone caddy, which is hysterical because for YEARS since I have gotten my first cell phone, I have been wandering around, trying to find a case that fits it that will attach to my belt. When knew Lego made one? I got a black one, and it has a big zippered Lego... "nub," I guess you would call it, on the front. I also got a blue CD case for my LINUX disks. I also got a small Alpha-team set (Ogel's Manta Ray Ship - on sale), a keychain of a racecar driver (I call him "Marf"), and a small "Pepper" Brickster figurine. CR got a Mars Rover set, also on sale. I really wanted to buy the Mindstorms 2.0 set, but I have better ways to spend $200 these days, sadly. But the Lego outlet has tons of Legos not found in the US, or only in Japan, their catalog, and so on. Easter came and went. I was in bed most of the day, controlling my breathing. The pollen is really bad this year. I ate Easter candy. Christine made a great dinner. We watched "The Ten Commandments," and it's weird, I haven't seen that movie in a while, but it seems so different now. For example, I think Moses was set up, and I felt sorry for him. If even a smidgen of the Bible is true, I wouldn't want to be Moses in any of those situations. The Old Testament God sure is a meanie. Probably missing hardware from his Ikea Fnid nightstand...