Getting the Chair...

It started because my wife wanted a new recliner. She had grown tired of the foam deteriorating from under our current recliner, also known as the place Dad sleeps. IT had served us well for the past 6 or 7 years, and deserved a new home or at least not me.

We looked at various furniture places, and as before, Sandy does not want leather which does limit our choices, and we both would like a “reasonably priced” piece, not one where we need a second mortgage just to buy it.

We looked at cheap, but they were just that, cheap. We looked at expensive, but it was insane and most of them are too large for our little house. Finally, we went to Lazyboy, and if we looked at sale items, we found fabric and comfort and good pricing as well. We did not find Brooke Shields, but she can’t be everywhere (she is their spokesperson if you see TV much).

We ordered it and paid for it and had a three week wait, but it arrived last week. No IKEA for us this time, but we did choose to pick it up rather than have it delivered because my wife is always certain everything will fit in the car and it will save us money of course (although it turns out maybe not).

We drove out to pick it up in Burlington, some 20 minutes away. There is no delivery per se, but they place it on a loading platform and the salesperson opens the loading gate for you to get it from four or five feet in the air down to your car.

It arrived in a box! The box would have been a good home for a homeless person as it was that big. There was no way that box was going in the car but we struggled to try and have it fit. That being a bust, we opened the box and pulled out the two pieces of the chair? What two pieces, this is not IKEA, things come together (if you have them delivered they do!) “No worries”, we’re told, “the pieces just slide into each other when you get it home”. This was a standard line given to all surprised customers who are dumb enough to carry it home.

Off we go home, and between ourselves we carry in the smaller part (easy) and the larger base part, much more difficult because of its width. We have to manoeuvre through the front doorway but it all goes pretty well. We try and slide the pieces together and no way will this thing go. We read an attached brochure and try to follow directions, but not happening! I go to their web site and download the instructions, print them out and try again. Nothing!

We work at bending steel parts but we still seem to be about one half of an inch apart. We call the saleswoman and she says it’s not that hard, you need screwdrivers on both sides and bend it together and it will work. No way! On top of it all, if we tear it, it will be our fault and the warranty will be void.

We call again and say we are bringing it back, now! They try and convince us not to, but we decided it’s theirs if we can’t get it to work.

We struggle the parts into the car again, through the door, and off we go back to Burlington.  My wife goes in and I wait, and then we bring it around to the loading platform, once again, and raise it back up in the air so it is in their space.

The saleswoman can’t get a technician but finds a very charming older salesperson who says he can do this, and with much struggling, he does! He admits this is the hardest one he has ever seen, but once together it will never come apart anyway.

We work it back into the car with his help as it is now larger because it’s together, and it just fits.

We come home and get it into the house through the door with lots of struggle and help from my daughter who is sorry she is home at this time.

It’s in place as of now, with much struggle and two trips back and forth to Burlington.

If we had paid the $75 to deliver it, it probably would have been cheaper and certainly much easier.

I will not do this again.

This is a good one to sleep in as well.

And my daughter needed an entrepreneur….

And my daughter needed an entrepreneur….

The call came through my wife. My daughter, for a graduate course in entrepreneurship needed to interview an entrepreneur.  Did we know any?

Often my kids have asked for information from people we know or about people we know. This one, being it was long distance (not so long but she wasn’t around here) was a thought provoking one. Who was an entrepreneur? Was my next door neighbour, an optometrist, an entrepreneur because he had his own company as opposed to working for an optometrist? Is our dentist one? The list began to grow.

Should I feel bad because I wasn’t one? How about my cousins who had three women’s clothing stores that closed in the 80’s, would they count? The list continued.

When I sent it off to my daughter, there were many names and categories and descriptors involved.

She asked questions. Would my cousins do since they were no longer in business? Does old entrepreneurial knowledge still count? Would the lessons of the 80’s still hold up in today’s world?

The professor said they didn’t have to be in the fashion business even though my daughter’s program was fashion management. My fashion knowledge stemmed from my father’s time in the business, the 40’s through the 60’s, not exactly current, or was it? Do business ideas continue through time? How would I know?

In the end, I came up with the most entrepreneurial people I know, a couple in many businesses, but advertising and marketing seems to be the focus. Lately they have turned to health related coaching and weight management as their focus. OK, I have no idea what they really do, but they have seemed to make a living out of it for the past 25 to 30 years. My daughter made the decision to call them.

She called Jay Jacobs, who is accompanied in this photo by his daughter Jennifer and wife Kim and formerly Biggest Losers Jillian Michaels.  Jay and his daughter were on Biggest Loser Season 11.

Since this is not my journalism daughter, I will probably never read what she wrote or answered, so I will never know what it was about. However, as a parent, it warms my heart to see my daughter helped by friends. I would do the same for others and pay it forward if asked. Once in a while I’m asked for help with internships or co-ops and have tried my best to do my duty. It’s wonderful to see someone else do the same.

We’re all in this life together.

Postman

Many years ago, while sitting at the home of our Board Chairman, I noticed that above me on the wall a painting of the Van Gogh Postman. He did several of them (I’ve now seen four) but finding one above my head was amazing!

As I stared, I realized the fat paint parts were probably dry, but oil paint, as I had learned as a student, never really dries. So being bold (and having had a few drinks),  I asked if I could touch it. When asked why, I explained about the oil paint and that this would never be in private hands again as it was willed to the Detroit Institute of Art eventually and therefore, what chance would I ever have again to touch it?

I touched it and It did seem dry, even though it looked wet, and scientifically would probably always be wet.

Last Saturday I was at the Cleveland Museum of Art for a Van Gogh show and in front of me, behind glass, was an old friend, the postman! I smiled and walked over and said to the painting, “I’m back, and like I said the last time, I’ll never be able to touch you again!”

Strange Breakfast Arrivals

My friend is retired and sits around a lot and thinks of things to do. He takes a lot of baths I am told (I never go and see) and he reads the paper and looks at the stocks on line. He is constantly rebuilding his house so his wife will get a better price for it when he dies. He worries about popcorn ceilings and door mouldings and such, way too much.

He is a great gardener, and grows some stuff that he doesn’t like so I can get it. We encourage him to keep it going. I like Swiss Chard, and we gets tons!

One of his pet projects is muffin making. He is good at it and every now and then we receive mysterious bags of baked goods in our vestibule. We usually find them within the day and they don’t often have to sit out overnight.

Here are two bags, each with a few muffins, and they are the result of a man with way too much time on his hands. The bags, you will notice, are quite greasy, just like the good old days of donut purchases before the modern age. I have translated the writing, as seem below.

Breakfast Muffin with one change

Used with the addition of Montreal corn beef Deli on Eglington Ave in Mississauga

I got dispensation from the Rabbi.

Pear and Pecan

Do not know yet - have not made before

They are quite good, and the meat ones were fantastic but I better not tell him for fear we’ll get more. A leftover sandwich may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect larder! There is no refrigeration used anywhere, much like an Asian bakery. It’s magic!