Normal Goings-on

[Charger]

Ikea...yikes!

[Vyn]

Ikea was an interesting experience. The place is huge, two levels, parking garage, loading garage, like an encampment. I had also grabbed a wicker dog bed in addition to the plate holders. Once we got to checkout, a short lady that looked like a pumpkin ran over and said she couldn't sell that to me. I asked why. She said it was a floor model. She looked up some stuff and then said there are two in stock, and I could go get one of those. I just said I'd get one elsewhere. No way I was walking the nine miles back to wherever they were lol. That was weird. But I guess customer service is different there.

Picked up some cinnamon rolls from there. They're pretty good, actually.

Much like visiting the World's Largest Ball of Twine, I can say I've seen it. Not much reason to see it again.

[Charger]

I've been to Ikea a few times... Not a fan of the layout....it's like you'd need a scooter to go around that place!

The quality of the stuff isn't all that great either...cheap made in china crap for the most part made to look like something better.

Haven't been in several years and have no desire to go either.

[Vyn]

I actually never really knew much about Ikea prior to my recent visit. Of course I've heard of them, and I've seen a variety of tropes online about them over the years, but have never bought anything from the place.

I will say that the plate holders I bought work great for housing 45s in a way that keeps them safe, makes them easy to browse through, and allows them to be displayed in a reasonably organized manner. I don't recall how much they were, but I'm sure they were overpriced lol.

[Zzzptm]

My wife and many others of the ladylike persuasion love them some Ikea.

I dread wending through all the merch, checking numbers, and THEN wending through the bulk storage section to get the actual item we're going to buy. For me, it's best in cool weather when I can sit in the parking lot and read until I get the call to move the vehicle to the loading dock.

I'll also add at this point that I've seen the world's largest ball of twine made by one person in Darwin, Minnesota, and I will never forget my time spent on Twine Ball Lane. Never going back, but it was good fun.

***

My status is that I'm in Shreveport, Louisiana on vacation right now. No casinos - I avoid casinos and resorts, always. I'm looking for history and offbeat stuff and those places play it safe in terms of content offerings.

Yesterday, we went to a duck park, saw the museum of city history, had excellent catfish at The Blind Tiger, drove around the neighborhoods, and toured a massive old mansion still being restored, the Ogilvie Mansion. The history and offbeat itch sure got scratched. Today, plans are to see the alligator ranch and the water works museum. We head home tomorrow after some days of adventure. It was less than 3 hours of driving to get here and 3 hotel nights for the trip, great little getaway.

[Vyn]

Sounds like a fun trip! I know I'm going somewhere this Labor Day weekend, but I don't know where. I'm being taken there - it's a surprise I'm told.

I don't believe it will be Shreveport, though.

What's up with the Ogilvie Mansion? Just a big house or is it otherwise notable?

[Charger]

Didn't True Blood take place a small town near Shreveport? Or is my memory failing me?

I know I remember that name from somewhere...

[Zzzptm]

Yes, True Blood is set near Shreveport and the exterior of the mansion I toured was used in the opening sequence for the show. The mansion itself was once a 9000 sq ft home, then in the 1950s it became a high society supper club. Off and on until the early 2000s, it was a restaurant or club of some sort. Now it is being refurbished (and getting AC installed!) so it can be a bed and breakfast.

[Charger]

Ah...glad to see I'm not totally demented yet!

Very cool that you got to see that place!

[Typhon]

@ Zzzptm:  mansion picture?

[Zzzptm]

@ Zzzptm:  mansion picture?

The owner has made LOTS of progress since buying the building, obviously there's a lot of exterior and interior work to go. She's keeping the 1950s supper club alterations to what was once the gentleman's parlour and is working to have low-profile AC work done so as to preserve the 15' ceilings on each floor - it was quite unusual to have ceilings that tall on floors above the first. The AC put in for the supper club takes about 3' off the ceiling, and she'd like that to go.

Because people in the area know she's doing the renovations, they will donate items that didn't sell at estate sales and things like that for inclusion in the house as period furniture. She's most interested with late Victorian/Edwardian items, but will also use stuff from the 1950s in the supper club portion.

That porch was wonderful to stand on, even in the daytime heat. Plenty of breezes caught in that porch and it was most refreshing.

[Typhon]

^^^^^^
Thanks for the pic.    That looks an awful lot like the historic homes in downtown New Bedford, where I was born and raised.  Most of those homes were originally owned by ship Captains, back when New Bedford was the biggest whaling port in the world. 

Here are 2 examples.  The lookout point at the very top is called a Widow's Watch.  Captains would be out at sea for a few months at a time.  A person could view quite a few miles out over the ocean and spot a ship returning.  This would give the Captain's wife and servants plenty of hours to clean rooms, cook food, and have everything ready for the Captain's return.

[Zzzptm]

The family behind this mansion had grocery money to build it out, and I'm sure they wanted something that would be imitative of the grand old homes of the Atlantic Seaboard.

Also in the home, spookiest room there, was a "disappointment room" in the attic. A tiny window way up high let in a little sunlight, the rest was darkness. Only way in or out was through a small window-sized panel on the floor that, when in place, looked like the wall. This would be where families would keep secrets, be they unwed mothers or disfigured descendants. They wouldn't keep them there permanently, but would rotate the "disappointments" around relatives, each having a turn.

Years later, when the place was a restaurant, it became junk storage. The owner had the junk hauled out and is working to restore it as a disappointment room. Telling the story of the house, in my view, is certainly improved with that move. "This used to be where excess baking trays were kept, and there were LOTS of them" kinda pales next to, "Here is where one of the daughters lived because she had a child out of wedlock, and it is the room where she died..."

[Vyn]

Interesting story about the "disappointment room".

In other news, my mystery day was today. The mystery was unveiled. The woman in my life, knowing my affinity for records, took it upon herself to search out all record shops within a 2 hour drive of my home, called all of them to determine if they were open/still in business, and the list dropped to five. She developed an itinerary and driving directions that made the best use of time (and gasoline), and then input it into my car's GPS. I did not know wtf we were doing, or where we were going until the first stop. A record store! I went in and was stunned to find several records I wanted, of the collectable variety. I decided I was going to spend a lot of money in this place, so bought a bunch of records.

When it was time to check out, she jumped in front of me and paid for them all.

Off to the next stop - another record store! In fact, we hit all five, and I bought stuff at all five, and she paid for all of it. Then lunch at a Japanese place called The Bento Box and it was authentic, and delicious. Yep, she paid for that too. Back home I went, with her in tow.

I have never in my life had anyone do anything of the sort for me. I'm still in somewhat of a state of disbelief. The time and effort to set this up, not tell me what was going on, then execute her surprise. Man, I'm taken aback. It was a thoughtful application of knowledge about something I enjoy and she spent the entire day dedicated to it. And on her dime. Wow!

She's still here, elsewhere in the house. I'm finishing this up and a couple of other things, then joining her.

What a day!

[Typhon]

^^^^^^
This story sounds pretty stunning.  Maybe I'm just a very suspicious person, but she's got to be after something.