Tuesday Night at IKEA (Again)

Moving into a new place always means too much time spent at IKEA. I now know IKEA products well enough that the last time I was waiting in their customer service area, I could tell that the containers that they had extra nuts and bolts in were not IKEA containers. And I observed that the Billy bookcases they were using to hold these containers were anchored to the wall with brackets that did not come with the Billy bookshelves themselves. They were appropriated from the Pax wardrobe system. I mentioned this to our customer service representative, but she was insufficiently impressed. She seemed a little more interested when I told her about IKEAhacker, and told me that she was a big fan of something called "I hate IKEA", which I can't seem to find online.

This last trip to IKEA was too much, though, and I doubt we'll be going back anytime soon. They had put the wrong part in something we bought previously, and it was a nightmare getting a replacement. We had to wait for over half an hour just to talk to someone about it, then we had to wait well over an hour for them to get the replacement part from the storage area. And when I went back up to the customer service desk to ask if our replacement part had come from the storage area, the dude had the gall to tell me I needed to take a number and wait in line like everyone else. He didn't seem to give a shit when I told him I had already had my number called over an hour before. He just mentioned something about not cutting in line.

Of course there was an altercation in the parking lot also, because the crappy IKEA we went to doesn't police their loading area, and people just park there for hours (literally). I was waiting and waiting for one of the spaces to open up, so we could load up the car with the crap we bought, and after I had already waited 10 min., this dude had the balls to pull right around me into a spot that was just opening up. I told him I had been waiting, and he just ignored me. So I double-parked behind his car, blocking him in, and went inside. This didn't phase him at all, however, as he was still parked there over an hour later, after we had left, gone to Jamba Juice and Target, and come back to pick up the replacement part when it finally came out of the storage area.

What else? Well, I had a pleasant nostalgic moment when I saw the Duno lamp (photo above) that PJ bought when he and I lived together in a coach house in Hyde Park. It was the cause of our first roommate fight, as I hated it and he loved it, and he wanted to put it in the living room and I didn't. He eventually just put it in his room, and may still own it for all I know. If he doesn't, IKEA still sells them, so I'm sure he can get another.