Strange Things are Happening at the Elk Store!

[Cgk]

Hi everyone,

as you perhaps know, I'm in the process of moving for the umpteenth time in my life. Since my old furniture has endured quite a beating during previous moves from continent to continent, I've decided to finally get some new book shelves and cupboards. Hopping from one furniture store to another, comparing designs and prices, I settled for the Swedish one.

How I love the möbler (furniture maker) that starts with I and ends with kea! Nevermind that much of what the enterprise is selling is made in China and that it has its seat in the Netherlands. It is the Scandinavian thought that counts.

And it promises you to make your dream kitchen become a reality, after all.

Soooo, looking at various kitchens, I fell in love with the Ramsjö fronts. All happy to have found what I was looking for, I went to the computer area where you can get a salesperson to create a 3-D kitchen plan of your dream kitchen with the 3-D kitchen planner program. Yes, yes, ja! Sounds complicated, and believe me, it is!

The guys and gals in yellow and blue are always very busy creating 3-D kitchen plans for other kitchen dreamers. But that's OK. I have time. I can wait. I'll just keep dreaming while I wait--of my new kitchen.

Then, finally! One of the dreamers at the 3-D kitchen planner computers suddenly awoke and moved the corners of her mouth upwards to form a "good-bye" smile at the yellow and blue salesperson 3-D kitchen computer planner next to her at the computer.

---Taking a deep breath.---

Not wasting any time, I ran up to the . . . guy . . ., and gave him a "hej" smile. "Guten Tag," says the guy dressed in yellow and blue, which is very German, thank goodness, as my Swedish is quite poor. "How can I help you?"

"I would like to get a 3-D plan of my dream kitchen with the Ramsjö fronts!" I said merrily.

The yellow and blue 3-D kitchen planner salesman looked at me and said. "Oh, you mean (here, I suppose he said Ramsjö, only without the s, the j and definitely without the ö)."

I said, "No, Ramsjö," in my native Franconian-German.

"Yes," the guy said, now looking embarrassed. "Ramsjö."

I swear, I couldn't even make out the "m" there!

"Ramsjö," I said a little helplessly. "I would give you the article number, but each piece has a different one."

"Yes, that is true, but I know which fronts you mean: Ramsjö," the guy assured me.

Where on earth is the a? I thought to myself. And the R?

"Oh," I said to the 3-D dream kitchen salesman planner guy. "I wasn't aware that I have to learn Swedish before I can buy this möblers' furniture."

"Möbler?" the guy asked, blushing right up to his ears.

"Har!" I laughed. "I see you don't know any Swedish, either!"

The guy blushed more deeply now and laughed. "No, I was born here in Germany."

From then on, while the yellow and blue non-Swedish but very German Swedish möbler's salesman and I were planning my dream kitchen with the 3-D kitchen planner program at the computer, we both said Ramsjö in our native Franconian tongue:

Raaahmmmsjöööööh.

Claudia
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In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Luschen]

I don't understand the "elk store" reference - it just got me in the mood for some delicious elk steaks!

[Cgk]

Nej, no strange things happening at McElk. Nothing weird going on with juicy elk steaks, either. You'll just have to settle for köttbullar; they're peculiar enough.

I like choosing odd titles to get people to read and find out what "it's all about". ;-)

Claudia
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In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia! I'm happy to get to know where ,and for what ,you have recently was so busy of packing so many boxies. Now I know that you just hated your old furniture and had to move to other country to have a pretext to buy the new ones. I wish you enjoy your new place to live and be happy buying things for your new flat. And I wish you not o be bored with it too soon ,because removals even can be the exciting survivals in fact are quite exhausting. I need to see you often on our forum, so stay where you are for a longer time.

Enjoy your new place. That is what wish you Alicja:-))

[Cgk]

Thank you so much, Alicja! :-)

You know, you're on to something! LOL. I really do hate to stay at one and the same place for decades, and whenever people say that they've been having their kitchen for 25 years and it's still fine, I think, Oh, goodness gracious! Twenty-five years!!! I would grow so bored looking at the same cabinets day in and day out for twenty-five years.

I remember when I used to visit my grandmother, it was like visiting retro hell, except her stuff was real. There were bright red fake leather chairs from the nineteen-seventies, and wallpaper with large purple and orange circles on it, and cabinets from the sixties -- proud that it all lasted for twenty-five years and still working great. I understand, though, that she didn't want to redo her apartment at her age anymore. As for me, I don't want anyone to come into my apartment, thinking, Ewww, this place just screams of the turn of the millennium!

;-)
_________________
In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia! I really understand you. When I was younger, I used to change the interior decoration of my flat. Now I'm pleased of that what I have ,and I buy only that furniture that must be removed because they are damaged. Months are going so quickly and I'm waiting only for summer time so that I could go to my house in the mountains and all my energy put into work in that place. There, among trees ,bushes, flowers and wild animals I began coming to life. When I was a child, my parents very often were moving to the new places and I hated it because I had to say goodbye to my beloved friends and I miss them till today. That it is why now I appreciate full stability in my life.

[Cgk]

It is so nice to hear that you have a house in the mountains. Do you go hiking there? I'd love to have a cottage in the Alps; I'd be running up and down the mountains all the time, lol. The view from the top is just spectacular!

For a kid, moving is very stressful. Saying good-bye to friends and trying to find new ones can be real difficult. There may be one good thing, though: the child is exposed to different situations and learns to handle them better than a child who grows up at one and the same place. Perhaps the child becomes less shy, more open-minded, emotionally independent and flexible. I understand that you still miss your friends to this day, but perhaps this experience also made you stronger? You certainly seem that way to me. :-)

Claudia
_________________
In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia ! How well you are able to describe peoples mentality. That situations that I had to survive in my childhood ,really made me stronger and independent ,but the older I'm, the more I miss my old places and old friends. My house is not in Alps but in Beskidy. We live there only in warmer month of the year. But in the winter it is also possible. To walk there, you have to overcome ups and downs and to the town you go 25 minutes down the slope. But place is unusually picturesque and environment is clean. If you want, you can see it in my Personal Gallery on the our forum. Thank you for your interest.

Alicja:-)

[Jamilion]

Hi claudia, I'm here just to say: how are you?
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We are always looking for a miracle but the things we are used to seeing are more miraculous than those we are looking for.

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia! Are you ok? So busy by furnishing your flat?

Alicja:-)

[Cgk]

Hi Alicja and Jamil,

it is so nice to know that you're thinking of me. :-) I'm fine, just having real trouble with the tile setter/plumber in the new place. Sometimes he works, but mostly he doesn't. 21 work hours have stretched into a whole month now. Meanwhile, I can't move in because the guy just doesn't get done with his work and the painter and floor setter can't start until the bathroom is complete and the heaters are installed. We had a big argument yesterday and the man was so rude, I told him to leave at once--twice! The drama got so far that I threatened to lock away his tools in exchange for my key. Unfortunately, I was never lucky with this type of craftsman: some wanted to sell me outrageously expensive fixtures and blinking lights in the ceiling (no kidding!), others never even showed up at all. It was usually the plumbers who never bothered to send me a cost estimate. Sooo . . . when the guy was reluctant to leave, I gave him an ultimatum. If he's not done by then, he needs to go.

Alicja, I googled Beskidy and oh, my goodness! The place is beautiful! I was especially charmed by the wooden churches.

Claudia
_________________
In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia! Funny thing that I just have a plumber in my flat. He is removing my old water pipes. So that not to do harm to my tiles in the bathroom and the kitchen ,he put pipes of copper on the surface of tiles. I'm joking that my bathroom looks now similar to the Centre Georges Pompidou where all instalations are outside of the walls. It looks nice because it matches the colour of my tiles. And this plumber is real artist and likes his job. I would like to invite you to my house in the mountains but I'm afraid that you wouldn't be delighted because life there is quite primitive-or maybe you like the challenge. What means " wooden churches"? I couldn't find out it. I wish you that your trouble were over soon.

Alicja:-)

[Cgk]

How about I come over for a visit and stay in your house in the mountains while your plumber renovates my bathroom? Sounds like a good deal? ;-)

I saw a photo of a beautiful wooden church in Kwiatoń. Is it far from where you're at?

Claudia
_________________
In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia! I see that my plumber suits you! My congratulation, he is a very good at his profession but you must be categorical of price that he wants for his work. He tries to exceed the boundaries. That is my good tip for you!
No, no, I don't know this place: Kwiatoń. I must check up on the map.

Alicja:-))

[Alicja1]

Dear Claudia! Kwiatoń is far away from my place. It is near Gorlice nearby the Ukraine border. This church, it is very beautiful wooden orthodox church. I found this, and had opportunity to see some interesting pictures from that place.

Alicja:-)