— छह हज़ार छब्बीस —
Shobhit and I had a minor shopping adventure last night. And for once, it was me who instigated it! In the end I spent $34.10 I had not budgeted for, which is the kind of thing Shobhit would usually balk at, except it was an unusual purchase and one he seemed to agree was worthy: I wanted to go back to The Container Store in Bellevue to buy some stackable compartments to make it easier to organize the one deep drawer I have at my work desk.
Shobhit and I had already gone in there to look for ideas when he and I rote the new 2 Line Crosslake Connection all the way to Redmond; we went out to Redmond first and worked our way back, stopping at Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square in Bellevue along the way. The Container Store is located at Lincoln Square. Anyway, we did that on Saturday April 18, which was three and a half weeks ago.
I had the evening open last night, and unlike the first time we went, I was now armed with the dimensions of my drawer, which I measured at work last week. Last night, we first took the train just past downtown Bellevue to Wilburton Station, where we got off and went into the Whole Foods right next door; we found items for two of the free-product coupons that was in my recent gift back from a brokerage, for products they carry but we don't (I got a veggie chicken product and a pizza). Shobhit bought a mango so we'd be guying something outside of the free product, and it was on sale for 4/$5. I got out of there with probably close to $18 worth of product and spent $1.25.
We just walked from there to Lincoln Square; it was about a mile. When we got to The Container Store, the emoloyee we found there was actually far more helpful than the guy we spoke with last time. He was also clearly gay (of the bespectacled, stock-middle-aged-bear sort), and at one point when Shobhit had wandered off for some reason the guy—who may have been a store manager—referred to Shobhit as "my other half," which I thought was kind of cute.
I think having dimensions on hand really helped with his journey to find product for me. At first I was leaning toward solid plastic containers we had seen last time, with divided sections in them. But then he led me to these stackable "
Like-It Bricks," which have little squares built into them that allow for very flexible placement of dividers that are sold separately and snap into those squares. I was instantly smitten with these products.
The ones he showed me were translucent. But then he said there was another are where they had black versions that were 50% off. I was like, "Oooh, take me to those!" Black matches the black walls of the inside of my work drawer, and I love the sound of "50% off."
In the end I bought four stackable "Like-It Bricks," two that are 2.5" deep and two that are 5" deep (all of them are 5" wide and 8" long, give or take a couple of centimeters). I bought two each of snap-in dividers for each size, theorizing that I would never need more than one divider for each brick. Or so I thought: when I opened the dividers this morning I discovered that each was a 2pk. Damn, I only needed one each! Oh well; these were like $5 regular price and I got them at half off, so I'm not sure going all the way back there for barely more than a $5 refund would be worth it.
I will say, though, that the 50%-off clearance sale on these items is worth mentioning again. I spent $34.10 on these total, which means that had it all been regular price I'd have spent somewhere closer to $68.
Packing all those bricks into my backpack was a bit of a challenge, but I managed it, and walked to work this morning (I didn't ride my bike since I'm meeting Laney for a movie after work). I organized the drawer as soon as I got here, and I am stupidly excited about the results; I even took photos and sent them over Teams Messenger to the P3 Team to show and tell them so. Then I posted
exactly the same thing to Bluesky.
This really maximizes the space in that drawer in a way I was not able to before, plus, as shown in the photos I took, it still leaves barely enough space to store all my stuff when I go on vacation for multiple days—most critically, there's just enough space to slide the laptop sideways down the side of the drawer. Also as intended, I can keep the few file folders I have hanging in the back of the drawer. I do have a couple of PCC-branded tumbler bottles that are way too big for the bricks, wedged in between the bricks and the folders; I really like their designs but am not likely to ever use them. I suppose it depends on how long it takes for the bottle I still use from the branding-design era of my first starting here, which has a far better lid to drink from, finally starts falling apart. There are no more of those bottles—and I already wore one out; Mimi gave me one last unopened one she found when she retired in 2017.
In any case, I am delighted by the way I have maximized the far more limited storage space I have at this office and at this desk. There is a shallower top-drawer in that unit too, which itself was getting over-packed; I was able to move some of the note pads I had in there to one of the bricks in the lower drawer.
— छह हज़ार छब्बीस —
— छह हज़ार छब्बीस —
There's not much else to tell about my last 24 hours, really. I suppose I could mention that during the afternoon yesterday, I took a couple little breaks and went on minor excursions outside the office: first to the Central Library to pick up a DVD copy of
Apollo 13, which I have been thinking about rewatching for an eternity; and then to
the new Barnes & Noble on 6th and Pike. Laney and I made plans for a BYOB "Happy Hour" there on Monday next week, on the long-held assumption that they would have a cafe in there. Laney called them though and they said they do not have one.
I suggested we just get hot beverages from somewhere else and take them in there with us, and she was good with that. She even called them again to make sure it was okay to bring lidded beverages in with us. The reason I went over there yesterday was just to see if there were seating of any kind anywhere. And indeed there is. There are none on the ground level, but they have basement space with even more books, and several spots with chairs—curiously, most of them single chairs. But, there are two spots with a pair of chairs we can use, with a little table between them even. We'll just have to hope at least one pair of chairs is unoccupied when we get there; we're hoping 4:30 in the afternoon on a Monday will make that less likely.
— छह हज़ार छब्बीस —
As for the rest of last night, we had dinner first, and I made chai as well. I savored the very last of the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies Alexia made me for my birthday (too many, really). I almost texted her a photo and said I was saying a prayer for the last one, but I decided against it. I didn't want to run the risk of inspiring her to make even more for when I come hang out with her next weekend. She almost certainly would not have, but I still didn't want to risk it. I don't need all these delicious cookies! My middle-age pear shape is well-defined enough, thank you.
Shobhit had proposed just driving to Bellevue at first because it would be faster. I thought it might not be during rush hour, but then remembered it was a Monday; most people skip in-office work so traffic would not be bad. But! Taking Light Rail would still certainly save on gas, plus, as I noted to Shobhit, he'd get more of his steps in. So then he was all-in for taking Light Rail. I think we must have left around 6:00, maybe a little earlier. Light Rail from Capitol Hill Station to Wilburton Station is a scheduled 31-minute stretch; if you add the 13-minute walk from home to Capitol Hill Station that's 44 minutes.
As such, we spent the vast majority of our time last night either riding the Light Rail or walking the mile from Wilburton Station to Lincoln Square, then the half-mile back to Bellevue Downtown Station (not to mention the half-mile walk from home to Capitol Hill Station and then back again). We must have spent, I don't know, 20 minutes at The Container store?
Shobhit clearly would not have minded roaming around the mall for a bit, but he had spent some time making things way more complicated than they needed to be; I had a very packed tote bag of stuff, including frozen products actively thawing; and he had to go back into the Container Store to find his glasses case he had absent-mindedly left on a shelf. So, I was really irritated and just ready to go home. It must have been around 8:30 when we got back.
I'm glad we went, though. I'm sure happy with my work drawer now.
— छह हज़ार छब्बीस —
[posted 12:30pm]
