Around my elbow to get to my thumb...

...or why I should consult a street map once in a while.

I had time this afternoon to go in search of a sofa and I'd planned to stop at the new apartment along the way to take a couple patio chairs and a folding card table to use over there when we have to do things like wait for deliveries and such. After that I would get on the by-pass, called the Ring, and drive to the south side of the city to a home furnishings store where I could get the Santa figurines I wanted and could do some sofa hunting.

I've lived in Magdeburg for just short of eight years. Even so I don't actually drive in the city all that often. I mostly travel by streetcar and save trips in the car for when I'm going to more outer parts of the city such as this particular home furnishings store. Driving in the center of the city is something I've only done very few times and so I'm not always sure how to get from one place to another unless a streetcar line happens to go in that particular direction.

After dropping off the chairs at the new place I headed towards the Ring and found that there was road construction - actually streetcar track repair - along the road that would take me to the Ring. I took another road instead that would take me south and I figured that I'd eventually see a sign directing me to the Ring. I drove further and further, not getting concerned per se but not wishing to get lost either, and then - Ta Da! - I saw it - an exit sign for the Ring.

Very proud of how I found where I needed to go even if I wasn't exactly familiar with where exits were located I got on the Ring and realized that I was going in the wrong direction. Simple to remedy, right? Just get off at the next exit, turn around and get on the Ring in the opposite direction.

As I was driving on the Ring traffic began to come to a screeching halt due to a broken down car in the left lane - one of those situations where you tensely mutter "Shitshitshitshitshit stopstopstopstopstop!" as you eye the sea of brake lights in front of you and the big ass grill of the truck climbing up your ass in the back. Anxious to get going in the right direction and to get out of the traffic jam I took the next exit without really reading the sign until I was already commited to exiting.

"Hauptbahnhof/Stadt Zentrum"

Great. I got off on the exit where I'd gotten fucked up in the first place. The exit where I can't turn around and get back on the Ring because they're fixing the streetcar tracks.

Not interested in making the same get-on-the-Ring-in-the-wrong-direction mistake a second time, especially when I knew the traffic would be backed up from there to hell and back I went with my fallback plan. Whenever I'm lost I try to get back to where I'm familiar with the area and begin again. I decided I'd cut back through the city and get back on the Ring at the point where I would go if I were coming from my apartment.

Worked, naturally.

Once I reached the home furnishings store I wasn't as interested in searching for sofas as I was searching for Santas but first things first. I tromped all over the upholstered furniture section and if the sofa was within my budget it was either ugly or too long (needing a shorter sofa in the new apartment is why I'm hunting for one in the first place) and if it was suitable it was more than I was willing to pay.

Screw it. I went off to buy Santas.

I'd been back home for a half hour when my MIL came by asking how I did on the sofa hunt (she was less interested in the Santa search) and when I told her I crapped out she suggested that we go to the home furnishings store where I'd bought our kitchen.

This store has more sofas and while I found sofas that were suitable to me, my MIL kept saying why they just weren't right. She'd become thin lipped when I'd say I liked a certain upholstry and I'd gotten to the point where I was about to say "Look, if you want to pick it out, you pay for it.". In reality her input wasn't so bad but I was thirsty, sweaty (why are furniture stores so damn hot inside?), my feet hurt and I wanted to go home.

We finally found a sofa we both approved of that happened to be in leather and asked if I could get it in a fabric covering and when I was told I could I picked out a dark khaki color upholstry. I hadn't planned on getting a chair in the same fabric and color - I was more interested in getting something coordinating instead of matching - but, again, I was thirsty, sweaty, my feet hurt, I wanted to go home and it was twenty minutes before closing time. Screw it. In my home the sofa always poops out before any chairs so when I have to buy another sofa in five years the matching chair will still be practically like new and I'll do the coordinating thing then.

So the sofa and chair are ordered, delivery will be in about nine weeks ("I'm pretty sure you'll have it before Christmas!") and I got a 15% discount as well so I'm happy. Three hundred euros saved is three hundred euros saved and I can use all the money saving I can get right now. I'm having the typical Gee-did-I-really-buy-the-right-thing? post purchase second thoughts but it's khaki. It doesn't get more neutral than that. And hopefully it won't scream "I'm covered in white dog hair again! Get out the vacuum and the upholstry tool!" like my current sofa does on a regular basis.

I'm also feeling a sense of accomplishment. I got misdirected and got myself righted again, I was able to track down a sofa I liked without strangling my MIL in the process and I finally got back home to get a long drink of water and to get my shoes off.

And I bought Santas.