I'm at It Again

I mentioned before about my love of finding great second hand furniture on street corners, in dumpsters, etc. This time I definitely outdid myself. Anyway, I found this really great china cabinet outside of an apartment building on my way to work and had to have it. Why would I need a china cabinet? I'm not really sure, but it's great.

I saw this cabinet thing on my way to work about 4 days in a row and thought it possible that someone was keeping it out there during a move or something. I mean it's in top condition and seems barely used if at all. So I waited these 4 days and then last night when it was snowing hard I decided that whoever owned this thing is not coming back for it. A night of snow would most likely ruin it.

So that was it, I decided this thing was mine. Then was the task of getting up to my apartment, about two blocks away and four stories up. Good god this thing was heavy, though. I lifted it over this foot and a half high fence which was no small feat. I managed to carry it back the two blocks to my building by tilting it and just bear hugging it to pick it up. My forearms got such a workout I think they expanded to Popeye proportions.

It was finally to my building, and then was just the small task of carrying it up three flights of stairs. I figured I could just just bear hug it upright and lift it up step by step, but it wouldn't fit into the initial door. It's really tall. Then, I called my friend Steven who agreed to come out and help me with it. Bam. Brand new china hutch.

We did end up getting a lot of snow in our town that night, I estimate about three inches. I think it's great because it reminds me of home and it was really packy for good snowball fights. It was definitely a nice pickup, even if my arms are sore as I'm typing this. Now I just need to find something to put inside the cabinet.

My Ol' Dumpster Divin' Ways

Ever since my time I lived in Madison, I have had an obsession with second hand furniture. Every moving day was a few days of torture, but the silver lining every time was the shear magnitude of furniture thrown to the curb. Some of this was garbage, sure, but there was a good amount of only slightly used pieces that just wouldn't fit in the owner's new apartment. This is when it became mine. By the end of my time in Madison, which was about six years, nearly every piece of furniture in my apartment was at least second hand. Now, a lot of this was still in really good shape, although it makes me look like a bit of a hobo. Also, much of it was taken for a girl I sublet from and all of that stuff was top quality.

This leads me to now. I found these two couches, a chair, and a bunch of cabinets outside of a restaurant. I regret that I didn't have room for the couches, but I did make off with this nice end chair which fits on the end of a couch. I put it next to my bed for watching movies, etc. Behold the genuine imitation leather:

I think, also, a lot of people enjoyed watching the crazy foreigner carry a chair on top of his head.