29.9.05

life in this country

Did you know that in order to get a washing machine, you first have to order it, a man delivers it (on his back), and drops it off, and then another man comes to hook the water up, another man comes to hook the electricity up, and a final man comes to demonstrate how to use the washing machine? Or in order to be able to cook, I must first buy a stove, then call the gas man who delivers my gas cylinder full of gas that will last about a month, have to get another man from the same gas company to deliver a pipe to connect the gas cylinder to the regulator, and get yet another man to deliver the regulator that connects the pipe to the stove? And to top it off, as foreigners we must go through hoops to get the gas company to agree to give us a regulator in the first place? Or in this country there are two different types of mattresses...one is simply foam in various sizes and densities, covered to fool any foreigner into thinking it's a mattress just like home, and the other is a mattress with coil in it, in only one size: 4 inches thick?

All of this was extremely exhausting to cover this week. And I didn't even get into the buying the fridge, getting the electricity inspected, trying to reach the internet man, special ordering a queen sized bed with queen sized mattresses/foams in a country with only two sizes of beds, twin and king, searching for a computer desk and chair, finding rugs, bedspreads, shower curtain and rods, pillows, and various household items.

BUT...our queen sized bed showed up yesterday evening. The queen sized coil mattress with a 2 inch foam mattress, all covered with material, arrived on time last night. Our bedspread showed up, along with the rugs and pillows and blankets and spare bed sheets. All we need now is to install the shower curtain rod and shower curtain and we'll be almost done! So as much as we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off, we are now settling into a wonderful new house that with all the small added touches, will become a home in no time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I never realised how important a good bed was until I got a bad back�.
Over 1,400 members of BackCare, the national organisation for healthy backs, responded to our Back Your Bed survey - the first of its kind to explore the views on beds of those who suffer from bad backs and the experts who treat them.
SUMMARY OF THE BACK YOUR BED SURVEY RESULTS
Buying a good bed is one of the most important purchases you can make when it comes to back pain relief. Nine out of 10 say their bed is more important to them since they developed back pain; 98% agreed that a good, supportive bed could help a bad back. 82% of experts felt that the right bed could help prevent back pain.
"If you cannot rest properly and sleep well, this hinders recovery from back problems."
A firm, supportive bed, not a hard one, can do wonders to ease and even prevent bad backs. Only 22% of sufferers had bought a bed classed as �orthopaedic�; while 28% describe their bed support as �medium�. Only 6% of experts would recommend an orthopaedic bed to patients.

Three quarters would be prepared to spend more than �500 on a new bed: compared with just 36% of the �normal� population. Nearly one in 10 would pay more than �2,000 for a new bed to get the comfort and relief they need.
Back pain sufferers are twice as likely as the rest of the population to own a new bed - 50% have beds that are less than five years old compared to the national average of 24%.
88% are satisfied with their choice � but 16% said they would get a better quality one next time; while 9% would opt for something firmer; 5% said they would choose a softer bed and 4% wanted a bigger one.

Sufferers are three times more likely to replace their beds when they no longer feel comfortable (65% compared with just 20%).
31% own a king size bed compared with 11% generally. Separate mattresses zipped together are also popular with couples whose support needs differ or who are easily disturbed by their partner's movements. top
So worth considering when buying a