The day began like any other.....

[reohn2]

I braved the place a second time and discovered all the little hidden gaps in the facades. It’s like a game of snakes and ladders I went up the snakes. Success, we’d time for meatballs

We're vegetarian

They have veggie balls, too. they aren't too bad actually, but they are best served Swedish or Sunday roast style with (vegetarian) gravy, mash and veg. They don't go at all well with pasta sauce or anything like that.

If you accept a trip to IKEA as an afternoon out.........

WHAAATT!
Now STOP, rrrigghhht there young lady,this isn't fair.
I innocently claim veggie and you counter with veggie meatballs,then as if that's not bad enough you,you then follow up with roast style,veggie gravy,mash and veg,and two too I'll be bound!
I'm not going again and that's final.

I'm not a number I'm a MAN,I got out and not only that,with Komplements!

You've been in Scandanavia waayyy too long,they've got to you........


PS,for white goods its gotta be Bosch

[Vorpal]

WHAAATT!
Now STOP, rrrigghhht there young lady,this isn't fair.
I innocently claim veggie and you counter with veggie meatballs,then as if that's not bad enough you,you then follow up with roast style,veggie gravy,mash and veg,and two too I'll be bound!
I'm not going again and that's final.

I'm not a number I'm a MAN,I got out and not only that,with Komplements!

You've been in Scandanavia waayyy too long,they've got to you........

PS,for white goods its gotta be Bosch

We've mostly had Bosch in the past. Our old Bosch washing machine died a couple of years ago. One of the weights broke and I couldn't get a new one. I couldn't find another one that I liked; one of my favourite things about it was the 'stains' cycle, and they don't have those on Bosch machines here. So, we bought a Samsung. So far, I'm very happy with it. We'll see how it lasts. Our 14 year old Bosch tumble dryer is still going well. It's a bit squeaky. I probably need to replace the belt soon.

[landsurfer]

Our washing machine and tumble dryer live outside.
Guess what the high quality paint is for on white goods ....
Washing machine 8 years old and Tumbley bumbley 4 yrs old.
It replaced the one we had since Athelstan gave the Strathclyde Welsh a kicking.
Which also lived outdoors all it's life.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Ah now "Trago Mills is coming to wales soon

[Stevek76]

I do my window shopping primarily on the internet.

If I need something from ikea I then note any numbers in advance and visit on a weekday evening after work when it's usually nearly deserted, then you can just skip the warehouse section entirely, only visit the parts of it that are needed and be out in about 15min.

Cardiff IKEA is about twenty minutes away by car, which is too close. I resist going there. Once every couple of years I let my guard down and find myself snaking my way around the wretched place with members of my family. They pick a piece of furniture to admire, and I then explain how the pathetic hinges embedded in particle board will rip away after little use. Usually there is an example of that happening nearby, a disintegrating cupboard brazenly on display as if it is to be admired. Then we move on to the cutlery, crockery and glasses, with the wine glasses made of glass of a guage previously only seen in Christmas tree baubles. After such visits to the Land of Tat I always feel a bit depressed.

Some of the stuff is pretty good value, it's just about picking the right bits. Simple things like glass food/lunch containers that don't cost a small fortune and a cheese/nutmeg grater that's actually (still) sharp (!) Plenty is tat mind, then again, plenty of stuff from far more expensive places is tat through critical design flaws.

[hondated]

Do you still have to 'follow the yellow brick road'? Or orange painted stripe, or whatever? Can't recall exactly, long time since I've darkened their doors....

The Croydon branch (our nearest) is built on the site of a former, defunct, gas-works. I remember the gas-works back in bygone years, and the none-too-pleasant aroma thereof. Says it all, perhaps...

Peter got to correct you there. It's actually built on where the old power station was and the old gas works was the other side of the bridge in Purley Way. As for going to IKEA it's something my wife and daughter do but I haven't for years. I just cannot abide traipsing around those maze like walkways.

[reohn2]

I do my window shopping primarily on the internet.

If I need something from ikea I then note any numbers in advance and visit on a weekday evening after work when it's usually nearly deserted, then you can just skip the warehouse section entirely, only visit the parts of it that are needed and be out in about 15min......

I love a man who can beat the system..... ...wish I could get Sainsburys down to that kind of time.

Answer me this though smart Alec,how come bike shops have their own time zone?
Eh,eh,answer me that one!

[Stevek76]

Ah well, when it comes to the supermarket I'm pretty hopeless. My 'list' is a mostly static collection of things I might need and I usually only decide what I might want to cook half way around so my average shop usually involves at least one doubling back and about a 1 in 3 chance of not buying something I'd forgotten I was out of. Still, weekday after work is usually pretty quiet.*

As for the bike shops, no idea, being reasonably mechanically competent I'm one of those people who does nothing to support my local economy and lbs but buys it online and has it delivered to work. I don't feel too bad though as in Bristol there more than enough mechanically hopeless hipsters to keep most of the shops doing fairly well. Not sure about time zones though, the ones here mostly seem to be open standard working hours, which also makes them hard to support. Does puzzle me that so many independent shops in the UK seem to open those hours and then wonder why they struggle.

*Sightly creepy in a Google invading our lives kind of way but also exceptionally useful, Google maps now shows graphs of how busy places are on average throughout the week and, if the place is large enough for them to get a reliable estimate, how busy it is right now!

[colin54]

A chauffer awaits the return of it's humans at the Batley store, the look says it all, Ikeanine ennui.

[Edwards]

In Ikea if you go to the MFI type collection bit and walk around the show part starting at its exit. You get to see all the shortcuts.
In supermarkets walk straight to the far corner, do not touch or look at any thing. Then only make on trip down each isle you will be out sooner and save a fortune.
The world will not end if you forget the Avawhatsits.

[Cyril Haearn]

A chauffer awaits the return of it's humans at the Batley store, the look says it all, Ikeanine ennui.

P1000044 (640x385).jpg

In Germany dogs are often offered with the description *faehrt gerne Auto*, that means both: likes riding in the car AND likes driving

It does look more intelligent than the average moton

[661-Pete]

Peter got to correct you there. It's actually built on where the old power station was and the old gas works was the other side of the bridge in Purley Way. As for going to IKEA it's something my wife and daughter do but I haven't for years. I just cannot abide traipsing around those maze like walkways.

Ah yes - I believe you're right, there. They still preserve the old brick chimneys of the old power station, towering over the store. And the gas-works were a bit further to the north.

But I can remember, as a young child, being driven past the gas-works often enough. We always used to go along Purley Way en route to London and places beyond. I used to moan bitterly if my father happened to leave a car window open: "Daddy! It smells horrible! I feel sick!" I'd notice rows and rows of terrace houses, right adjacent to the site, and wonder how the residents put up with it.