SROverhaul

[ Free Me From This Bond (sequel to the sequel): Chapter 6 ]

Coupla weeks ago I finally got fed up with the slummy condition of my “hobbit hole,” and gave it a makeover. Compare these pics with those in Chapter 1 (click on any image below for a larger view):

Here you see my door w/the usual shaman jacket. Only this time hangs a mirror, to accommodate any guest’s need to shave (unlike myself, which I execute in the shower sans reflection). To the right is a lovely cabinet with drawers that I found on the back porch just two days ago. Freebies rock!

As you can plainly see, table #1 is now super-tidy, with a metal rack where I store condiments, teas, fruit and the like. Another
back porch plunder!

Another view of table 1, abutting table 2. Notice the classy blender which I found recently in a free box on 18th Street & Hartford. Sure is an improvement over the cheap Walgreens version that broke down after five months of light use. Behind the osterizer is a lovely kid’s lamp with an outer space theme on the shade, and an ocean theme decorating the base. Purchased about six years ago for just $6 at a thrift store one block up Market Street from my dwelling. AIDS fund raiser, I believe. They were open and closed for a brief five-month period. See the closeup below:

The lampshade has a Saturn-type planet on the other side, along with a starfish and a crab. The front base has a seahorse and an octopus. BTW, that’s a Krups coffee mill to the left, also discovered in a free box (Collingwood near 19th). Don’t ever use it for java, though: I grind up nuts and seeds to add to soups, steamed veggies or oatmeal. This is one way I manage to eat healthy in spite of my diminished teeth due to almost ten years lack of affordable dental care.

Awright, this is desk #2 which now serves for my computer station. Much less cluttered than my previous arrangement, eh? Those are two electric candles on the top shelf, FYI. They flicker and glow just like the real McCoys, and lend a graceful atmosphere through the often-chill Frisco night. Another free boon from the back porch, joy!

Bedding now serves for a bed, since I finally tossed out those two, thin futons that had grown overly grimy and stained after four years’ slumber and orgasm (not always w/myself, but usually). Two dark-blue plastic tarps purchased from the local dollar store provide a clean separation from the floor’s grime. Believe me: just two comforters on which to rest, but they are indeed cushy nonetheless. I should purchase a third before the heavy rains and colder nights soon begin. For the nonce: a warm jacket and thick robe serve me well. *Yawn*

Here is where I store the comforters and drop cloths during the day…thus granting my humble abode with a more spacious ambience. Two folded, clean terrycloths rolled up into one, stand in for a pillow. (Those two plastic bins BTW are also back porch freebies, hurray!)

Here is my kitchen, you’ve seen it before in Chapter 1. Only minus the excellent Black & Decker Infrawave oven. Alas, it finally broke down after five good years of service. (The on/off button stopped functioning, damn those computer chips!) Replaced, now, with a tacky double-slot toaster purchased at Walgreens. Doesn’t even have a crumb-release door, and it’s already popping up my multigrain raisin bread and English muffins sooner than the “quasi-dark” setting (so I have to toast them twice)! I doubt it will last another month; what a waste of moolah. Thank the Great Dragon for free boxes, which I’m sure will bring me a decent toaster at just the right time…or a righteous toaster oven, even!

There’s my combo loft/closet, only this time with less decoration covering that pale blue wall (which once was a door from goddess-only-knows which domicile).

The floor as you see, needs work. Guess I’ll eventually cover it with four or five cheap tableclothes out of Chinatown; I really can’t afford another option. Toss rubber mats across the space, to hold the covers down. And provide ample spots to walk upon, that the tablecloths remain viable for at least a half-year. Yes indeedy! I live a 3rd-world existence right here in Bedbug Baghdad by the Bay.

Where desk #3 once stood, now abides a painted, hexagonal cabinet of unknown origin. There’s quite a story behind that objet d’art, which you can read about here (along with three excellent photos and one video):

http://tinyurl.com/manan-cab

This darling cabinet previously had no floorspace on which to glow, so I kept it stored on my loft for more than nine years. Now, at last, it is free to bewitch my room with high spirits! (It is protected from scratches by a dollar-store drape of clear plastic, in case you were curious.)

Lastly, the sink area. And full circle back to my shaman jacket. Of course, the place still begs improvement, but wouldn’t you say I’m off to a good start? Hope you enjoyed the tour, y’all come back now!