AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

I went out this afternoon with the sole purpose of buying a bookcase. A pretty easy task, you would think! It was a NIGHTMARE! I found a couple of nice teak bookcases with glass doors, but they were very expensive and there's no guarantee we could take them with us when we leave so I decided to look for something cheaper.

I went around so many furniture stores and none of them stocked just simple bookcases - just shelves in a frame - that's all I want. The options are either really extravagant or really cheap. In the end, I decided to go and check out the cane or bamboo shelf units they sell on the side of the road. Because I knew I would get ripped off, I took an Indian guy with me to help me negotiate. It didn't really help - as soon as the guy making the stuff saw me, he quoted a ridiculous price that was nearly as much as the teak units!

I told him there's no way I would pay that much. The guy who was with me negotiated with him and he managed to get the price down a little bit, but even then, it would only cost a little bit more to buy the teak ones - what's the point of spending that much money on cane furniture (that we wouldn't take with us when we leave)? I got very frustrated in the end and got back in the car and said 'Forget it' and I came home.

When I got back to the flat, the air conditioner in the bedroom wasn't working and it was quite hot today as well as me being angry and frustrated over my uneventful shopping trip, so I called the electrician. I think he must've realised how annoyed I was because even though he said he'd be here at 5.30, he arrived at 4.45 (which is unheard of in India)! He turned it on and guess what ... it worked! He told me the reason it wasn't working before is there wasn't enough current in the building. I guess too many people had a/cs on or something. Anyway, the main thing is it's working now.

So, still no luck with the bookcases and I still have all these boxes of books lying around which is driving me crazy, but I plan on getting it sorted somehow this week.