Ordered, on its way. Should arrive Thursday. Very, very excited.

I’ve been longing for a sofa that I can lie down on and I’ve found it.

At a touch of 2 metres long I’ll be able to stretch out.

I like the relaxed, comfortable, slightly rumpled look. Hopefully it will deliver on this promise. I’m also hopeful that it will last us a good few decades.

Update 8/9/09: the couch meets expectations, woohoo! Lounging about is the way forward.
Last night I spent a few hours on the couch setting up a continuous integration server for WIL.

Fridge?

Check. And freezer.

Washer/dryer?

Check. And a very good thing too as I was running out of pants.

Dishwasher?

Check. Yay!

Bed?

Check. It is large and in charge.

Desk and drawers?

Check. I(c)kea… how I love you and loathe you in equal measures

Dining table and chairs?

Check. Still going strong and my only previous furniture.

Okay, so we’re just missing a nice couch now, oh, and a sofa bed for the office. It’s coming along.

Yes, we’re also missing a dog. I’m looking forward to Monica’s return so we can go find one at a shelter somewhere.

I don’t think we’re going to need to buy more stuff for a very, very long time. All this lot should last at least a decade.

This little video that the South Park guys put to an audio track by some chap named Alan Watts sums up a lot of what I’m thinking about life at the moment.

Thanks to @stephenfry for reminding me of the clip.

I think Alan Watts might be worth some further investigation.

I’ve never been very good at it and after Twittering more than blogging recently it seems I’ve got even worse.

Do bear with me and perhaps I’ll have something useful to say in the next few posts.

After realising that I didn’t have a working CD or DVD player aside from my computer I got rid of my CDs. That was prior to moving.

Since the move I’ve managed to part with a bunch more things. I’ve got a bunch of books for donation, a whole pile of electronics for eBay or recycling and a set of golf clubs to sell that I use once a year on a 9 hole course if Rory and I can get our arses into gear.

There’s a stack of old hard drives I’ve been hanging on to for years thinking that I’ll probably get around to getting the data off them one day. They’re for the recycling centre too.

I’ve hauled a bunch of this crap half way around the world with me from Austin, TX where I fell headlong into consumerism for a few years and then stored, moved, stored, moved, stored and moved them around London since then. Well past time to let go.

Right now Monica and I are figuring out the purchase of more ‘forever things’ as we call them. Buying high quality stuff made of good materials that either isn’t plastic so wont break or can be serviced sensibly if something does go wrong. Finding high quality tools that help us do jobs well.

I’m hopeful that that doesn’t always mean expensive stuff. Figuring we can buy a lot of things like that second hand because the basic nature of them is that they wont have fallen apart over time and might even have grown more beautiful over time.

I’ve never really been good at buying used things so this is a challenge and a learning experience. Mostly it will challenge my patience. Usually when I want something I want it now.

Anyway, less, better, stuff and way, way less clutter and hanging on to things that I don’t use much. Off to a good start aside from the I(c)kea desk I bought today.

Also, after living for years without desk drawers I now have 5 and hope to never have more stuff around my desk than will fit in them. Lovely having camera, cables, discs, booklets, pens, pencils, necessary things put away somewhere where they can’t be seen.

Oh, yeah, got to get rid of the Mac Mini too. Then I’ll be down to a mere two computers… that will be the first time in a while.

This paring down has been underway for a few years but it really does feel like this is getting towards the end. Pretty solidly down to useful things now and there’s no value in getting rid of those.

We’re settling in to Orchard Cottage. Very exciting to have a dishwasher. News the bed is on its way, due Wednesday. That will be lovely.

I’ve set up my new I(c)kea desk. It’s a flat space and I’m saving my money for a good chair. Monica has been doing some research on finding second hand Aeron chairs.

Lovely having a work place that isn’t the kitchen table.

I had some work done to the A(ce)stra and it sucks quite a lot less. Changing gear, for example, is no longer an epic battle of strength and will. The brakes aren’t nearly as squeaky as they were either. Enjoying driving about, it is fun on these little roads.

Switzerland next week and after that it will be head down till Christmas to get a lot done on Well Informed Limited and Writer’s Residence.

Just a few things left to find to tick off the furniture list, a sofa and a sofa bed, a couple of beside tables and a coffee table. Hopefully find some good second hand wooden products and have no idea where we’ll find the sofas…

Living in the country affords a very different pace of life. People are friendly and have time to chat. That’s quite hard to cope with after London. I have to force myself to slow down and appreciate it rather than getting impatient to be away and on to the next thing. And I think I was pretty laid back compared to most city types.

Time for sleep.