Ikea

We're have a day off after spending a mind-numbing, soul-sucking acid trip through Ikea looking to replace, on a chintzy scale, some of the furniture we sold/gave away. Suffice to say, the meandering route through the plastic and formica, and the faint screaming of small children and prison labor wafting up at us from the pre-programmed route designated by our Swedish overlords, proved too much: we're shopping at Goodwill. Now I must drink another beer, from here:

--photo to come when I figure out how tf to use my iPad-

We did go and liberate our cube from customs. After an hour drive down to the border, a quick stamp of our paperwork, we secured release of the pod which we'll have delivered September 2 (at our new apartment--details to be forthcoming). I hope the migrant workers can last that long. 

After the customs "ordeal", we stopped off at a Sichuan place in Richmond. Patty's smiling because they nailed the pepper and salt peanuts.

Yep, pretty much a plate-load of peppers, sprinkled with tongue-numbing "ma la", ground from the Sichuan peppercorn, or wild prickly ash pepper (花椒 huājiāo).