The mystery of the slow updates

No, not SQL stuff in case you were wondering. Now you can relax.

I can read your mind though, Chris doesn't update his blog all that much these days. I know I'm not blogging as much as I would like to these days. And it's not about suffering a "blogger's block" either.

It's just that so much is happening and I have so many things to attend to. The main highlight would be the move to the new apartment.

Now unfurnished rental apartments here come a bit more equipped than in Egypt, because in Egypt you get pretty much nothing but a floor and some walls whereas here you get a fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer, stove, and sometimes even a microwave (not in my case). This should make things easier right? Well a bit easier maybe, but not easy enough.

Since my Microsoft temp housing term will end on November 21st, I thought I should get the basic things first, you know, at least to be able to sleep in the apartment. So I went shopping for a mattress. And I was in for a real surprise.

In theory, shopping for a mattress should be easy enough. At least that's what I thought. I mean, I got my laptop in 10 minutes online so how hard could it be to get a mattress.
Wrong wrong wrong.

My shopping trip began with the only place I'd heard of during my stay, through ads and stuff. Sleep country. I was under the impression that mattresses typically cost a couple hundred dollars and I was willing to pamper myself and maybe spend up to a ridiculous $500 for a mattress, because, you know, I'm a spendthrift and stuff. It's true that I had no real evidence or data to get me "under" this impression. But the fact remains that I was under it.

I enter sleep country and I'm greeted by a nice salesman. I tell him I'm looking for a mattress and that I'm completely clueless about the sizes/types (yes there are many types of mattresses in case you are as mattress-ignorant as I am (or was) ) etc.

He was trying to ask me about my preference of whether I like firm mattresses vs. plush ones, I just kept staring blankly at him. He probably thought I just landed from the moon. Heck, even _I_ felt as if I just landed from the moon.

So anyway, he asks me to "test drive" a few mattresses to find out more about my "sleeping preferences". Good enough. I try a few ones (a few as in 5 or 6) and he tells me that I seem to prefer the less firm mattresses.I had no idea I did.
The guy then takes me to try another "type" of mattresses. The ones I've been trying were Sealy, a well known brand of mattresses here. The other type was called BeautyRest, which features different "technology" if you will.

The man then goes on to explain that a BeautyRest mattress uses "individual coil springs" rather than Sealy's "interconnected coil springs" This causes the mattress to have more controlled vibrations and the end result is that each part is more free to move independently which supposedly provides for better back support and the added "feature" that you don't feel it as much when someone else is getting on the bed on the other side.

Now I'm 100% positive you don't really care about mattress technology, but neither do I. I just have to recreate the atmosphere for you to live the experience just as I did.

So anyway, I am kinda impressed with the BeautyRest and proceed to ask about prices. And then my jaw drops to the floor. A queen mattress set would be around the $1300 mark. I probably need to explain a bit before I go on.

Queen is the size of the mattress, mattress sizes have their own names here. Queen is generally bought by couples because it's wide enough to fit two. You probably know I am not a couple and so wonder why I need one.
Problem is that the master mattress architect who invented those sizes here seems ot have been under the impression that couples are usually much taller than single individuals. And hence for some (weird and unknown as Nag would say) reason decided to make sizes grow in both width and height simultaneously. In short, if you get a smaller size you get a narrower as well as shorter mattress. So to sleep alone I need to cut off a significant part of my feet, which I'm really not too excited about doing right now.

The really observant amongst you would have noticed the word "set" in "A queen mattress set" too, you don't usually buy just a mattress. Instead you want to get a mattress set, which is the mattress plus a box spring. A box spring is what you put a mattress on, it comes in normal and low profile versions and serves as support for the mattresses. This is probably the equivalent of "el molla" in Egypt, but beds are designed here just as frames (and an *optional* head board) so you need this to support the mattress and rest on the bed frame.

If you feel you're not entirely confused and/or bored by now I would encourage you to visit this where you could "learn" about the mattress jargon. It should do it.
And you thought computers were complicated.

So anyway, to cut a long story short. I didn't get a mattress. I decided I need to "research" the matter a bit more, seeing that mattresses seem to go anywhere from $700 to $6300, it is now an investment. So I'm taking my time researching brands, types, technologies (there is more than just the two technologies described earlier, msnsearch (not google! ;) ) for memory foam mattress if you're still awake), and prices.
Sleeping on the floor is not off the table either :)

May you never need to buy a mattress ever.