Showing posts with label Research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Research. Show all posts
2/8/12
Labels:
Decision making
,
Intuition
,
Large purchases
,
Renovating
,
Research
,
Waiting
It wasn’t until later that he thought to consult his friend Alan, a builder. It was lucky he did. Not only had he got the type of flooring wrong – chipboard absorbs moisture, so it’s not suitable for roof cavities – but the flooring structure wasn’t strong enough for the purpose. It would put too much weight on the ceiling joists, which would lead to sagging. The floor needed to be underpinned by load-bearing timber. The flooring Chris needed and that he ultimately bought with his friend’s guidance was thick board covered by malamite; with the supporting timber underneath, the floor ended up being 15 cm thick.
Acting on Alan’s advice, Chris also put a safety fence around the entrance to which the folding ladder was attached.
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The Tale of an Attic: Thinking before You Renovate
Our homes are our castles. They’re the place on Earth we have the most control over, so it’s no wonder we want to make them as comfortable and right for us as possible. But things can go wrong if we don’t take the time to consider all the factors involved. Below is a shopping story that illustrates the importance of biding your time and getting all the facts when it comes to home renovation.
An architect friend of mine, who I’ll call Chris, had a ripper idea while he was having the tiles fixed on his roof. Why not create more space in his house by turning the attic into a proper room? A study with a relaxed feel that he could escape to when he needed to get some work done? His Edwardian red brick home had generous living areas but his two daughters were growing up. They currently shared a bedroom but were clamouring for their own rooms, and his tiny study near the kitchen would soon be lost forever.
The attic wasn’t a proper room at that stage, just a space between the ceiling and the roof – but there was easily enough height to stand up in, so it could be done. The entrance hole was large and situated in the main hallway of the house.
The attic wasn’t a proper room at that stage, just a space between the ceiling and the roof – but there was easily enough height to stand up in, so it could be done. The entrance hole was large and situated in the main hallway of the house.
Chris didn’t think too much about what the job would involve. Because he was an architect, he assumed he had the expertise to oversee the job himself, and he wanted to do it cheaply. He bought a fold-down extension ladder and had it installed. Then he purchased some cheap flooring – chipboard – and paid someone to install it.
It wasn’t until later that he thought to consult his friend Alan, a builder. It was lucky he did. Not only had he got the type of flooring wrong – chipboard absorbs moisture, so it’s not suitable for roof cavities – but the flooring structure wasn’t strong enough for the purpose. It would put too much weight on the ceiling joists, which would lead to sagging. The floor needed to be underpinned by load-bearing timber. The flooring Chris needed and that he ultimately bought with his friend’s guidance was thick board covered by malamite; with the supporting timber underneath, the floor ended up being 15 cm thick.
Acting on Alan’s advice, Chris also put a safety fence around the entrance to which the folding ladder was attached.
The tale ended happily. The room is now a study, complete with mood lighting, built-in drawers, cupboards and desk. It has a lovely attic-y feel. But in ripping the floor out and starting again, Chris ended up spending more money than he needed to. In trying to save both time and money, he’d wasted both.
This story illustrates just how important it is, when you want to do any sort of redecorating that involves purchasing, to bide your time.
Just as we sometimes give in to impulsive shopping, so we also act impulsively when we want to make major changes such as renovating our homes. It’s vital to carry out research, but sometimes the information we need isn’t available instantly. Perhaps Chris had wanted to contact Alan right away but couldn’t. Or perhaps he feared that if he took Alan’s advice, the whole thing would get too complicated (and too expensive!).
It’s especially difficult to take your time when you’ve been undecided for a while and then you finally make a decision. It’s natural to want to start right away and ask questions later.
What lessons can be taken from Chris's experience?
- Listen to yourself when you want to dive straight into a home renovation project. Perhaps there are things you need to consider that you’re not aware of yet. Think about what they are, and where you might get the right information.
- Before you begin, wait until you’ve considered all the factors involved; wait until you have all the information you need. Think about the plan for your project as a puzzle for which you need all the pieces before completing. Ask yourself if you have all the pieces before you begin to carry out your plan.
- Consult with someone who can see the whole picture. Individual tradespeople quoting on their own jobs won’t necessarily consider every factor; they may be concerned only with their piece of the puzzle. Even if they are aware of other considerations, some (not all) may fail to inform you of the ultimate requirements and costs because they want to provide a cheap quote.
- Develop ‘negative capability’. The poet John Keats coined this term to describe the state of uncertainty and unknowing in which creativity manifests itself. When it comes to making big changes to our homes, being open to uncertainty can help us determine the type and extent of research we have to do and all the factors we need to take into account.
- By all means be organised and use your rational mind. But also let your inner self guide you, when it comes to both the changes you decide to make and the people you contract to help you carry them out.
- Above all, keep your mind (and your ears) open!
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Steps to Take before You Buy a Big-Ticket Item.
12/18/11
Labels:
Large purchases
,
Maintenance
,
Research
Shopping lessons
How did I end up in this situation given I strive to be a careful shopper, and what have I learned? When I bought my computer I made the best decision I could at the time, and I did some research. But a fundamental thing I failed to do was take my own needs into account – to adequately research myself, and to think about the 'unknown unknowns'. I treated myself as an average computer user rather than someone in business who needed a superior service, and I didn't look ahead to what my needs would be if things went wrong.
I honestly don't know if I would have bought differently given what I know now, but at least I would have been more aware of the risks. The fact is that the $120 I've just spent gave the computer a much-needed a tune-up as well as a reload. But this experience has taught me that I need to value my business and to be proactive when protecting not just my files (I knew that already) but my ability to get back to work straight away.
Until next time!
Read More
When a Computer Crashes, and Returns Forever Changed
My computer crashed on Friday. This inconvenient event acted like an asteroid crashing to Earth, leaving a huge crater in my confidence.
The actual crash was fairly minor as they go, although the implications may be worse than the events to date. The computer had its own internal recovery mechanism (oh the relief!) and running through the recovery process, traumatic as it was (which files had been lost?), was ultimately successful – the Word and Outlook files were all still there, although the software would need to be reloaded.
But the whole look of the desktop had changed. It was a stranger posing as a friend. There was hardly anything on it except the useless software from Acer, the manufacturers. Programs I’d downloaded since buying it were gone. How alienating this was after my initial euphoria at realising there was a recovery process.
Meanwhile, a dire notice kept telling me that there was something wrong with the hard drive and it could self-destruct at any moment.
I took the computer off to a trusted computer technician in a nearby suburb. He got the basic software up and running again, seems to have given the computer a tune-up, removed some annoying glitches that had been there from the beginning, and only charged $120. The computer was only away for a day, not bad if you're not paying for on-site help.
But he didn’t really check out the hard drive. When I came to pick up the computer and asked him about this, he said the warning notice hadn’t come up while he was working on the computer. The unpleasant possibility is that there is a hard drive weakness that could continue to cause these relatively minor crashes (not to mention a worse one) if I don’t replace the drive. (Following the technician’s restoration, I’ve had to spend more time reloading printer drivers, and the additional software I’d downloaded since buying the PC.)
After I set up the computer at home, the warning notice of an imminent crash kept coming up but, like the boy who cried wolf, the threat never eventuated. So I’ve simply disabled the notice, effectively shooting the messenger. And of course saving everything in sight – I’ve even found a way to save my Google Chrome bookmarks.
Do you want holes with your warranty?
The computer is still actually under an extended warranty, a warranty that was useless for this particular situation, when I needed (and was able) to get the data reconfigured and the computer up and running again as soon as possible. True, I’ve had to pay only a piddling amount to have my data reconfigured, but a PC warranty that doesn’t take software into account gives you a false sense of security and ends up costing you more.
I run a microbusiness – I'm a freelance editor and copywriter – and I’d underestimated the extent to which my PC is like a second brain. These days so many people have smart phones and tablets and aren’t reliant on just one form of digital technology to access the internet and communicate online. I’ve chosen not to go down this path – I don’t even have a laptop, don’t want an iPad – and it’s worked for me, helping to create balance.
But when things go wrong, it’s devastating. Of course I’ve had computer crashes before, but now with my own self-managed website, more blogging than I’ve done in the past, and having become a hopeless Twitter addict, I’m more enmeshed in the online world than I’ve ever been.
The extended warranty cost a couple of hundred yet will only be useful if I decide to, or need to, replace the hard drive. The computer support people at Harvey Norman, where I bought the computer, have told me it will take three weeks, if I leave it to the new year, to do this, partly because they'll send it off to the manufacturer to get fixed. Which means in the meantime probably a return to my ancient previous PC, assuming the leaky garage in which it’s currently precariously stored hasn’t rusted it into useless tin. If I do choose to replace the hard drive or if the time comes when I have no choice, all the software will be taken off the PC, and it'll be up to me to put to put it on again - at my own expense.
So I’m going to wait to replace the hard drive under the warranty until things go wrong again, while backing up madly.
This seems like a big black hole in either customer service, consumer law, or both. Neither the time frame – three weeks is way too long – nor the software issue seem fair, and my first reaction was to have a hissy fit, create a big song and dance and ring up my state consumer affairs office. But you have to pick your battles.
A solution in sight
I started to think about what I needed as not just a small business person but a tiny business person, and what was realistic. I didn’t want to be in this childish position any more, a position of fear that something could go horribly wrong at any time. I’d already lost the chance to work on a project of a few hours duration because of the initial crash. I couldn’t afford not to have computer access even for a few hours, and I didn’t want to be like an anxious parent waiting for a diagnosis for their child every time something went wrong.
What I thought I needed was an on-site IT expert who wouldn't charge a small fortune to come out and do quick repairs whenever things went wrong. But what would be the point if the computer was fundamentally a lemon and kept crashing?
Leasing a PC suddenly seemed like a good idea and I found a company that offered good back-up IT service. But their main product, after all, was the leasing – how good would their tech support be, and how much would they care about retrieving files? Not to mention the fact that leasing is more expensive than buying a computer. And mine’s only 18 months old, so I’m not ready to abandon it yet.
For the first time I understood the attraction of online back-up: the feeling of not having to worry about saving files. You can buy portable hard drives with automatic back-up, but data storage companies provide this basic back-up online for very reasonable prices. In fact, Norton, my anti-virus software, provides a tiny bit of free online back-up and is constantly telling me I need more – a message I’d ignored, because their extra gigabytes are not particularly cheap.
Leasing a PC suddenly seemed like a good idea and I found a company that offered good back-up IT service. But their main product, after all, was the leasing – how good would their tech support be, and how much would they care about retrieving files? Not to mention the fact that leasing is more expensive than buying a computer. And mine’s only 18 months old, so I’m not ready to abandon it yet.
For the first time I understood the attraction of online back-up: the feeling of not having to worry about saving files. You can buy portable hard drives with automatic back-up, but data storage companies provide this basic back-up online for very reasonable prices. In fact, Norton, my anti-virus software, provides a tiny bit of free online back-up and is constantly telling me I need more – a message I’d ignored, because their extra gigabytes are not particularly cheap.
I think I may have found the solution. There’s a US company with a branch in Australia that offers very cheap, very secure-sounding online back-up. I rang them to inquire about the service, but was really searching for something more. Was there any way of avoiding the traumatic, expensive, time-consuming software reinstalment after a crash? The trauma for me had been not just the fear of losing files, but the actual losing of my PC’s configuration. A bit like having your house cleaned after a flooding, only to find someone’s put all the furniture and household items in the wrong rooms and you can’t find anything.
The polite spokesperson told me the company is setting up such a service in Australia next year: a service that saves a mirror image of your operating system and computer configuration.
A quick search revealed that this was in fact old news. Offline mirror back-up is already widely available. As usual Apple is ahead; on their latest systems, the files are integrated with an offline Time Machine that not only provides mirror back-up but also saves frequent versions of the file stretching back for weeks, so that you can access the file as it was at a particular point in time without having to save it separately.
This, of course, brings me to 'the cloud'. It's a step up from online back-up, in that files are stored on and used via a network, usually the internet. This means files are portable and can be used and saved on any compatible computer.
Whether I had mirror back-up or used the cloud, though, I'd still need a spare computer if mine crashed again, given I don't have on-site IT support. Perhaps I should buy a cheap laptop, so I’ve got a replacement I can set up instantly if things go wrong.
This, of course, brings me to 'the cloud'. It's a step up from online back-up, in that files are stored on and used via a network, usually the internet. This means files are portable and can be used and saved on any compatible computer.
Whether I had mirror back-up or used the cloud, though, I'd still need a spare computer if mine crashed again, given I don't have on-site IT support. Perhaps I should buy a cheap laptop, so I’ve got a replacement I can set up instantly if things go wrong.
Shopping lessons
How did I end up in this situation given I strive to be a careful shopper, and what have I learned? When I bought my computer I made the best decision I could at the time, and I did some research. But a fundamental thing I failed to do was take my own needs into account – to adequately research myself, and to think about the 'unknown unknowns'. I treated myself as an average computer user rather than someone in business who needed a superior service, and I didn't look ahead to what my needs would be if things went wrong.
I honestly don't know if I would have bought differently given what I know now, but at least I would have been more aware of the risks. The fact is that the $120 I've just spent gave the computer a much-needed a tune-up as well as a reload. But this experience has taught me that I need to value my business and to be proactive when protecting not just my files (I knew that already) but my ability to get back to work straight away.
I don’t know at this point what I'll end up doing. Perhaps I’ll be gradually lulled into a false sense of security until the next crash, when I’ll have to act. In the meantime I may opt for conventional online back-up, for extra peace of mind; my portable back-up hard drive, after all, is only non-human and could perform its own self-destruction at any time. Or perhaps I should consider buying offline mirror back-up instead.
Whatever I decide to do, the idea of the face of my beloved PC being saveable and transferable – for a non-tech-savvy sole practitioner, that’s heaven sent.
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Cultural and Frugal Potential of the Kindle Part 1 and Part 2.
5/29/11
Labels:
Decision making
,
Internet shopping
,
Letting go
,
Research
,
Waiting
One of the traps it’s easy to fall into as a shopper is to buy something because you think you should. This basically means that your rational mind alone believes you need the item.
It’s fine to have a rational basis for wanting to buy something, but your intuition also needs to be involved in the decision-making process.
It’s amazing how many things some of us buy that we think we truly need, then don’t end up using.
The functions of some of these items can be carried out simply by repurposing. The crafty–frugal movement has lots of great information about this.
The Shopping Shoulds crop up in all kinds of situations, some of which are detailed in my forthcoming book, The Inspired Shopper. One scenario that can give rise to the Shopping Should is when you receive a gift voucher or money as a present.
Recognising the Shopping Shoulds
When you receive a gift voucher or cash as a birthday or Christmas present, three things can happen. Entirely new needs can present themselves (pun intended); you may already have a specific item that you’ve had your eye on for ages; or you may have a general idea of an item but not have the specifics worked out.
In any of these scenarios, you may experience the urge to spend the money quickly – both to let the giver know that you bought something worthwhile, and, if you received money, to ensure you don’t simply fritter it away on petrol and groceries.
If you have a specific item that you’d already chosen before receiving the gift, that’s great. You already knew that you wanted and needed the item, and now, with the help of your gift voucher or money, you can ‘claim’ it. As you’re buying it, you still need to check in with your intuition to ensure it’s right.
But if you only have a general idea of the kind of item you want, it’s especially important to proceed with caution. Remember, there’s no hurry. Don’t fall into the trap of buying something before you’re really ready.
Tips for avoiding the Shoppng Shoulds
• Try to let go of your desire to have the item right away.
• Don't conduct bricks-and-mortar searches just for the one item. For example, avoid going to a mall to look for that item alone. Wait until your unconscious mind prompts you, and visit a shopping centre when you’re on the lookout for more than one thing.
• If you’re browsing on the internet, keep telling yourself that you’re just looking – despite the convenience of buying something right away, there’s no need to rush things.
• As you look around, refine the sense of what you’re looking for – the colour, texture and so on. Think about your lifestyle, and what functions the item needs to have in order to enhance it.
• While you’re going through this process, think about whether or not you really need the item. Could an existing item be repurposed?
• Only buy the item when you receive a gentle nudge from your intuitive self. In the case of money you receive as a gift, remember, it’s now yours – if you want to spend it on something practical, that’s fine.
Bear in mind that wherever safety or risk is an issue, this advice doesn’t apply. Always err on the side of caution, for example if you’re planning to take a trip up the Amazon River(!) or buying a product for a baby or child that needs to meet particular safety standards (especially if you’re buying secondhand).
More on how to avoid the Shopping Shoulds can be found in my forthcoming book The Inspired Shopper, which is out soon as a Kindle ebook!
Read More
Beware the Shopping Shoulds!
One of the traps it’s easy to fall into as a shopper is to buy something because you think you should. This basically means that your rational mind alone believes you need the item.
It’s fine to have a rational basis for wanting to buy something, but your intuition also needs to be involved in the decision-making process.
It’s amazing how many things some of us buy that we think we truly need, then don’t end up using.
The functions of some of these items can be carried out simply by repurposing. The crafty–frugal movement has lots of great information about this.
The Shopping Shoulds crop up in all kinds of situations, some of which are detailed in my forthcoming book, The Inspired Shopper. One scenario that can give rise to the Shopping Should is when you receive a gift voucher or money as a present.
Recognising the Shopping Shoulds
When you receive a gift voucher or cash as a birthday or Christmas present, three things can happen. Entirely new needs can present themselves (pun intended); you may already have a specific item that you’ve had your eye on for ages; or you may have a general idea of an item but not have the specifics worked out.
In any of these scenarios, you may experience the urge to spend the money quickly – both to let the giver know that you bought something worthwhile, and, if you received money, to ensure you don’t simply fritter it away on petrol and groceries.
If you have a specific item that you’d already chosen before receiving the gift, that’s great. You already knew that you wanted and needed the item, and now, with the help of your gift voucher or money, you can ‘claim’ it. As you’re buying it, you still need to check in with your intuition to ensure it’s right.
But if you only have a general idea of the kind of item you want, it’s especially important to proceed with caution. Remember, there’s no hurry. Don’t fall into the trap of buying something before you’re really ready.
Tips for avoiding the Shoppng Shoulds
• Try to let go of your desire to have the item right away.
• Don't conduct bricks-and-mortar searches just for the one item. For example, avoid going to a mall to look for that item alone. Wait until your unconscious mind prompts you, and visit a shopping centre when you’re on the lookout for more than one thing.
• If you’re browsing on the internet, keep telling yourself that you’re just looking – despite the convenience of buying something right away, there’s no need to rush things.
• As you look around, refine the sense of what you’re looking for – the colour, texture and so on. Think about your lifestyle, and what functions the item needs to have in order to enhance it.
• While you’re going through this process, think about whether or not you really need the item. Could an existing item be repurposed?
• Only buy the item when you receive a gentle nudge from your intuitive self. In the case of money you receive as a gift, remember, it’s now yours – if you want to spend it on something practical, that’s fine.
Bear in mind that wherever safety or risk is an issue, this advice doesn’t apply. Always err on the side of caution, for example if you’re planning to take a trip up the Amazon River(!) or buying a product for a baby or child that needs to meet particular safety standards (especially if you’re buying secondhand).
More on how to avoid the Shopping Shoulds can be found in my forthcoming book The Inspired Shopper, which is out soon as a Kindle ebook!
1/22/08
Labels:
Research
,
Waiting
My so-far unsuccessful attempts to buy a lounge suite offer a great illustration of one of the guidelines I offer in my book The Inspired Shopper (yes, I'm changing the name!).
Let me give you the backstory. I have been looking for a lounge suite seriously, on and off, for about six months. This has involved one trip to a lounge suite shopping strip, which was enough to make me decide that a new lounge suite was out of the question. They were all outrageously expensive -- over $2000 for anything decent -- and some of them, though new, already looked cheap and tatty. A few sprawls on the couch with a book, a few minor food spills, and I would be wishing I had bought something in a sensible vinyl. No, it would definitely be vintage for me.
I already have a couch and two chairs, but the chairs are very old and shabby and the couch is simply annoying, because it has a cover over it that has to be straightened up, and the cushions re-assembled, every day. The chairs and the couch don't match, and I'm at a stage in life when I long for a proper lounge suite -- I want my lounge furniture to signify things like 'order', 'security' and 'home'.
I did a search on eBay and found a Jacobean lounge suite, feauturing beautifully carved wood and a decent upholstery job, that I checked out in person before bidding on. I was unsuccessful but the whole episode was a valuable learning experience.
So here am I still waiting for my perfect lounge suite. And I'm getting to that tetchy stage.
In my book The Inspired Shopper I recommend waiting as a strategy for buying well. The old-fashioned art of waiting and saving up used to be the standard means of buying big-ticket items. Now everyone wants to buy first and pay later, usually with a credit card. But many people fail to realise that waiting has advantages over and above only spending what you can afford.
For those who enjoy it, leisure shopping is a sensual experience, but above all an aesthetic one. We see any number of things we would love to take home with us. If we relied on aesthetics and emotions alone, we'd take home half the store every time we shopped. The beauty of waiting is that it allows us to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. When those momentary, impulsive attachments to items are gone, we're left with a better idea of the things that really take our fancy -- those that we genuinely want and need. (We may also need to use 'waiting time' to do further research on our own needs and desires.) And when we let ourselves go without for a while, we can use that energy to take us to the right item more quickly.
I'm not saying that waiting for however long it takes is always the right option. If I had no lounge furniture at all I'd probably go to my local op shop and buy some temporary furniture to tide me over rather than sit on the floor.
At the moment, I'm a little stuck in my search for a new lounge suite. I can decide on the colours I like, measure up my lounge room and get on eBay every day, but until I actually put said lounge suite, once irretrievably bought, into the room I won't really know for sure whether or not it's right for the room and the rest of my furniture -- so different from buying clothes, where a visit to the changeroom is usually mandatory.
What I really need to do, I think, is settle on the particular retro style that I want, rather than just be willing to take the first one that comes along at a good price. I may also need to cast my net more widely, and look in stores and suburbs I might not have considered. Despite my doubts, I know that when I find the right lounge suite my intuition will be evident, assuring me it is the right one.
So for now I'll adopt 'active waiting' rather than 'passive waiting'. And, at the risk of sounding too new-agey, I do trust that if I do the work, the universe will deliver a lounge suite that's right for me at just the right time!
Read More
The lounge suite saga -- and the virtue of waiting
My so-far unsuccessful attempts to buy a lounge suite offer a great illustration of one of the guidelines I offer in my book The Inspired Shopper (yes, I'm changing the name!).
Let me give you the backstory. I have been looking for a lounge suite seriously, on and off, for about six months. This has involved one trip to a lounge suite shopping strip, which was enough to make me decide that a new lounge suite was out of the question. They were all outrageously expensive -- over $2000 for anything decent -- and some of them, though new, already looked cheap and tatty. A few sprawls on the couch with a book, a few minor food spills, and I would be wishing I had bought something in a sensible vinyl. No, it would definitely be vintage for me.
I already have a couch and two chairs, but the chairs are very old and shabby and the couch is simply annoying, because it has a cover over it that has to be straightened up, and the cushions re-assembled, every day. The chairs and the couch don't match, and I'm at a stage in life when I long for a proper lounge suite -- I want my lounge furniture to signify things like 'order', 'security' and 'home'.
I did a search on eBay and found a Jacobean lounge suite, feauturing beautifully carved wood and a decent upholstery job, that I checked out in person before bidding on. I was unsuccessful but the whole episode was a valuable learning experience.
So here am I still waiting for my perfect lounge suite. And I'm getting to that tetchy stage.
In my book The Inspired Shopper I recommend waiting as a strategy for buying well. The old-fashioned art of waiting and saving up used to be the standard means of buying big-ticket items. Now everyone wants to buy first and pay later, usually with a credit card. But many people fail to realise that waiting has advantages over and above only spending what you can afford.
For those who enjoy it, leisure shopping is a sensual experience, but above all an aesthetic one. We see any number of things we would love to take home with us. If we relied on aesthetics and emotions alone, we'd take home half the store every time we shopped. The beauty of waiting is that it allows us to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. When those momentary, impulsive attachments to items are gone, we're left with a better idea of the things that really take our fancy -- those that we genuinely want and need. (We may also need to use 'waiting time' to do further research on our own needs and desires.) And when we let ourselves go without for a while, we can use that energy to take us to the right item more quickly.
I'm not saying that waiting for however long it takes is always the right option. If I had no lounge furniture at all I'd probably go to my local op shop and buy some temporary furniture to tide me over rather than sit on the floor.
At the moment, I'm a little stuck in my search for a new lounge suite. I can decide on the colours I like, measure up my lounge room and get on eBay every day, but until I actually put said lounge suite, once irretrievably bought, into the room I won't really know for sure whether or not it's right for the room and the rest of my furniture -- so different from buying clothes, where a visit to the changeroom is usually mandatory.
What I really need to do, I think, is settle on the particular retro style that I want, rather than just be willing to take the first one that comes along at a good price. I may also need to cast my net more widely, and look in stores and suburbs I might not have considered. Despite my doubts, I know that when I find the right lounge suite my intuition will be evident, assuring me it is the right one.
So for now I'll adopt 'active waiting' rather than 'passive waiting'. And, at the risk of sounding too new-agey, I do trust that if I do the work, the universe will deliver a lounge suite that's right for me at just the right time!
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