Browsing

Rather than head to the flat with my folks today, I elected to toddle off to Brent Cross and look into a bit of 'lifestyle shopping' - extra furniture for the lounge mainly, but anything else that might catch my fancy.

While my folks were planning to make an early start, it was damn near 11am when they finally left. For some reason, when my mother was ready, my father wasn't (though both looked ready!) and then when he was ready, my mother had started on the housework - loading up the dishwasher, hanging out the washing, etc. I have noted many times before that, whenever my mother announces "we're just off now" she actually means "we'll be off in about half an hour", but this really was quite strange.

Once I was ready, I walked off to the bus stop for Brent Cross, and was rather amused to find the estimated journey time to be about half an hour. Ahem. Make that 45-50 minutes, TfL.

It was quite a pleasant journey - a far cry from my last outing to Harrow - and I arrived quite looking forward to doing some browsing.

I don't normally browse. I'm the kind of guy who has a good idea of what I want, and go straight to it. Browsing can actually be quite uncomfortable for me, as it's basically going into a shop with the vaguest idea of what I'm looking for, and attempting to make a choice on the fly.

At least I wasn't planning on buying.

Still, I found that 'small double' matresses are easier to come by that 'small double' beds... So it looks like I'll have to head to specialist bed shops, despite what seem to be higher prices (even in their sales) than department stores.

Things like coffee tables tend to be standard sizes (60cm wide) which may be a little too wide for the space I have available. There are other options, such as small chests or drawer units which will offer additional storage, so there are still plenty of choices.

Typically, I browsed the toy sections as well. Fenwicks had wave one of Hasbro's new Universe/Classics line, so I bagged Prowl and Sunstreaker for £12.95 each, the new price for the Deluxe size. Tankor (aka Octane) doesn't quite work for me... those shoulders and lanky legs just don't seem to suit him.

I'd also intended to get a present for a friend, since she recently grabbed a selection of Kingtoy's half-size TF Generation 1 Seekers for me, having found them at her husband's favourite model shop. Sadly, while the intended gift is 'available', it wasn't on the shelves at Brent Cross... So I may just have to look elsewhere, or possibly order online if it turns out to be a store exclusive.

Once Brent Cross had been exhausted, I tripped over the road to Toys'R'Us and found not only the Universe stuff, but the new wave of Animated Deluxes - Jazz, Snarl (aka Slag), Soundwave and Oilslick. From this selection, I nabbed Jazz and Soundwave, and then ground my teeth when I noticed the TRU price for Universe Deluxes is the same old £9.99. Bastages.

Oh well. At least now I know to buy from TRU, not the department stores. Unless I'm desperate.

Still no sign of Voyager Optimus Prime, though. Whether this is because he's sold out (not inconceivable) or because he's extremely shortpacked (in some areas of the States, the Voyager size version is considered to be a myth because it's so scarce) I cannot say... but I shall keep looking.

I called my folks when I got home to check in on their progress. The bedroom floorboards are sorted, so the floor proper can be started tomorrow. At least one room is looking very good... Shame about the windows.