Archives #2 - C-I-V-I-C spells Defeat

This expresses my love for FREE STUFF
Original post: Wednesday, May 10, 2006
C-I-V-I-C spells DEFEAT
Current mood: defeated

If you know me well, you know that I LOVE FREE STUFF. Therefore, it only fits that I am a HUGE fan of Dumpster Diving. Every year around graduation time I stalk the parking lots of college apartment complexes and dorms to see what kinds of goodies I can find. The year I graduated I found a futon frame, a microwave, a desk, a desk chair, an over-the-door shoe rack, and tv trays all at the same dumpster. Some poor guy couldn't fit it in his car to take home so therefore it became mine, all mine, for FREE.
This year was the same, driving around Belmont and Vanderbilt's parking lots looking for something that would fit nicely in my new house. There was little left because it was evening and not everyone has moved out yet but I did find a desk at a dumpster at Belmont. I need a desk and have needed a desk for a few months now but was waiting for such a momentus occasion as graduation/move out time to score one for free. That's just how I do it.
So last night after my sister's middle school choir concert I decided to make the rounds at Belmont. I found this desk, eyeballed it and decided that yes, this desk will be mine and I will take it home with me tonight. So, I got out of my car and emptied my back seat. My trunk is full of old clothes that I am trying to get rid of and just haven't yet so that wasn't an option. So, I think I have pretty good spatial judgement and so I pick up the desk (first time not so heavy, times thereafter heavier and heavier) and proceed to put it in my backseat. It barely fits but I can budge it...just not far enough. I walk it around to the other side of the car to try the other way. Still no budging. Soooo, determined not to be defeated, I emptied my trunk into my back seat and after strategically arranging it, I lifted it up...AND, it's TOO WIDE.
After many attempts and even calling a friend with an SUV, I determined that a Honda Civic is not an appropriate vehicle for furniture hunting. As of now, the desk has been sitting in the pouring rain overnight and is probably no good anymore which totally bumms me out.
It was a perfectly good desk, on a perfectly rain-free night with a not-so-perfect mode of transportation.