Bed Bugs

Billy bought us a bed on Saturday.

When we got to New London in the summer and moved into our house, we had no bed, so Bill’s mom – The Mumsie – generously gave us the double mattress and box spring that was in the spare bedroom in her house for the last 20 years or so. Bill’s never been comfy on it, though, and has been threatening to go out and buy us a bed when they went on sale, and that’s what he did on Saturday. A queen-size mattress and box spring from Sleepy’s, for a pretty good price.

Sleepy’s, however, charges $89 to deliver, which we could not abide by. We asked our friends Peter and Martha if we could borrow their old pick-up truck on Sunday. P&M said yes, but it was really tricky to drive, and one of them would accompany us on our rounds.

We hated to have to involve P or M, especially since we had to pick up the mattress at the Sleepy’s in Groton, and the boxspring at the Sleey’s in Waterford, but we needed a truck, so we said yes, thank you.

In the meantime, our friend Matt came down from Boston to hang with us on Saturday night, and Matt is a man who needs a big breakfast on Sunday morning. So even though my movie with Jennie was at 3, and we had to go to Groton and Waterford with Peter or Martha before that, off we went to brekkies at noon.

At 1:30 I talked to Peter, who said Martha would be our superstar truck’s driver, and that she’d be over after she filled the truck with gas. I was fretting. I did not see how I’d have time to drive all over tarnation hunting mattresses, and still get to the movie on time.

I was standing on the sunny front porch, doing just that fretting, when our friend Owen stopped by after feeding a friend’s dog in our 'hood. I told him of my plight, and like the rock star he is, Owen volunteered to drive to Groton and Waterford with Billy and Martha.

And off they went. Into the horizon. Billy with an angel from heaven on one side, and a knight in shining armor on the other, in the old blue pick-up truck.

Meanwhile, back at the house, the weight of the world having been lifted from my shoulders, Jennie arrived, we concocted batches of pure joy (as my brother-in-law Bill calls making bloody marys), and set off to The Pictures.

In the meantime, our heroic threesome found the correct Groton Sleepy’s (after first landing at the incorrect Groton Sleepy's), made their way to the Waterford Sleepy’s . . .

. . . and arrived home with mattress and boxspring in tow.

It was a beautiful day, and things were going well.

Billy and Owen got the mattress off the truck . . .

. . . up the front porch stairs . . .

. . . into the house . . .

. . . and right up the stairs..

And then it was time to get the boxspring up the stairs.
.

Oh dear.

.
As much as they heaved, as much as they hoed, they could not get that badboy to fit. Peter, who is apparently some kind of Angle Guru, was called to the scene.
.

Oh, Peter checked out the angles all right. But even he couldn't get that boxspring to fit up the stairs.
.

None of them could.

And so back down the stairs it came.

Down the stairs . . .

. . . out the door . . .

. . . and back down the porch stairs . . . (that's Owen in his car in the background, getting the hell out of there)

. . . and back into the truck. And, accompanied by Martha and Billy, right back to Sleepy's #2. Or was it Sleepy's #3?? .

And Jennie and I? We were happily oblivious to the day's drama, drinking bloody marys and snacking on hummus and pistachios at the movies.

.

Can you believe our friends? They rock.

.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bill ordered us a split queen-sized box spring, which cost $100 more, which will arrive later this week. And which will fit in the Westy.

Which is unfortunate, really. Because we won't get to borrow the old truck again. The other hero of the day. Here's what Martha said about that yeoman, when I asked her details about the pick-up, which I mistakenly called a Ford:

.

That's no Ford!! That is a 1981 Chevy C-10 with ~87,000 miles on it. That works out to a little over 3,000 miles per year... not evenly distributed, though. It used to drive my dad to Millstone, then it got to carry band equipment sometimes, when it still had a cap. It's always available when the Subaru goes to Quaker Hill for a rest cure. But alas, now its regular gig is going to the transfer station a few times per summer, and the rare and wonderfully exciting help-someone-move-something-big adventure like yesterday.
.

That truck was beaming with self-importance.