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1st apartment-cinderblock "entertainment system", beanbag chair....

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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:51 PM
Original message
1st apartment-cinderblock "entertainment system", beanbag chair....
you know to fill up the open space in that one corner, GOTTA go to Circuit City and sign the next five years of your life away for that TV, cable, cable reconnect fees two months later, when you get "sophisticated" you get a floor lamp (but no one can touch it or come near it 'cause it "goes out"), ......

A co-worker and I,from vastly different backgrounds, were just informing a young co-worker what he has to look forward to when he gets his first place.

Sound familiar?
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MissB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:52 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yes.
Too familiar.
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Lavender Brown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:53 PM
Response to Original message
2. I still have a college-era "Papasan chair" in my apartment
:cry: Stupid beer-stained piece of crap.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:06 PM
Response to Reply #2
9. the "drunk tester"
Anyone who didn't know how to sit down in it and had had too many always ended up with that seat. Hilarity ensued.
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xmas74 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:54 PM
Response to Original message
3. I also had the empty wooden spool
that used to have wire rope on it as a coffee table.
And the stolen milk crates as end tables.
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DS1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:54 PM
Response to Original message
4. I was the opposite. I had a stereo system when I lived with my parents
and left it there. My world revolved (and to a point still does) the computer. So I had a bed, 13" tv, 19" computer monitor and a really comfy chair. My "living" room was empty all but for crap I didn't know what to do with, no chairs or tables. It was compute, or watch tv on bed then sleep. Repeat. Oh, and the computer was near the phonejack, which was in the kitchen.
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DancingBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:56 PM
Response to Original message
5. My "end table"
was an empty steel beer keg, painted red, white and blue, with a sheet of glass on the top.

The chair came from Goodwill, the bed sat on the floor (only later did my mom buy me a $19 Sears metal frame), and the floors were painted.
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bmbmd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:38 PM
Response to Reply #5
17. I bought a Jack Daniels oak keg
for nine bucks at the Handy Dan store, sawed it in half, and had two matching endtables. Plus, my apartment always smelled like whiskey.
I also had the two by twelves and cinder block book case and a laminated table I bought for ten bucks at a garage sale. Made a day bed out of two by fours, hung a picture of Linda Rondstadt on the wall, and stayed put 'til I got married. Those were the days.
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Reverend_Smitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:58 PM
Response to Original message
6. I can't wait to get my own place...
One more year until I get my degree. I plan on living alone while I get my masters, I honestly don't care how crappy my furniture is, I just want some privacy. 21 years old and I still sleep in bunk beds and quite frankly it sucks!
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CO Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 02:59 PM
Response to Original message
7. I Decorated an Entire Apartment During "Clean-Up Days" in 1974
Borrowed my mother's station wagon and cruised the streets of Morristown, NJ.

When The Princess and I got out first apartment together in 1992, we borrowed her father's pickup truck and hit the garage sales in and around East Brunswick.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:04 PM
Response to Reply #7
8. "Alley shopping" you can always find an end table
or a phone cable reel (come to think of it we are using one of those for our printer stand-it is very clean of course).
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CO Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:23 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. "it is very clean"
Edited on Wed May-04-05 03:25 PM by CO Liberal
Just Like Paul's grandfather in "A Hard Day's Night".


Source: http://www.countytheater.com/
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demnan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:09 PM
Response to Original message
10. If he can afford it
Edited on Wed May-04-05 03:11 PM by demnan
I really pity these young folks today. My niece is 19 and about to get married. She and her SO are both in blue collar jobs. The family pitched in and we're helping them buy a trailer (wedding present). Apartments are so high in price and buying a condo is out of the question. I really hope they can make it.

Last weekend they visited my tiny (855 sq ft) condo and acted like it was a mansion or something.

I actually still scrounge for things, I lifted a little set of shelves from the trash the other day. People do throw away good things, especially in the rich neighborhoods.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:31 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. On a run last week I found a great ramp for our move
I cut off the legs but didn't account for the inaccuracy of a hand saw. I have to "refit" it to the threshold of our apartment. It should do the job fine.
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MindPilot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:13 PM
Response to Original message
11. Yep, a chair made of two inner tubes lashed together
Edited on Wed May-04-05 03:17 PM by MindPilot
matress on the floor, night stand was a cardboard box with pictures cut from magazines pasted to it and a goverment surplus desk.

My only decent piece was beautiful turned cherry floor lamp I made in high school woodshop. Almost 40 years later, I still have it.

On Edit: When President Ford gave us all a $100 tax rebate; I bought a stereo for $99. It had a built-in 8-track player!
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ahem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:24 PM
Response to Original message
13. Milk crates and liquor boxes!
Sturdy and functional.
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matcom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:32 PM
Response to Original message
15. no.
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AllegroRondo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:32 PM
Response to Original message
16. When I was in the Army, living in the barracks
and stationed in Germany, we had what became known as 'the lucky couch'.

We were living 2 to a room, similar to a college dorm. Someone years before I got there had bought a couch that folded out into a bed. When he left, he couldnt take it with him, and gave it to someone else in the unit. Next owner left it to someone else, and so on.

Part of the legend - everyone who owned the couch supposedly had gotten laid on it. So it became almost a competition to see who would get the couch next. "Bob is going back to the States next month.... I hope he gives me the couch"
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #16
20. We had a "short chair"
If you were leaving you had to give to someone in another platoon or troop who was REALLY short (less than 100 days).

As far as the other thing goes.... :spank:
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evlbstrd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:39 PM
Response to Original message
18. Put a chicken wire cage around the teevee.
We had one when Ray-gun was pRezz. Makes it safe to throw beer cans at it.
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Left Is Write Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:41 PM
Response to Original message
19. Blocks-and-boards bookshelves; garage sale dining table and chairs;
posters in plastic frames as artwork; silverware that used to be your gramma's, and a mattress on the floor with mismatched sheets.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 03:48 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. The day I move to Richmond-bought a $5 thrift store clock
I've only changed the battery once in ten years. It was accurate to the second until the time change last spring. It is getting screwy on me. My wife hates it but I am keeping it.
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Left Is Write Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 05:50 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. The best couch I ever had was a garage sale find.
It was well-made - clean! - and very comfortable. The original owners must have paid a lot of money for it, but I got it for $20. I had it for years. It was so comfortable a person could sleep on it without back problems.

I wish I still had it. It was quite a bit more comfortable than the couch we have now, and it was the perfect couch for a household with little kids (no worries about ruining an expensive couch).
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cestpaspossible Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 06:04 PM
Response to Original message
23. How to furnish your apartment by Abbie Hoffman
Apartment lobbies are good for all kinds of neat furniture. If you want to get fancy about it, rent a truck (not one that says U-HAUL-IT or other rental markings) and make the pick-up with moving-man-type uniforms. When schools are on strike and students hold seminars and debate into the night, Yippies can be found going through the dorm lobbies and storage closets hauling off couches, desks, printing supplies, typewriters, mimeos, etc. to store in secret underground nests. A nervy group of Yippies in the Midwest tried to swipe a giant IBM 360 computer while a school was in turmoil. All power to those that bring a wheelbarrow to sit-ins.

Check into a high-class hotel or motel remembering to dress like the wallpaper. Carry a large dummy suitcase with you and register under a phony name. Make sure you and not the bellboy carry this bag. Use others as a decoy. When you get inside the room, grab everything you can stuff in the suitcase: radio, T.V. sets (even if it has a special plug you can cut it with a knife and replace the cord), blankets, toilet paper, glasses, towels, sheets, lamps, (forget the imitation Winslow Homer on the wall) a Bible, soap and toss rugs. Before you leave (odd hours are best) hang the DO NOT DISTURB sign on your doorknob. This will give you an extra few hours to beat it across the border or check into a new hotel.

Landlords renovating buildings throw out stoves, tables, lamps, refrigerators and carpeting. In most cities, each area has a day designated for discarding bulk objects. Call the Sanitation Department and say you live in that part of town which would be putting out the most expensive shit and find out the pick-up day. Fantastic buys can be found cruising the streets late at night. Check out the backs of large department stores for floor models, window displays and slightly damaged furniture being discarded.

Construction sites are a good source for building materials to construct furniture. (Not to mention explosives.) The large wooden cable spools make great tables. Cinderblocks, bricks and boards can quickly be turned into a sharp looking bookcase. Doors make tables. Nail kegs convert into stools or chairs. You can also always find a number of other supplies hanging around like wiring, pipes, lighting fixtures and hard hats. And don't forget those blinking signs and the red lanterns for your own light show. Those black oil-fed burners are O.K. for cooking, although smoky, and highway flares are swell for making fake dynamite bombs.
Steal This Book
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tammywammy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 06:13 PM
Response to Original message
24. I was lucky
Where my mom works there's a flyer with people selling different things. A lady was selling a leather sofa, chair and love seat and my mom bought it for me. It was used, but good condition. When I moved home after losing my job, I donated it to the VA.

And my parents were divorced but decided to remarry each other, so they had two set of everything. I ended up getting my mom's end tables, coffee table, lamps and a rug. But at first I was just using boxes as end tables.

That rug was awesome though, you could spill anything on it and it wouldn't show.
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Orsino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-04-05 06:17 PM
Response to Original message
25. "We may be broke, but we got tunes." --Foxworthy n/t
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