Ikea and such

[protege]

Besides, the place sounds like the corn maze form Hell to navigate anyway.

Hehe I get lost almost every time I go in there LOL

[Magpie]

The one I went to most recently had maps floor plans available. And there were signs saying which sections you were walking towards. Yes, it was bad enough in there that I didn't know which way North was. (I have poor directional sense, this isn't the first time that's happened). However, I could use the map instead.

[wagegoth]

Never been to an IKEA, and probably never will, not after what they did to a member on this board.

I blacklist a few places, but I think we're stuck, because if we blacklisted every store that had screwed over a member of the board there'd be no place to shop.

Now that I'm done justifying my shopping at Ikea, when my kids were smaller, I loved their kid section (still do ), and I always have to go through the kitchen section for the latest cooking utensils.

[Fire_on_High]

The pet stores in my area don't sell dogs and cats. They do, however, have different humane societies and rescue groups come in to showcase adoptable pets.
.

One of the small indy stores here will take in litters directly from ppl every so often, get em checked and sell em at reasonable prices. They can't do a huge amount compared to the NEED, but even one or two litters a year that aren't dumped or taken to the local shelter is a huge difference to *those* kittens.

We got our boys from there @ 10 weeks, last 2 of the litter left. Fell in love with the one and couldn't bear to leave his brother there alone, so home they both came.

[Andara Bledin]

I used to have a local pet shop that would take in litters if they were in good shape. The only thing was that if they couldn't sell the kitten, then you had to take it back, but they wouldn't charge you for the grooming and whatnot they did in prep for trying to sell them.

^-.-^

[protege]

My white kitty, Snow, came from a shelter...but she was at the pet store. She was very sweet and playful, but because of her deafness, nobody wanted her. Pisses me off that nobody would adopt her, simply because she wasn't "perfect." Sadly, she died of a heart attack 6 months after I'd adopted her

[LadyAndreca]

My kitties, Vesper and Danica, came from a kitten rescue. The owner runs the entire thing out of her house--she takes in entire litters, including the mother, up to six weeks old (the humane society won't touch young kittens) and gets them used to human interaction, and actually interviews the people who want to adopt to match them up with the kittens she has. Which reminds me, I have a box of towels from when we cleaned out the linen closet that I've been meaning to run by there.

[Lady J'ssem]

I honestly can say I loved going to Ikea, never actually got to their show room (my mum was leading us around, not knowing where she was going, she kicked her-self later for not seeing the show rooms.) But the place was fantastic for cheap furniture if you're in a rush. Or just bits and bobs.

We ended up getting pretty much everything my younger sister (didn't) need for her new apartment. She was visiting us, she had brought her suitcases mostly full... she left with them overpacked, and many boxes being mailed down to where she's living now. She's put a ban on her husband going though, he'd leave them in the poor house .

My mum and I want to hold a giant hide and seek game in it. My fiance's definitely all for that, heh. Anyone else want to stage a hide'n'seek game in one??

And OT..... KITTIES!!! I want a kitty... but my mum's allergic, and a lot of the apartments I could afford don't allow pets. Can't get a puppy either, cause I'm moving out, and wouldn't be able to take a puppy with me. Sigh.

[Geek King]

And OT..... KITTIES!!! I want a kitty... but my mum's allergic, and a lot of the apartments I could afford don't allow pets. Can't get a puppy either, cause I'm moving out, and wouldn't be able to take a puppy with me. Sigh.

Check with the apartment's management directly. I found several apartments that advertised as 'No Pets' will actually allow small indoor pets under ten pounds. Especially if it is a determining factor in whether or not you sign a lease.

[Magpie]

Check your local laws too. There are clauses in my lease that aren't legally enforceable (such as "no pets"), but they never bothered to take them out because they have the "the rest of this lease still applies" clause in there. This leads to the amusing "no pets" clause, followed at some point by "pet owners must pay an $XX deposit".

[Dreamstalker]

Check with the apartment's management directly. I found several apartments that advertised as 'No Pets' will actually allow small indoor pets under ten pounds. Especially if it is a determining factor in whether or not you sign a lease.

That's what my mom did; the 'no pets' clause had not been disclosed until right at the signing. She explained that our cat was older, quiet, strictly indoor and just said that she could not sign the lease if we couldn't bring him with. Then the agent said that the ban was mainly for dogs and rambunctious animals and that cats were OK as long as they won't damage anything.

Now of course I don't know if we can get another cat; the shelter does check with landlords but the vet doesn't (they will take in strays and try to place them).

[LadyAndreca]

Now of course I don't know if we can get another cat; the shelter does check with landlords but the vet doesn't (they will take in strays and try to place them).

We had this problem getting ours. Our landlords have a policy of "if we don't see them, we can claim the owners snuck them in against their lease" and every time there's state inspections they warn us ahead of time "if you own a pet, which is a direct violation of your lease, remove it from the property on that day". But legally it's a no-pet apartment and they can get fined if they knowingly allow pets. The local shelters won't adopt out pets to apartments without proof the lease allowed it, but the kitten rescue would. Which is how we wound up with two, the rescue would only adopt out pairs--not that I mind!

[Dreamstalker]

There are at least two other cats in our building that the tenants moved in with, so I'm not sure how strict the no-pet policy actually is, or if it's on a case-by-case basis (older mature indoor cats=OK; kittens, dogs and pets that may potentially damage the unit=no).

[Flying Grype]

Pet shops

Ikea Although I don't know what it was that they did to a member of this board. Would like to hear it.

Ikea is a day-long expedition, just because of the crowds. As big as the stores are, and as many checkouts as they have, there are always huge lines. There are some days when I just can't go in there, but others when I love it. I wish parents would actually use the damn play area rather than dragging their alternately rambunctious/misbehaving/shrieking and bored/tired/crying kids around with them.

You have to know what to get there, too -- some stuff is great and some is just crap. Pine frame futon = crap. Five-dollar plastic stool = crap. Dishware and pots = great! Platform beds = preeeetty and sturdy and creak-free.

I took all the glassware off my wedding registry -- I'm going to get the glasses I want at Ikea, because the place where I'm registered has nothing like them at all.

[Magpie]

Create a DIY registry, where you can list what you actually want. We did it, because Lee Valley doesn't let you register.

What we like IKEA for is really cheap lumber. We bought some IVAR shelves, stained them and urethaned them, and now we have some really nice shelving units. My FIL went one further. He bought whatever they're pushing to replace IVAR, did some trimming to the uprights, used the bits he trimmed off to create end stops, and uses them as bookshelves.