Up and Down the Aisle

Being a fairly frequent globetrotter with fast-twitch fibers always poses problems on long international flights. Those of us who find it nearly impossible to sit still for a half an hour, much less 9 or more of them, often have no other reprieve to offer our restless legs than walking up and down the narrow aisle of the airplane. I’ve been known to speed walk around the baggage carousel upon arrival with an unabashedly relieved look on my face.

Every time I see a driveway with two cars sitting outside a 2-car garage, I can’t help but assume their garage looks like what my folks’ used to. There’s no way either car would be located in there, and in fact there was no unclaimed space save an aircraft cabin width-like aisle that moved from the door to the far wall. If yours is similarly cluttered and constrained, a visit to Cymax Stores is long overdue.

I made the association after one of my brief returns from Asia years back, when my mother suggested I place some of my left-behind belongings in the garage as my room was in a state of disarray unbecoming of the “guest room” it now was. As I took an armful of items through the garage door, there I was again. I remember having kind of a strange recent deja-vu feeling as I negotiated the narrow strip, deciding where I would pile my stuff on top of the mixed strew of items that belonged in the garage and the majority that would normally be inside the house.

I was making my way from end of the 747 to the other all over again, albeit with the uniform rows of cramped seats replaced fallen-from-favor furniture, tools of all sorts and more non-descript boxes than you could count.

The pant-wearing one (will leave unnamed) of the two put an end to the mess shortly thereafter by means of a large garage sale. However, if you’re similarly overrun in your garage with little to nothing you’re willing to part with, do visit Cymax Stores. An Ameriwood Garage Wall Cabinet is an affordable and space-efficient means of beginning to restore order. An Ameriwood Tool Hutch is similarly practical way to keep your crescent wrenches and the like off the floor and easily located when you need to perform an oil change in the driveway.

I remember a friend who compared the chaos of his father’s garage to the Death Star trash compactor. What a great and yet decidedly uncomplimentary image, almost as if you could see Chewie picking up an inoperative weed whacker right before a tentacle pulls Luke down into a mound of semi-full peat moss sacks.

Prevent your kids from likening your garage to the refuse pit of an intergalactic space station with any one of the Ulti-MATE storage cabinets that offer extensive storage capacity and the durable thermo-fused PVC laminate exterior needed to survive in such a tough environment. Adjustable shelving means you might even be able to tuck a few of those contents-unknown boxes in there as well.

And for those who are content with the clutter, be sure not to impede the beverage trays.

In Vino Comedia

Most who have an affinity for wine keep more than a few bottles in their home, understanding that certain vintages are better suited to particular foods or a varied palate. For these individuals, MoreWineRacks.com is the e-destination of choice for stylish and practical wine storage units.

As a youngster I was a full-fledged bookworm, and my first conception of “wine” was born out of a French comic book series named Asterix and Obelix, and in particular one edition entitled The Chieftain’s Shield. The series depicted the adventures of two Gaulish (Gaul was a French Territory that was the last to fall to Caesar’s Roman Empire in 52 BC) men, Asterix and Obelix, who lead their village in continued resistance to the Romans buoyed by a super-human strength potion crafted by the village druid, Getafix.

Being just a child, I had no concept of inebriation. So you can imagine the intrigue with which I viewed the burgundy liquid which flowed from Winesanspirix’s amphorae. Winesanspirix was a wine and coal (purposely odd combination) merchant in the town of Gergovia who befriends and houses Asterix, Obelix and their village chief, Vitalstatistix, for the night as they travel across the French countryside. Winesandspirix’s bounty of amphorae rest in huge cross-slat wall cases that are not entirely unlike a Wine Cellar Innovations RDC Traditional Redwood Open Diamond Cubes Wine Rack, just on a much larger scale with the pottery jugs that were used to store wine ages ago.

The Romans have reason to believe Winesanspirix is withholding information regarding the whereabouts of the shield of Vercingetorix, the Gaul Warrior Chief who threw it onto, not at, the feet of Caesar after his defeat at the Battle of Alesia. Though its location is unknown, the Romans fear its falling into the hands of the Gauls again and further empowering their resistance.

The Roman “spy” that darkened Winesanspirix’s door that night is a hopeless drunkard, and his greeting of “Evening all, any chance of a drink?” is warmly received by Winesanspirix. He seats him with the three Gauls and promptly fills his horn goblet, again and again and again at the stranger’s emphatic request, with wine. As to why he assumed such a debilitated state with the beverage was completely beyond me – incessant hiccupping, heavy eyes, red nose, slobbering mouth and those classic bursting “bubbles” about his head – but it did make me wonder what exactly “wine” was.

As the lush continually pulls his fake moustache from his goblet and plasters it back onto his upper lip, the wine serves as a truth serum. He carelessly drops all sorts of information to the Gauls regarding the shield, including that which leads Asterix and co. to believe the shield may well be in their own village! As the evening comes to a close, the spy stumbles out of the place in a full-body stupor that furthered my curiosity as to just what properties this wine had to induce such a state.

For most, a Hillsdale Wilshire Rubbed Black Wine Rack would be perfectly suitable and stylish for an individual wine collection, but such a unit would not sufficiently serve the Gauls. As I continued to read the series, I was surprised at the way Asterix, Obelix and crew would chase their nightly repast of wild boar upon wild boar with copious quantities of wine. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t take the strange state of the drunken Roman in the same way. I wondered if perhaps Getafix’s super potion gave them immunity to the strange liquid’s effects. I read on with aplomb, and in fact I proceeded to read the entire Asterix and Obelix series.

When the domestic Winesanspirix in you comes to the forefront, keep your wares stylishly secure with a Howard Miller Belmont Wine Hutch, or any one of the quality and competitively-priced wine racks available at MoreWineRacks. Keep your favorite vintages close at hand to accent a nice meal, or to serve to guests as a nice intro to an enjoyable evening.

Just don’t be surprised if your avid-comic book reading son watches you intently with a certain curious expectancy.

Kitchen Furniture and the Human Heart

E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, once said that “on days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it.”

Kitchens are the hub of the home, the place where families and friends get together not only to eat, but to create meals and memories together. Kitchens are where ingredients are turned into nourishment for the belly, the heart, and the soul. Kitchens are where sense memories start: the smell of rhubarb and strawberries cooking in the pie my mother made on special occasions will always stay with me. I agree with E.B. White: Kitchens really do warm the human heart.

Unfortunately, kitchens can also be expensive to furnish and decorate. It is perhaps one of the most costly rooms in the house, especially for people who live in the kitchen, endlessly cooking and baking and nourishing their loved ones. But it doesn’t have to be that way. At Cymax, our online shopping makes shopping easy and inexpensive. In fact, keeping all the essentials in mind, we have ideas for your kitchen budget.

No matter how big your kitchen is, it always seems as though you need more space. If you are going for a natural, down-to-earth look, Cymax has a deal for you. These following three products are essentials and will make cooking all the more fun and accessible. With so many features, your kitchen will have everything you need… all for $690.97.

• The Home Styles Natural Wood Cart with Stainless Steel Top: $194.99 (save $105.01 from original price)
• The Home Styles Corner Buffet and Hutch with Plexiglass Doors in Natural: $295.99 (save $142.68 from original price)
• The Home Styles Baker’s Rack with Solid Wood Top in Natural: $199.99 (save $118.01 from original price)

With a cumulative saving of $365.70, Cymax offers you the kitchen of your dreams at almost half the cost of what you would pay on the original price – and definitely cheaper than shopping elsewhere! Add free ground shipping to that deal, and you will have a kitchen that is sure to warm your heart... and all of the hearts that you cook for.

Elvis Lives! (In the Suburbs)

On Saturday morning, I am woken up by Elvis and bagpipes. I lean over to see if my alarm clock is stuck between radio stations, soon realizing that I hadn’t set an alarm. It is Saturday. Saturday equals sleep for me.

Perplexed, I get out of bed and peek through my curtains. And there he is, in all his glory: Elvis – clad in a white bedazzled, studded shirt with the collar flipped up, and matching white bellbottom pants with a belt that you could see from space. Yes indeed, Elvis is alive and he is crooning, “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog” at my window.

The bagpipes are about twenty feet away from Elvis (not far enough). I am having flashbacks of my childhood: my mother drilling our Scottish heritage into my head by means of endless recordings of her favorite pipers and my father trying to instill in me what “real” music should sound like by playing LPs of Elvis, playing along with his guitar. I watch the pipers, and in my head, I go through the motions of Scottish country dancing – ugh. I turn my focus back to Elvis, and I swear one of my legs starts to wiggle, but it may just be pre-caffeine jitters.

I have never thought to imagine the King of Rock ‘n Roll and a band of twelve pipers go head-to-head for the spotlight on a suburban street in May. Nor what they are here for in the first place. I just moved to the suburbs after living in the city my entire life. In the city, Elvis might make an appearance, but only in the form of an over-confident, slightly inebriated fan, after closing time at the karaoke bar. But pipers? Not so much. I’m at a loss, so I walk into my den, where my community calendar is pinned up on a corkboard on the back panel of my workstation hutch. I flip through the calendar as I rub the sleep out of my eyes.

The May Day Parade! Upon realizing this, I am perhaps a little over zealous, but I have never really lived in a community before – the only parades I’ve gone to are more like protests than anything else. Wrapping my duvet cover around my shoulders, and with slippers on my feet, I visit the coffee maker for my essential caffeine kick (which did help my leg stop swaying) and then head for the deck.

One of the beauties of living in suburbia is that I have a rooftop deck – not a tiny Juliette balcony that looks out to a concrete alley between city blocks that I can only fit on if I lean up against the wall. No, this deck is huge and amazing and now that I can fit more than a body on my deck, I have completely spoiled both this deck and myself with stunning, quality patio furniture. But what feels like the greatest thing about this deck today is that it has a perfect view of the entire parade.

The parade lasts for a good hour and a half. Elvis and the piping band are followed by heaps of different community groups – from kids’ sports teams and school bands to War Veterans and vintage cars to Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. When all that is left is a few lonesome streamers and candy wrappers, I get up from my porch swing, head inside to my couch to catch up on the sleep that Elvis interrupted, with a smile on my face and an old song in my head.