Friday Flashback: Bed, Glorious Bed!

Every now and then, when Mrs. TBF gets into bed, she sings the words "...bed, glorious bed!" to the tune of "...food, glorious food!" from Oliver. Aaaahhhhhhh, bed. There's nothing like it; especially when it's winter, you're really tired, and you have flannel sheets...

Aaaahhhhhhhh!

We bought our bedroom set during the summer of 1987, and it was delivered shortly before our wedding in October. I had always wanted a waterbed, and Mrs. TBF, who was not Mrs. TBF yet, had no objections, so that's what we got.

Our bed has seen a lot of traffic over the past (nearly) twenty years (ok...sleaze bag, get your mind out of the gutter!); two humans, three cats, and a dog have fairly equally called it their nighttime home over that time.

The bed has served us well through sickness and health. It was a bastion of comfort when I was recuperating from my fourth knee operation in late-1991. Dominique's access to the bedroom was restricted because she would immediately jump on my knee, Binky pretty much ignored us unless she was hungry, and King picked up little "gifts" around the house and brought them to the bedside right before...settling his 16 lb. mass on my belly.

By the way, just ignore the crazy J.Crew boxer shorts...

Eventually, Dominique pretty much staked her claim to the bed and "agreed" to let us use it during the night. Mrs. TBF and I would each have our 10% shares along the sides, and Dominique would sprawl-out with her head on Mrs. TBF's back and her butt on my pillow next to my face. In the morning, when I'd get up to make coffee, Dominique would steal my warm spot by burrowing under the covers (like in this mid-90's picture), and then she'd growl at me when I'd push her over so that I could get back into bed.

Yes, the bed has been a fantastic investment in rest and relaxation. However, we now have a problem.

One thing we never considered before moving here was having to replace our mattress. I actually did think ahead by purchasing extra waterbed cylinders in case we had a leak, but I never thought about the possibility of the insulated, hollowed-out, mattress-like cover that goes over the cylinders wearing out; and, it has! It's lost its shape, and our waterbed has become a little saggy here, a little lumpy there, and in need of a change. So, we've decided to replace the waterbed with a regular mattress. Here's the problem: I can't find an American queen size mattress for sale in Europe. The mattresses here are a little shorter (no problem) and three inches wider (problem). The Euro-mattress won't fit into our bed frame.

What to do?

I'll tell you what I'm going to do...

I checked out the American IKEA website. When we go to Chicago next week, we're going to buy a nice, queen size mattress that is compressed into a 16.5"x 16.5"x 60" package for shipping for $329. A quick call to BA World Cargo revealed that it will cost us $299 to have it shipped to Basel. Remarkably, the total cost for buying it in the U.S., shipping it here, and paying the import tax will be less than it cost to buy the mattress for the bed in our guest room from our local IKEA...over six years ago! Plus, it's the right size for our bed. The only problem is that I won't be able to open the package that the mattress is in (it'll decompress) before shipping it here. If there's a flaw with the mattress - we're screwed.

Stay tuned...