<p>@trojanchick99,
We went to the Hollywood Bowl for the Simpsons fireworks finale last night. Was fun.
Yes, Conan was there (singing the Monorail song) along with Jon Lovitt, Hank Azaria, Weird Al, Matt Groening. Arrive early.</p>
<p>@lotsofquests,
You are a good mom! There is no way that your DS would have been able to get the apt and furnishings all set up by himself with the amount of time that he was spending in grad school. Glad it is working out for you and him.</p>
<p>@lotsofquests,</p>
<p>Congrats to you for a job well done.
We wish we could be of help to our kid to the same degree as you, when he needs a similar help.</p>
<p>We actually need to help look up some hotel near N. Sepulveda Blvd (the “1”) and E. El Segundo Blvd south of LAX in 3 months.</p>
<p>Wonder how safe the area would be if he stays at the Residence Inn two blocks to the east of that cross-section and walks between the hotel and the cross-section at N. Sepulveda Blvd & E. El Segundo Blvd, potentially in odd hours. There seems to be a farmers boys foods (selling burgers?) next to this Residence Inn.</p>
<p>I think finding a hotel to stay for a few days is a much easier task than trying to find an apartment - unless there is a major sport event around that time (it seems there is a Toyota Sports Center nearby, thus this concern. I had an experience of driving for several hours without the luck of finding a vacant room at any hotel in a large area of a city, just because of an ongoing sport event.)</p>
<p>@lotsofquests you have done an excellent job! When you get back home, you will understand the layout of the city and his apartment.
Costco run for tp, paper towels, and white bath towels. Costco has those really strong white towels that can take a lot of washer, dryer and bleach abuse. He won’t have time now to go out for tp and paper towels, so it’s best to leave him with a stack until he can pay for the expensive prices at Ralph’s! People are mostly laid back here, so please ask for help, you will get help from anyone you ask.
IKEA for cheapie lighting and clocks.
Stay cool, we’re not used to this heat either! Drink lots of water! Good job!</p>
<p>Hope the furniture shopping went well! This brings back good memories of what we did with DS in grad school. </p>
<p>@mcat,
“We actually need to help look up some hotel near N. Sepulveda Blvd (the “1”) and E. El Segundo Blvd south of LAX in 3 months.” That area is fine. You can walk from motel to the corner at night. El Segundo is on the north side of very upscale Manhattan Beach.</p>
<p>@YoHoYoHo,</p>
<p>Thanks. We are interested in knowing more about LA. We have not been in LA for more than 28 years.</p>
<p>@mcat2,
What do you want to know? Are you planning on moving back to LA or visiting? Did you used to live in LA?</p>
<p>@YoHoYoHo,</p>
<p>We have never lived in LA. We visited there only twice in our life time. We are living in the bay area now (somewhat temporarily though.)</p>
<p>We are interested in LA only because our kid plans to visit there for a couple of days toward the end of the year - for some kind of test. Never understand why he chooses to take the test there instead of Philadelphia where the students from his school usually go to for this kind of stuff. Must be due to the nicer weather in CA in the winter, I think, but I have never asked him why.)</p>
<p>We are looking at Doubletree at 1985 E Grand Ave, Segundo, CA right now. Likely more cost-effective for his trip. There appears to be another one, Courtyard Marriott close to the Toyota Sports Center.</p>
<p>I do not think he will need a small kitchen at a Residence Inn. All these hotels seem to be in the same industrial area (i.e., lots of office buildings), so it is not like any one is close to an area with plenty of restaurants. He may still need a car to get around for his meal. My wife would like to drive down there to meet him, but not sure whether he likes the idea or not (most likely depending on how many days off he will have or whether he will be there alone or with his friends or not.)</p>
<p>I actually mistakenly thought the area OP was looking at is the same area I am looking at now. Now I know the area she was looking at is northwest of LAX, while the area I am looking at is south of (and very close to) LAX. So I am very ignorant about LA.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>
This brings back my memory that the furniture company ended up delivering the furniture to DS’s apartment on the day of his commencement. One of the parents ended up waiting for the furniture delivery while the commencement was ongoing. Luckily, the furniture was delivered quite early in the morning, and I missed only the first 20 minutes of the commencement. But it was not fun to wait for furniture delivery on that day. (We also could not easily reschedule the delivery because changing it would affect our flight schedule.)</p>
<p>Lesson: The furniture may not always be delivered on the day they have promised so it is better to be flexible on the flight schedule.</p>
<p>Had a really productive day. S and I went furniture shopping with a list. Since I had gone earlier, I was able to show him the pieces that I had priced and he quickly decided on a sectional couch and table and chairs. The mattress took a little extra time because I couldn’t remember what I had looked at earlier. He had planned to get a chest for the bedroom but decided on a dresser without the mirror after wandering 3 times around the bedroom show area. Because this place is mainly for online shopping, the salespeople don’t really try to “sell” you, although the woman today very quickly answered any questions. I am glad that I had gone several days earlier when the store was mostly empty because my salesperson that day was very helpful. I has asked about delivery before we started and she said that it could be scheduled for Tuesday. That gives us one day for cushion (the warehouse is closed Thursday). If everything isn’t delivered by Wednesday, I will postpone my flight. I also paid an extra 35 for assembly since at this point, S doesn’t have any tools (or much experience assembling tables. Although that might change, as he spent 3 hours on Saturday doing required set construction.)</p>
<p>After the furniture purchases, we headed to Kmart for bedding, dishes, cookware, a microwave, and lamps. Other than getting the shopping cart jammed on its on personal escalator, that shopping went pretty smoothly.</p>
<p>Tomorrow, the resident manager should be back from her trip so I can get the garage code and check on the gas range that seemed to have no gas and the frig that we are hopefully buying from another tenant. Now, except for grocery shopping (unfortunately we belong to Sam’s Club, not Costco, but that might work), my only other tasks are to sit in the apartment and wait for things to be delivered. I might even be able to do a little sightseeing on Thursday if the temperature goes down to 85 as forecast. </p>
<p>When I talked to my husband this morning, he was planning to schedule the car inspection, etc. he has not decided yet whether he will make the trip or not. He has some fairly serious health issues but they don’t really interfere with his daily life. They just make him a little less ready for adventure. </p>
<p>Just a thought: When we helped DS to “furnish” his apartment, we tried to buy inexpensive furniture (unless it is something it may cause some inconvenience or his life uncomfortable. This is because we all know that we may throw away a lot of stuff if he moves again in a year or so. I believe we only buy a relatively good set of mattress/springbox/frames and a nice/sturdy desk (as large as it could fit into the available space) and just one comfortable chair (the rest are folder chairs.) Sure enough, a few years later, he does not need any of those.</p>
<p>Somehow we like to buy some shelves that are made of metal wires (I think we bought them from Target.) It is easy to install and it is not heavy to bring it home.</p>
<p>I google “wire shelving units target” and it gives me this (on my iPhone). The cost is just $19.99 and it is easy to install.</p>
<p><a href=“http://m.target.com/p/room-essentials-black-3-tier-wire-shelving/-/A-13892292”>http://m.target.com/p/room-essentials-black-3-tier-wire-shelving/-/A-13892292</a></p>
<p>If he has more space to spare and needs more table space, I think some folding table from some boxbox store like Lows (sp?) or Home Depot is very cheap and easy to transport and no installation is required. I think DS uses it as a dining table which he disposed when he no longer needed it. But some people do not like this kind of cheap way, though.</p>
<p>We were actually “trained” to buy very cheap stuff when DS was in college because, more likely than not, most things were discarded at the end of each school year. (I know, it is very wasteful. But this was what many of their suitemates did unless they live within the driving distance from the campus. - Well…some of them moved to $3000 per month apartment after they graduate. They really do not care such a “small” expense (to their family.)</p>
<p>We went for a good value Serta mattress and box spring. That is one thing that I wanted good quality. When I was in grad school at the age of 34, I slept on the floor for 5 months after having muscle spasms from the poor mattress in my furnished house. </p>
<p>I liked the sectional sofa that he picked. It was comfortable yet felt sturdy. If I cut and pasted correctly on my iPad, this is it:
<a href=“http://www.yourfurniturenow.com/poundex-pablo-f7262.html”>http://www.yourfurniturenow.com/poundex-pablo-f7262.html</a></p>
<p>He rarely used a desk in house school or college except for storage. The table and chairs were higher, like bar level.<br>
The one we bought is not shown online but is similar to this, except only table and four chairs.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.yourfurniturenow.com/asia-direct-hudson-pub-table-and-chair-set-9423-9424-9425.html”>http://www.yourfurniturenow.com/asia-direct-hudson-pub-table-and-chair-set-9423-9424-9425.html</a></p>
<p>I will show S that metal shelf. He will definitely need something because his kitchen has only about 2 feet of counter space and we bought a small microwave and toaster today.</p>
<p>The sad thing about buying furniture here is that we have extra furniture in storage in Pittsburgh that my husband inherited and can’t bear to get rid of. On the other hand, I had a great time. In the 27 years that I have been married, we have bought one leather sofa for our tv room, and the rest of our furniture belonged to my H. I might not get to use this stuff much but I had fun shopping.</p>
<p>I remember DS had a very tiny counter space back then, and he liked to cook occasionally. He somehow learned how to order grocery online and the grocery will be delivered to his apartment, usually on weekends. But he said he needed to order grocery together with other students living in the same building because they will deliver the grocery only when the total price is higher than a certain amount. He was lucky to have a few other students living in the same apartment building who were interested in cooking in that year.</p>
<p>Be aware though: the wire shelf is not sturdy. I am not sure whether it is a good idea to put a microwave on the wire shelf. The folding table from Low’s is sturdy enough but it tends to be too large. The microwave can be put on the easy-to-install plastic shelves from Lows. (the ones from Walmart is even cheaper but is of lower quality.) Again, we are talking about furnishing the living space for a “starving” graduate student here so the only concern here is its utility and its cost.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks. Will look for another type of shelf. There is a Home Depot across the street from the motel that I might check. We had looked at Amazon and will look there again.</p>
<p>You know, Costco is workable. You may want to see if they will give you a guest pass to shop. Let them know that you are from out of town and don’t have a card. At least you can take a look. Home Depot will be great!</p>
<p>Now that your son has basics, you can order things like a microwave cart from Amazon. Just check the dimensions to make sure the cart surface is large enough for the microwave you bought-- look for a product that has a large number of good reviews – and check the negative reviews to make sure that no one is complaining of difficulties with assembly or flimsiness, and you should fine. I have a cart that I got from target like this -> <a href=“Microwave Cart - Black - Room Essentials™ : Target”>Microwave Cart - Black - Room Essentials™ : Target; – ($50) I have had it for years it’s a great cart. I don’t use if for my microwave but I’m sure it would be sturdy enough for a small-to-medium size microwave.</p>
<p>Yesterday was three big steps forward and maybe one small step back. We checked out of the motel and moved about two blocks over to his new apartment. The motel got the elevator fixed just in time for us to move 4 large suitcases and other assorted paraphernalia from a month’s stay (for him) down two flights of stairs. (I held my breath each time I used the concrete and steel stairs that screeched when walked on).</p>
<p>We started unloading the car when the furniture deliverer called and said they were 15 minutes away. How often do they come early? (They had told us the day before that they had an earlier time slot available.). Extremely efficient! One unloaded and started assembling the sectional while the other brought up the mattress. It does help that this area has wide streets so double-parking is usually not a problem. After the mattress was carried up the stairs because it was too big for the elevator, #2man started on the table and chairs. Things were going so well that S was able to leave a little early for his meeting. Only two minor problems: one small cushion was missing which they can mail and I stupidly did not check the table: it wobbles, which will be very annoying if it doesn’t settle. S will have to put something under a leg, I will guess.</p>
<p>I took a short break after they left and then headed to the grocery store for some basics and for some quick to prepare meals. S is fairly competent in the kitchen but will appreciate not having to do much at the end of a long day. </p>
<p>After I put the groceries away, I continued unpacking what we had bought on Sunday. The utensils were missing from the cookware box but it wasn’t worth a trip back to Kmart or the hassle of explaining. I managed to cook dinner without scratching his new pans using only a metal tablespoon. Add one more thing to the list to buy. </p>
<p>S finally was home from his team meeting at 7 and was really appreciative of a home cooked meal with VEGGIES after a month of eating out cheaply. </p>
<p>Next up was making the bed. The mattress pad went on with no problems but we couldn’t get the fitted sheet to fit either direction. S looked at label and saw that someone had put a full size sheet into a queen size bag. I wondered why Ross had inventory locks preventing you from opening the bags to feel the texture. Now I know. So, I will definitely be making another trip to kmart. </p>
<p>The Kmart glitch was just a tiny step back from all of the progress. I extended my car rental to Friday and I should be flying back to Pittsburgh Friday afternoon. S has today off so we can get him unpacked and organized and any last minute things requiring a car done. Tomorrow they shoot their first scenes, so I do not expect to see him all day. If the temperature cools off as predicted, I will do some sightseeing in the area. I might even walk to the Walk of Fame which is 1.8 miles away. </p>
<p>On Friday, I return to my life as an empty nester.</p>
<p>You have done well Mom, and survived this heat!!! It sounds like he has, at least, a start: Table, sofa,bed, & fridge. As long as everything works, and he doesn’t have to deal with it, he should be fine. Lots of expenses for you and your hubbie, but as parents, we get it, and your son will appreciate it more than you know. </p>
<p>Don’t know how I missed this final update - I’ve been very impressed with how much you’ve accomplished given your limitations. Your son is lucky to have you there for him.</p>