Oct 29 2012
Just wanted to wish you a very happy 15th birthday, Noah! I hope that you have an awesome day, filled with fun and excitement, and surrounded by your friends, family, and loved ones. Those are the best elements of a special day, but maybe, just maybe, you’ll get some cool stuff too! 😎 I also can’t believe that it’s just one more year until you’ll have your license; bet you can’t wait!
Anyway, thinking about you, and hope that everything in your life is going superbly well.
With love,
Zach
Oct 25 2012
When I moved back to Saint Louis with my current job, and started working from home, it became readily apparent that I would need a decent office chair (sitting on one of my chairs from the less-than-great dining room table would certainly not be ideal). After looking at a bunch of different options, and realising that I’m not going to spend $1000+ USD on a Herman Miller Aeron, I found some great choices on Amazon.
I finally settled on the 86200 model Executive Mesh-back chair from Lorell:
For the price, the chair is actually incredibly well-built. Is it an Aeron? No, of course not, but it also doesn’t carry nearly the same price tag with it. That being said, it also doesn’t feel like a cheaply-made knock-off. The only part of the build quality that is somewhat questionable is the armrest construction. They have plastic shields and are rubber-stamped on the top, but they do serve their purpose nicely. I would like a little further adjustment capabilities on them, but they are what they are. The only other qualm that I have is that the chair makes a bit of noise when moving around, or leaning back. I believe that these sounds are related to the two adjustable nuts near the chair’s base, but I haven’t thoroughly tested that idea.
Assembly of the chair was incredibly easy and straightforward. I did find it a lot easier to do with the help of one other person (for holding the back of the chair in place whilst attaching it to the base, et cetera). If you don’t have help, though, it would be easy enough to do by one’s self. There was one piece of plastic that served no useful purpose, but only an aesthetic element. I chose to not screw that piece into backing of the chair (maybe that’s the engineer in me).
More important than the build quality and the ease of assembly, the seat is very comfortable, even for the 8-10 hours per day that I am in it. I don’t find that I struggle to stay comfortable during that time. Also, the lumbar support and backing are both stronger than other chairs that I have used in the past. Given that I have had trouble with my middle back in the past, I’m pleasantly surprised that I don’t experience any discomfort in that area throughout the day.
So, if you are in the market for a good office chair, but don’t want to spend a huge amount of money, I recommend that you at least look into the Lorell 86200. It is nicely built, easy to assemble, and I find it to be one of the most comfortable chairs in the price range.
Cheers,
Zach
Oct 24 2012
Several weeks ago, a good friend and I went to Addie’s Thai House in Saint Louis, MO. Though it is a bit far from where we live, and when travelling that distance, we would usually head north to Thai Kitchen, we decided to try a new place (and they had a special at the time). Upon entering the restaurant, I immediately noticed that it was a little more posh than most of the Thai restaurants in the area. The décor and seating arrangements both lent themselves to a higher-scale dining experience.
We started off with an appetiser, and seeing as we wanted to try one that was unique to their menu, we opted for the sweet potatoes. They were cut in a thick string style, deep-fried, and came out with coconut flakes and a sweet and sour dipping sauce. To me, the coconut taste was so subtle that one really had to try to notice it. I found that to be disappointing, because otherwise, they ended up just tasting a lot like regular sweet potato chips.
For dinner, I had the green curry with fresh tofu. It was pleasant, but lacked a lot of the heat that I’m used to with green curry. Also, I found that there were not many vegetables (or much tofu, for that matter) in the pot, but rather that it was primarily sauce. That being said, one of my favourite things to do with curry is to soak some rice in the remainder of the sauce. As such, I did enjoy that aspect of the dish.
She had Praram Long Song, which is a common Siamese dish that generally comes with carrots, spinach, and your choice of protein with a peanut sauce atop it. The peanut sauce wasn’t all that great (especially compared to Thai Kitchen, which has some of the best I’ve ever eaten), and overall, the dish was rather bland.
Though Addie’s Thai House appeared to be a more upscale restaurant in terms of atmosphere, the quality of the food was fairly disappointing. Given that, I would much rather go to one of the restaurants in the area that focuses more on the preparation of the food, especially seeing as Addie’s was a bit more expensive as well. For those reasons, I can’t recommend Addie’s over other nearby Thai places.
Cheers,
Zach
