Me, doing my thing onstage at Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.
The Mattress Buying Adventure
I think it was probably a year ago -- maybe more -- when Kat started mentioning that we needed to replace our mattress that we sleep on each night. My first reaction was, "What? We just bought this one!" at which point she reminded me that we bought it in 2011, some 13 years ago. She was right. It's said you should plan on replacing a mattress minimally every ten years.
The old mattress wasn't completely terrible, but she'd been having some back and joint issues, and it wasn't acceptable to have her dealing with physical issues that were easily preventable with a single purchase. So we found ourselves coming into Labor Day weekend, a time of year when, for some reason, mattress sales seem to be happening on every corner.
Hello Sit 'n Sleep
We have a local chain of mattress stores here in Southern California called Sit 'n Sleep. Anyone who's listened to the radio in the greater LA area for the past 40 years has heard their ads about a million times, with the ubiquitous slogan, "We'll beat anyone's advertised price or your mattress is freeee!"
The Torrance Sit 'n Sleep is like a Tardis in Dr. Who... it's way bigger on the inside.
It was actually the same place where I'd purchased my previous mattress that served me well for over a decade, and their Torrance, CA store is a five minute drive from my home in Redondo Beach. Proximity is a matter of convenience, after all. So after doing some online research including cost and feature comparisons, we slated Saturday August 31 as our day to head over and try out some beds.
We also reached out on our social nets to ask what mattress brands people seemed to like, and the answers, while helpful, only provided a list of different ones to try out, and try them we did. After meeting our sales associate (who seemed like a good enough guy while bordering on semi-overbearing, like most successful salespeople), we roamed through the store, laying down in multiple back and sideways positions on beds including Beautyrest Black, King Koil, Purple, Sealy, Sterns & Foster, Serta, and Tempur-Pedic.
Trying out all the mattresses. Not something you do very often. At least I hope not.
Hello Hybrid Infinity
Eventually we made our way to what I'm pretty sure is now their house brand mattress, and tried out the Hybrid Infinity Cool Radiance. Interestingly, the mattress that served us well for over a decade was also a Sit 'n Sleep house brand. I wasn't going to skimp on this purchase; it's just too important to find yourself saddled with a bed that sucks. But I will say, while having comparable features and comfort level to the larger name-brand mattresses, the Hybrid Infinity was a good deal less expensive, and was an even better deal via their Labor Day sale.
It's safe to say the first thing we noted about the Hybrid Infinity Cool Radiance was the cool part. It has an ice-cold stretch knit cover and two layers of Cool Gel Memory Foam on the quilt for a super-soft sleep surface. We found that we didn't like the all-foam mattresses that are pretty popular now, but the hybrid design that combined the foam with 2040 “Nano Coils” seemed super comfortable. We also chose a medium firmness model. Kinda like Goldilocks... not too hard, not too soft. Just right.
Here it is. Ours also has a nice-looking dark low-profile boxspring underneath.
Thick AF
A couple of other points; the mattress is thick as fuck at 15 inches in depth. To that end, we purchased a low profile boxspring so getting in bed wasn't like climbing a mountain. The final sales point that got us; the Hybrid Infinity is named as such because it has an infinite warranty. Obviously there are conditions, like if you stain the mattress in any way, but beyond that, it's warrantied for life.
And I have to say, compared to the other mattresses under consideration, some of which ranged over the $4,000 mark, the Hybrid Infinity was less than half the price of what we might have spent, with mostly the same features and level of comfort and support. I've spent a few nights sleeping on it so far, and I have to admit that Kat was correct... my body does feel better from the moment I get up in the morning, and I've slept well, which will continue being even better as I get more used to it.
These things are way more high-tech than back in the day.
Hey, How About That Show?
Hold your horses, I'm getting there. So, the whole process of choosing and buying the mattress on Saturday took a little under two hours, and then we were happy to find out that delivery could be the very next day. The two guys who dropped it off on Sunday couldn't have been more efficient. They arrived within the time window they'd provided, including sending text updates before they arrived.
We'd used that morning to clean up and prep for the bed delivery. You know all the various shit that you shove under a bed? Shoes, gift wrapping supplies, camping gear, whatever? Yeah, we spent some time getting that cleaned out, and then removing the old mattress and box spring to vacuum under the area. Once the delivery guys arrived, it only took them about 15 minutes to get the old bed components out, and to set up the new bed. We'd also purchased a special cover set to protect the mattress and pillows, and the guys got that stuff all ready as well.
So that's it. I feel comfortable about giving a high rating to this bed, though I'm going to withhold writing up a big positive public review until I've spent a few more nights sleeping on it. But so far, very much so good.
Oh yeah, that's the color our carpet used to be. Bed frame cleared and carpet vacuumed, ready to receive the new mattress.
The Show?
Yes, we can talk about that now. As I mentioned to the crowd, while it's still technically summer, any post-Labor Day show gives me the excuse to focus on the more autumnal songs in my repertoire, and I planned my set list accordingly.
Getting started with some tunes. Photo by Kat.
Keeping things entertaining by puling out some rarely-performed songs. Photo by Kat.
At recent shows, I've also been purposefully pulling out songs that I haven't done in a long time. One example from this particular performance was "Walk on the Ocean" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. Per my records -- and yes, I keep track of these things like some kind of insane person -- I hadn't done that since 2018, and only pulled it out a few times since I debuted it in 2011. It had also been four years since I last did "Alison" or "Cross-Eyed Mary." So that was fun.
We had a respectably good-sized crowd there, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as far as I could tell. Toward the end, I started getting a little bit weird, as I tend to do as my shows progress. I dedicated "Afternoon Delight" by saying, "This one goes out to everyone who likes fuckin'," and I stand by that assessment.
Getting stranger as the evening progresses. Photo by Kat.
Another fun night at Hotel Chelsea, a great place for live music in Second Life. Photo by Kat.
Hotel Chelsea set list...
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
Low Key (Tweedy)
Walk on the Ocean (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
River Man (Nick Drake)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
Alison (Elvis Costello)
Here I Land (Nicholas Stevenson)
Abrasion (They Stole My Crayon)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
Afternoon Delight (Starland Vocal Band)
Cross-Eyed Mary (Jethro Tull)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
Big thanks to everyone who came out to last night's fun show, with extra special super thanks to the following who helped support it!
Solanghe Sarlo, Harpo String, Kristopher Walpole, Trymetwice Resident, Spence Wilder, cristoofarr Resident, vesti Korbitza, Alex Zelin, Richy Nervous, Kat Claxton, Pannie Paperdoll, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment will be posted shortly. Meanwhile, why not listen to some Zak Claxton Music?