Getting things ready for if my son comes out

I sent an email to my ex-wife last week telling her that my spare room would be empty in case my son was interested in coming out to Australia for a visit and a few days later he sent me an SMS asking if I had any ideas about a college where he could study in Sydney during the Japanese summer holidays. After confirming his email address I sent him a message asking him for the dates when the holidays would be in force so that we could start making plans. Summer holidays in Japan usually take place in late July and August, so I guessed that there would still be enough time this year for us both to make the necessary arrangements in the case that we were able to organise a trip for him.

One thing that would become pressing of course was the matter of a bed. I had some sheets for a bed smaller than a queen-size bed from when my daughter came out two years ago. They are nice sheets - one set is black and one set is red, as chosen by Adelaide, who is now 23 - and have hardly been used so I thought it would be best to find a bed that fit them, and buy that. So this morning I looked up homemaker centres in Sydney and found one in Alexandria, then printed out a map from Whereis and got in the car and headed out. After taking a wrong turn from Wyndham Street that put me on Bourke Road I got back onto O'Riordan Street before getting to the turn-off to the homemaker centre, which is visible where there is a turning bay marked in the middle of the street making it easy for cars to get in.

There was hardly a soul in the building and the bed store was right near the entrance. Within minutes I was trying the sheets on different beds assisted by the salesman and we worked out that it was a king-single-size bed that we needed for me to go with my sheets. Shortly afterward I had chosen a frame and mattress. The salesman took my details for the delivery and I explained to him about the fairly complicated arrangements you have to make to deliver goods to the building where my apartment is. I paid and left, heading back home. I expect the goods to arrive within 10 days, and the store will call me when they are ready to deliver. It was a simple process made easier by being completed on a quiet day of the week. I hate to think how much more time the process would have taken if I had attempted it on a weekend.