I will no longer leave my house to buy furniture

I didn't want to move this weekend but I didn't acknowledge that until the weekend was over and I hadn't done anything.

"Hey, do you want to go do something?" someone would ask me.

"Yeah," I would say, hesitating. "I don't know."

People won't usually force you to do something if you put up a weak and sustained fight, so, luckily, I was able to alienate most people I talked to.

I don't really know what I did do most of the weekend, but I do know I only left my apartment once for more than an hour.

I went out to look for furniture because, for some reason, I've recently decided I need things for my apartment even though it has been almost empty for a year.

One store I went to put me in a bad mood, so maybe that's why I stayed inside for the rest of the weekend.

In that store, a thrift store, I was looking at a piece of furniture I was thinking I might buy. I asked an employee if it had all its parts, but the employee told me it was missing some.

I said I understood, but told the employee I would continue looking. The employee thought about my decision and told me that I could buy the left-over parts from similar items and use those to assemble the item I wanted to buy.

"That's OK," I said.

"It's really easy," the employee said.

I didn't know what to do so I walked away pretending to be interested in something on the other side of the store.

Shopping on the Internet is a little easier, but people there still have unrealistic expectations sometimes.

There is a section on one Web site, for instance, where people can list things they are giving away for free. Most of the things are desirable - such as televisions, washing machines and clocks - but there are other things I don't think anyone would want. Further, I'm not sure why the owner has chosen to advertise them in the way they appear.

"Foam blocks!" one said.

"Free brick," said another.

"Offer: Old wood from fence," tempted a third.

Some, too, like this one, were ambiguously threatening: "Free Sofa ... if you pick it up by noon tomorrow."

Anyway, I felt kind of bad about not doing anything for two entire days, but maybe next weekend I'll have the energy to assemble an item I am pressured to buy.

• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212. His column, "Songs in the Key of Me," appears Thursdays.