For the past year, my bed has been an air mattress. I like it that way. I can make the bed as firm or as soft as I like. Sometimes I want the cloud-soft cozy, and sometimes I want it firm. Air mattresses as beds are ideal for suiting every sleeping mood. And it worked very, very well for me for nine months.
Then...well, one of the air chamber dividers gave out and I had a lopsided bed. But that wasn't so bad. I even sorta liked it. It was like an built in body pillow.
However, shortly afterwards, I noticed that the bed tended to get just a bit softer overnight. I started having to add air to it every other day or so. Then every day. Then every night right before I went to bed. Obviously, the thing had sprung a leak, and I just couldn't find where. It puzzled me, and it annoyed me because I knew I'd have to replace it. I didn't want to do that. I knew I wouldn't able to find one just like it that I could afford, especially if it wasn't going to last a year. But I did it. I found another air mattress, not quite as good because it didn't air up quite as tall, but otherwise just as comfy to sleep in. I've had it for about...a month.
Well, I ain't got it anymore. I have discovered the leak. Air mattresses are not to be used as cat launching or landing pads.
See, yesterday I went out to do laundry. No big deal. I do it once every two weeks. When it's only your clothes to clean, you don't have to go often, you know. I came home and started to put the clothes away, but delayed making up the bed. I'm going to try my hand at skiing next weekend, so I needed to hit the schoolbooks hard. However, I did notice the bed was a little soft, so I aired it up some. Hours later, when I was ready for bed, I went in to make it up and noticed the bed was too soft AGAIN. By now I'm a wee bit irked. I didn't want to deal with another leak. I looked around, passed my hand and arm slowly around the sides of the bed to see if I felt any air movement, and couldn't find anything. So I aired the bugger up again, made it up, and went to bed.
And heard, 'hissssssssssss.'
The puncture was at the top of the bed. By my ear. This time I found it no problem. A nice little slit and I knew exactly what had caused it: Idiot and Murmur jumping from the bed to the windowsill, or from the windowsill to the bed, had caught a claw.
Well, I'm rather the make-do sort so I figured I'd do a quick repair. Some tape over the hole should seal it, right? Right! But since the top is kinda veloury, it might not take a good hold. So I put more top over the first, crossing over the top. Then more on top of that, making an X over the + I'd already done. Good and sealed! I refreshed the air, straightened the bed, turned out the light, and went to sleep at about 11:45pm.
At 1:30 am, I woke up on the floor.
The tape wasn't a good seal, after all. But Murmur, oh, he were quite happy with the situation since HE was still sleeping on part of the mattress that still had air.
Now, mind you, my alarm is set to go off at 4am on Mondays and Wednesdays. I was tired. There was no way I could fix the bed, so I grabbed a blanket, wrapped it around me, and plopped down on the lay-out fouton in the living room. Idiot had already claimed half of it for his bed, and there was no way he was willing to give it up. Or share the cozier blanket. Apparently, when I go to bed at night, I forfeit all right to my couch or my blanket and I must make do with whatever's leftover. The damn cat just wouldn't budge!
I didn't get much sleep after that, just feel into a light doze. The bed is still flattened in my room, and Murmur was still cozily sleeping on it when I left this morning. I won't be home til late tonight since I have class, but first them I'm doing is making that fouton into a bed. A comfortable bed. It'll have to be used as one for a while because I'm not buying another air mattress for the boys to play pin cushion with.
And their punishment? No access to the windowsill in the bedroom. :-) It's too high for even THEM to jump to without their launching pad!
::yawn!::
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