My Boring PC Room Chair Adventure, Walking, yes indeed I'm walking...

So on Saturday I decided to take a trip to a PC room chair factory. Rather than just buying stock PC room chairs, I will get customized versions that will be reinforced and quite possibly indestructible.

I allocated two hours for the trip which I thought would include time to get there, address what I want, and return home. I left at 12 and returned home at 6. And I had left my key inside, so I didn't actually get back into my apartment until 10. Luckily there was a PC room downstairs for me to go sit in.

Anyway, my boring trip to the chair factory.



Chairs basically like this, only made indestructible. The PC room will have chairs that are comfortable to sit in. I have no clue why any place would offer anything less than these. It's not like they want to kick people out.

So Jungsu and I got into a taxi and went to the subway! After we went to the last station on that line (the same one that held the children's angry art project), we got into another taxi and told him where to go! And thus we went!

Then we stopped in the middle of no where.

Since we were going to a chair factory, I somewhat expected that I would be able to see either chairs or a factory. Instead, I saw a couple houses and some trees. Turns out that we went to the wrong place which just has a similar name. Back into the taxi we went! Half an hour later we arrived at the destination! And we got out of the taxi.



Good-bye, taxi. I don't know where I am, but that's OK.



Once again I failed to see either chairs or a factory, but I am assured this is the right place. It wasn't.



But that's OK because Jungsu will get us the chairs! Her work visa to work at my place depends on it! She will not fail!



Surely this sign post will tell us where to go. Sadly, it didn't.

Time to start walking!



What an absolutely bizarre shop. While curious to look at, the lack of either chairs or a factory suggests this is not the chair factory I am looking for.



The walk continues! Sidewalks aren't really built once you exit the cities which contributes heavily to Korea having the highest rate of traffic incidents involving pedestrians of any first-world country.



A rice factory! Har har har.



Would sure be nice if they put down a place for people to walk.



This cement truck tire is entirely too close.



Thirty minutes later.

I'm not sure where we are, but we're making good time. This city's roadways appear in complete chaos.



But at least they have a PC repair shop in a cargo container. At least the rent is cheap. And I too will have a cargo container, maybe I should expand my PC room into a couple of those! What a plan!



We must be getting close. We're not longer on the busy roads.



Victory! The chair factory sign! We must be close.



Or not so close.



Victory?



Well, at least we're getting closer.



YES! I see chairs, factory-esque buildings, and Filipinos! This must be the place, though I can't explain why I only see small chairs and a lack of PC room chairs.

Seems we were told a bit of a lie. Holy crap, welcome to Korea. Anyway, it turns out that the owner here while not producing the chairs has a friend whose factory does produce PC room chairs exclusively and he will drive us there.



Further into the forest we go! They like their factories hidden I guess. Ironically, we drove past where we were dropped off at by the taxi. Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, why didn't he just pick us up there in the first place when we phoned after arriving?



Korea is currently in the middle of tearing down every building aged over 30 years, and since they had a construction boom that started in the late 60s, that's a whole lot of buildings. And they were mostly 3~5 story buildings made almost entirely out of cement. Now that they are coming down, much of that cement is being smashed into sand which will then be used to produce new cement.

And that is a mountain of smashed cement. Bizarre.



THERE BE CHAIRS IN THEM THERE HILLS!



Anyway, we arrived. Jungsu told them what I wanted and the prototype will be delivered to my door later this week. If I like how it turned out with my requested changes, then eighty of the finest PC room chairs the world has ever seen will be produced and sent to me.

This was my Saturday. The things I do to build my PC room.

Curious about the buildings being torn down is there a good reason for this?

Are they structurally flawed to the point that we must tear them down instead of renovating them?

Also how far was it from your taxi drop off point to the real PC chair factory?

Looking spiffy there, Gord. By "indestructable," what sort of materials are going to be used for your super computer chairs (of the FUTURE, of course) to make them so indestructable? Also, what sort of a difference would that make upon the price tag per chair, and are you getting a cool retailer or mass purchase discount?

-Extra strong external material (leather was just too expensive, sadly) to resist gouges and tearing.
-Thicker plywood of a stronger grade to serve as the base and backing of the chair.
-Larger metal mounting base between the seat base and the post.
-Metal legs instead of plastic.
-Larger post
-Stronger arms with extra screw mounting points.

I think that's it. Basically just taking everything and going for the top of the line.

The increased cost per chair was offset by the size of the order. Including delivery to the cargo container in Seoul, about $75 per chair and ready within a week of my order. I tried to arrange the same deal in Canada, but was told that it was going to cost double that and take ten weeks for delivery.

Shipping just the chairs to Canada would cost about $25 per chair, but since the cargo container will also have everything else in it, the cost for shipping is quite low.

They were never meant to last a long time as Korean constuction companies didn't have the skills, tools, or supplies required to build big and durable buildings. But now they do, and when the 5 story buildings come down, they are replaced with 10~25 story versions.

Plus when they are tearing them down, increasingly one company will buy up the entire neighborhood and fix not only the buildings so it's a better place to live by adding parks, walkways, and underground parking garages under the entire neighborhood, they also fix up the roads so that they don't look zig-zag all over the place but rather make sense.

About an hour away.

Whoa. That's an incredible deal when you break it down, although I shouldn't be surprised due to the mass quantity in which you're ordering your chairs. Still, quite a steal. One last question for the chairs: when you mentioned eighty chairs, does that mean your floor plans for the PC Gaming Room of the Future to actually have eighty computer stations, a multiple-use purpose for your chairs beyond computer stations such as seats for regular tables and other rest places, or are some of the chairs to be stored away in the highly improbably event of one chair breaking?

I can't help but notice the very gracious thing the first factory owner did by driving you and your friend to the real PC chair factory. Was he already gonna run an errand there or did he just come across as a very gracious fellow who somehow understood the plight of two desperate PC-chair-factory-seekers?

The plan calls for 70 computers which leaves about 10 chairs for spares as replacing them will be an issue.

We had called first and made an appointment. The owner of the first chair factory handled the Internet sales for his factory and the second factory under the first company's name. So when we phoned up and asked about getting PC room chairs made based on a design his company was already selling, he didn't want to tell us that it was actually his friend's company that made them.

Well, I can safely say that most chairs with microfibre material are near-high indestructible, but I guarantee that if you thought leather was too pricey, you'll want to avoid the microfibre ones. Maybe a cheaper alternative (like microsuede) might work better... but I can't vouch for the quality of them.

Good on you for getting the extra screws and bolt points - I've replaced 3 of those Office Despot / Staples $100 "manager" chairs in the last 6 years due to the screws shanking the pre-drilled holes due to wear and tear. Hopefully you won't have any hoodlums purposely attempting to take them all apart. Well... none that will survive the repercussions, at least.

Too bad the dot com bust was so many years ago, Gord - you could have gotten a bunch of Aeron chairs off of eBay for 1/30 the original price.

Interesting to see how well these indestructible chairs will hold up to people/kids.
I'd say they were too fancy, but if you got a deal..woohoo! It makes doing work a lot "funner"

My work place (library) has switched from those cheapo computer cloth/cushion chairs to the mesh type chairs as they don't stain and are much easier to clean. plus will last longer too.

You're taking everything over in a cargo container? Whoa.

I found something funny on one of your picture


Attached Image

You should buy long couches and put them together in a row. It was like that at this one pc bang I went to, pretty cozy and relaxing

They are somewhat common. One such restaurant was in the building I lived in, and another one was kitty-corner to the building. They aren't rare by any means. Though the signage is never in English.

So have you ever had any dog soup? If so what does it taste like? Hopefully not chicken. That would be simply too boring.