Jackknives on the nine.

This has fast become a Goldilocks situation. The first mattress was too much, and this one isn't quite enough. It's still a lot better than the previous one that finally got hauled out today, from the topography to the texture to the fact that it's of a decent height to make sure my lower back doesn't ache from me leaning against the headboard. The last one was tall enough the headboard was around the small of my back, not my upper back or shoulders. Deeply uncomfortable.

That said, this current one has me thinking of the very particular kind of internal fury of having said one thing the whole time and never been listened to. I'd wanted an Ikea mattress to replace the old one, I'd said that from the beginning, and I should have been more stubborn about it because from the first, what I'd wanted was a mattress I didn't have to think about. I still don't want that. I shouldn't have to think about a mattress. But now I'm thinking about this one, too. It's got internal springs, which are fine, but there's a lot of air space in between them, which I don't enjoy but I can live with that. I don't know the words to ask for a solid mattress in a way that I can get people selling the objects - both individuals on the sales floor and assorted websites - to understand. And it's getting me near tears to realize I don't know the words to talk about the internal metal frame. Whatever it is that's running around the top and bottom of the mattress currently on my bed. I'm sure there's an industry standard word for that, but I don't know what it is, so I'd probably end up saying "a mattress without any metal" which isn't an option for any website I've seen. It's also something that couldn't apply unilaterally, because the last Ikea mattress I used - for over a decade without complaint - had a metal zipper. "A mattress without any metal inside of it" might work, but again, try asking someone that.

Add two more things to the tally of what should come up: that the mattress being tested on the floor is already broken in. The height of the bedframe, which is harder to change than a mattress. Solidity and topography and weight can be tested in person, and the materials should be discussed with someone who can give precise, detailed answers, no matter the point of communication.

I figure I can get about five years' out of this thing before rallying about going to Brooklyn and getting this over with for another decade and change.