Reconfiguring & Rearranging

Last week, I made several changes around the apartment, which then necessitated even more changes. It all started when my primo bundled package with Charter expired. After several unproductive & frustrating calls, I opted to drop Charter as my internet and phone provider. Instead, I chose to bundle my cell phone, home phone, and internet together with a different company.

It took about a week for the phone guy to switch my service and for the new modem to arrive. In the interim, my much beloved and much beleagured television finally gave in to the static. It's been a slow and sometimes painful death march, but finally, the picture went all fuzzy and never cleared up. Sadly, I pulled the plug on the old boy. A friend helped me move him to his new resting place...

...and bring home the replacement

It's a fancy, schmancy 32 inch flat screen beauty. Best of all, the picture is clear all the time. No more fuzzy picture for up to 30 minutes. No more headaches while trying to watch Top Chef through a haze. I'd forgotten that TV could be like this - which helps to explain why I watched TV all day yesterday. Not kidding - all day long.

I've managed to get the cable to work but the TV and DVD player are still working out a mutually agreeable relationship. Apparently, my DVD player has some commitment issues because it likes to establish a new connection every time I watch a DVD. I'm guessing this is some lingering loyalty to the old TV. They did have a special bond. Even when the old TV went all fuzzy, it would still show perfectly clear DVDs. It would be a great love story, except that I want to watch clear TV and clear DVDs all the time.

There are some other quirks as well. For example, when I finally get the new TV and DVD player to play nice, the DVD player switches to "fast forward" when I try to adjust the volume. Really annoying. The instruction book for the TV is no help. Basically, it says, "Hook up your DVD player to the back of your TV" - then shows a set of colored outlets that don't match the colors on my DVD plugs. My plugs match a different set of outlets - the ones that don't work consistently. Like I said, we're still working out the kinks.

The rearranging and reconfiguring fun didn't stop in the living room. When the new modem arrived, I discovered that the cable jack is on one side of my home office, and the phone jack is on the opposite wall. After some furniture shoving, my office is a mirror image of its former self.

The desk is where the couch used to be:

And the couch is where the desk used to be:

Before you ask, or jump to any conclusions, let me assure you that I had nothing to do with the upholstery on the couch. It's a family heirloom. My great aunt bought for my great-grandparents when she earned her first paycheck from teaching. At the time, it was covered in a nice, calming cream-colored upholstery.

When my aunt and uncle inherited the couch in the 1980s, they decided to dress it in the world's ugliest clothes. They've since passed the couch on to me - I think because it was making too much noise in their house. I have it on good authority that I can recover the couch, and I will do so just as soon as I buy a house and make some money. In the meantime, it hides in shame in my office. It did make a nice bed for one of my nieces during their visit, so it's not all bad.

I think I'm done rearranging for a while - until I buy another new home electronic device or rebundle services.