Figured I'd check in here while waiting to catch my breath and stop sweating so much from my contortions straightening out the tangle of cordage behind the old computer.

If I didn't love Tom so damned much, I'd be really tempted to strangle him right about now. He has always been proprietary about setting up the computers and phone system, etc. so the tangle is all his fault (compounded by my complacency).

Today I just needed to replace the old cordless phone's base unit with the one for the new phone -- just trace the wires back and plug in the new ones. Simple, right?

Well... My first move was to try to extricate all the cords that aren't actually plugged in, or plugged into the power strip that isn't plugged in. (Hey! Does this sound like my phone cord simplification of last year on the other side of the house around the "new" computer? Uh huh.) And it's not an easy place to try to trace cords back to the source. Found more than a few that weren't attached on either end, just wound around all the other cords. Took those out one at a time. If Tom had removed them at the time when other things were installed and they were made redundant, it would REALLY be useful right about now.

Okay. I cleared out more techno-crap (including the replaced cordless phone) and gotten some of the extra long phone wire a bit more under control. AND the new phone has both phone and power cord plugged in and has achieved dial tone. Yeehah! Still has to charge a few more hours, but then Tom will have a phone with a much larger display and really big lighted buttons and he won't be getting anywhere near as frustrated as he's been and he won't be accidently screwing up calls.

I've got one mystery cord. Can't find the end behind the desk and computer. There's just nothing back there that looks like it. And if I try to poke the free end up through the knee hole up behind the desk, I can't grab it from the top and Tom can't see well enough to help me.

I didn't know my body could still get into some of those positions.

I'm going to give it one more shot, then I'll put the lamp back (and plug it in) and replace the chair. But that's another room that needs to be de-cluttered, if only everything else didn't take priority. Arghhh!

Linn