Tonight my husband and I tried to put the new TV into the new armoire and get all the components (TV, cable, DVD) hooked up and cooperating with each other. The results:
1. We (my husband and I) are not speaking to each other
2. The armoire has some scratches and dings in it (the cause of #1)
3. The coax from the cable box to the wall outlet is too short, therefore no cable. This will be remedied by a trip to Radio Shack, but it's still a silly obstacle.
4. We didn't hook up the component video cables that are used to connect the DVD player and the TV and it's now impossible to reach the connectors which are in the back of the TV without inflicting more damage to the armoire. Although there are connectors on the side of the TV, they're only for the standard connections, not the component ones.
5. I have a deep gash on my one finger - not from the TV, or the armoire, or the cable box, but from the damn plastic container which held the video cables. Even the "MacGyver tool" couldn't penetrate the vault-like security of the plastic covering. I had to resort to hacking it apart with scissors - never a good idea without those gloves that the bomb squad wears.
6. After my husband left the room in a huff when I requested that he not further scratch the wood (he apparently thought this meant I was unappreciative of his efforts), I decided to resort to the lower-quality, but easier-to-hook-up standard video cables between the TV and the DVD player. These connections are on the side of the TV, which does not require knocking more paint off the surface of the shelf on which the TV now lives for perpetuity. So I thread the cables behind the TV and down to the DVD player, plug them in, turn on the TV, put a DVD in the player, hit the TV/video switch on the remote and... nothing. Static on the selection for cable, which is understandable since the cable is not connected. But nothing at all on the selections for AV1, AV2, or AV3. The cables are all color-coded and I matched them to their respective inputs and outputs, so it would seem to be correctly connected. But that would be wrong, wouldn't it?
7. I closed the doors to the armoire and will pretend the evil electronics are not there until the weekend.

Overheard today at the place where I get my hair done:
"He fell in love with me the first week. He wanted to marry me the second week. I asked him 'Haven't you heard of Fatal Attraction or stalking or anything?'. But he was so hot. I just wish he hadn't gone and gotten all psycho on me."
I wondered - just how hot would he have to have been for her to overlook the psycho tendencies? I restrained myself and didn't ask.

Exercise: I took the stairs when I got into work today, despite carrying the rolling briefcase, a backpack full of papers, and my luggage-sized pocketbook. Elevatoring to the second floor has started to seem absurd even to me.

Books: Still the damn Da Vinci Code. I just want to get done and find out who is a descendant of...

Music: Not much today, just odd bits of radio.

Movies: Rebecca went to see the Tomb Raider movie and proclaimed it "wild".

Cats: Xena and Hercules go to the vet on Saturday for their annual check-up. Xena got closed in Rebecca's room today for some time. Teddy (the hamster who manically runs on his little wheel in Rebecca's room) should just thank his stars that Xena wasn't too hungry.

Dreams: Even if I was tortured, I couldn't tell you what I dreamed last night.