Standing next to my stereo there is now a lovely 108-CD case (almost full). It has a total of 10 parts, not counting the hardware. Here is a summary of the putting-together process:
1. Put cams into side pieces the wrong way. Had to pry them out and put them in the right way. The instruction sheet, which was actually written in understandable English, stated "Put together as pictured." This was the first sign of trouble. The pictures were so tiny that the exact position of the cams was indistinguishable. Who was to know that the "X" side had to be facing outward?
2. Put bolts into bottom rather than the top of the case. Who would start with the top rather than the bottom? I'm sure this has some deep meaning, much like my dreams. Had to unscrew the bolts using the MacGuyver tool because we don't seem to own a medium sized Phillips head screwdriver.
3. Attached the side pieces to the bottom facing the wrong direction. More MacGuyvering to remove the screws and reattach the pieces.
4. Nailed the back piece onto the back of the side pieces facing the wrong way. The only way this could have been worse was if I had nailed it to the front of the side pieces, marring the finish. Pried out the nails (you guessed it - MacGuyver was the only way to extract the nails).
5. I could have put in the little brass pieces that hold up the shelves the wrong way, but somehow managed to get that right.

So, by my calculations, I managed a 20% success rate. Instructions are not my strong suit.

Books: To The Nines. Read a few more pages of Small Town. One of the reasons I stopped reading Lawrence Block a few years back was sheer boredom with his characters. This one starts with AA, NA and Al-Anon meetings, which does not bode well for keeping my interest. Speaking of which, I've officially given up on Moneyball.

Movies: American Wedding. Shameless, unabashed, uncouth, repulsive vulgarity, with a hint of sentimentality and an underlying good natured silliness. Guiltily enjoyable. All Over a Guy. Light, gay romatic comedy. Well-written and well-performed.

TV: Dead Like Me. I missed a few recent episodes of this excellent Showtime series and am catching up.

Cats: Xena delights in tormenting Tabitha and smiles while she's doing it. I swear she does.

Dreams: Many. The only one that remains involves someone handing me a naked baby while I was wearing a badge from a conference. I was afraid that the baby would be scratched by the hard plastic edges of the badge. While I was holding the baby I was searching a large drawer for a towel I needed to hang in the washroom of our previous CEO. The towel was dark rose and frayed around the edges.