Shopping and the Battle of the Wires

Busy, busy, and productive--yay!--day. El asked if I wanted to go to B & B & B with her, then have her come over to move my tables around. Yes, sure, and she picked me up about 11:30. I had cleared away all the small items, such as lamps, pictures, books, the kitty I got at Albert Einstein's house, and the other stuff I somehow accumulated without knowing it.
We went to B. B and B., the world's most overpriced store, thinking it would be crowded, but it wasn't bad. I was in the market for a vinyl-backed flannel tablecloth to use under a decorative one to guard against spills on my antique table. They didn't have any and I didn't buy anything. El bought several Christmas presents--and very nice ones, of course. I'll say this for the three Bees, they do, indeed, have a lot of great stuff. They also have a lot of crapola you can buy for half what they charge anywhere else.
We then went to Wal-Mart, where they didn't have any vinyl-backed flannel, either. However, I was glad to find a "table pad" which will do as well--actually better than the other. Happy with our purchases, we went to the Hill Street Cafe, in the government complex, for lunch. We had been there months ago for brunch and liked it. The food was good; I got pastrami and skipped beer for plain water, El had tuna salad and we traded halves.
Back at my place, we started in on the furniture moving, not nearly as simple as it sounds because of the electronics. Actually, getting the smaller table on which I had the computer, from my bedroom to the living room to hold the television, went pretty smoothly. So did transferring the campaign desk (you can practically see Teddy Roosevelt writing back to Oyster Bay) into the bedroom. The next step was just to get the computer and components set up--simple, hey?
HA! There was an absolute rat's nest of wires on the floor, thanks to the idiot from Time Warner who set it up. Of course, the apparatus includes the computer itself, the screen, the copier, the speakers, and the web cam, as well as a mysterious flat piece of plastic with pretty blue lights on it (have no idea), all of which were twisted and snared up together. My phone and a small lamp also go on there, but they could be added without too much problem.
Poor Ellen spent a good hour, at least, untangling, disconnecting, reconnecting, moving here and there, testing, pulling, and tracing wires to their hidden sources--what a job. Finally, it seemed to be all set back up and she pressed the button to turn it on. AAGH--the button stayed depressed! Dr. Ellen then told me to get a butter knife. Wh-a-a-t??? I begged her not to stick a knife in there, thinking she'd be electrocuted or worse, kill my computer. But I did as she asked and, in fear and trembling, watched as she stuck it in where the button is, pressed and probed and--IT WORKED! The button popped out, my little darlin' came to life and we rejoiced.
Whew! Boy, El is a trip. She'll tackle just about anything and usually manages to get where she wants to be. As for me, I was like a wet rag when it was over.
El left with many thanks, but called later to say Greg had gotten me iron pills from Whole Foods and would drop them off. He did, that nice guy, and now I'll be building up my iron reserves.
I must say the living room already looks so much better looks great--and half again as big as it did. Soon, I'll look for a sofa and get some of the A.C. pictures up. I love to decorate and it should be great fun.