I KEAled Over

Today I was not a winner. The morning began happily enough, we got up in hopes of getting a few errands done before the TV delievery man showed up. We stoped for an early lunch, and by the time we finished the TV guy had called to say he'd be there in 20 minutes. In a mad scrammble to get something done, we bought some metal rods from a local store to use as curtain rods--however when we got them home we realized they were way bent. Now we don't know what to do with them, or even where to throw them out. The TV arrived in one peice which was good, but in my excitement I forogt to check the input voltage on the XBOX and when I plugged it in something inside of it exploded. No joke, ask mel, we both heard it. We went on a journey to find a 240 Volt -> 120 Volt converter in hopes that with the right power input it would come around. He had a few more things to pick up at Ikea, so we hopped on the MTR at Fortress Hill, where we live, and headed to Causeway Bay. I luckily found a power converter at the first shop we stopped at. It weighed about 10 pounds and cost 3 times that, but I figured it was worth to play xbox (what an addict). Down into the depths of ikea we ventured once again. We'd been there at least 4 times in the past 2 days, and by this point meL had learned all the shortcuts through the showroom floor. I can't remember what we purchased, but each time we go it seems like we wind up spending about $1000. We made it back just in time to meet the Cable guy, who setup the broadband etc. When I went to hook up the wireless though I realized I forgot the power adapter for it at home in the States. I also tried the xbox, but again, no luck, it wouldn't turn on. The converter looked OK, but I thought it might be generating to little current. After cleaning up a bit, off we went back to Causeway Bay, back to the same store that we bought the converter from. I tried to trade it in for a bigger one, but "Peter", the guy who helped us before was missing. We bought a plug for the wireless instead, and headed back to Ikea again, this time for pillows I think. Oh, and a TV stand. A few hours later we emerged, pillows and TV stands in hand. When we got home, I made a last ditch effort to improve my mood, I decided I would setup all the electronics (everything but the XBOX) and call home to say hello on our new vonage phone. I threw together the new TV bench, hooked up the wireless, the vonage, and everything else, and tucked it all neatly into a wicker basket I had bought just for that purpose. The cable for the TV worked, but try as I might, the wireless just wouldn't function. Neither would the vonage. I messed with it for over an hour, but finally gave up and decided to write this all down instead of just digging myself deeper into a state electronic appliance induced depression. Hopefully I'll get this it all working, but for now I'm paying $90 (US) a month for 10 channels of game shows in Cantonese and HBO (it was free with the package).

-Misha