What a Tangled Web We Weave When Trying to Sort Out the Power Cords

Note to friends and family: If I'm inexplicably missing for a period of time, please come check on me at home. I've most likely been strangled by a tangle of power cords.

At the moment, I am unpacking from my recent move and vacation; not a combined activity that I would recommend. While engaged in these activities, it has come to my attention that my world has suddenly become ensnarled by power cords. For my trip, I had my suitcase for clothes, my bag for toiletries and makeup, my laptop, a bag inside my purse that holds my camera, cellphone, iPod and Palm Pilot (large purse). Just for those four items, I needed another bag for the powercords. Oh yes, and then there's the suitcase for my shoes, but that's another story for another day.

While getting ready for the move, I threw away a boxful of unidentifiable power cords. Most likely they went to long forgotten Ataris, Nintendos, Gameboys and cellphones. As I sit in my living room surveying the jumble of partially unpacked boxes, I see power cords dangling outside of several of the boxes. There are cords for telephones, various computer equipment, audio/video equipment and some that are still unidentifiable but seemed a waste to pitch them. And amazingly, very few of them can be used for multiple pieces of equipment. And if they DO fit, there are the dire warnings to not use a power cord from another source as it could damage the item. I don't know whether or not that's true and don't want to risk the expense of being wrong should I conduct an experiment to find out.

As it is, my new home is too old for all of the electrical needs I have. In my room I already have outlets claimed by the TV, DVD player, telephone, DSL equipment, computer equipment, clock radio and lamp.

The living room has lamps, TV/CD/DVD equipment and a phone that I thought was acting strangely. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It occurred to me that it only worked when the lamp was on. It turns out that it was plugged into the same outlet as the lamp and that outlet is operated by a lightswitch on the wall. Oddly, that is the outlet that is closest to that phone jack.

Because most of the outlets are already in use, it's somewhat challenging to recharge some of my battery powered equipment. At the moment, my camera is recharging in the hallway, my cellphone is in my daughter's room, the PalmPilot is perched on the bathroom sink while it charges up and my iPod is recharging in the kitchen.

I do have powerstrips, but they require a three prong outlet, and there are some issues there as only two of my outlets are fixed for three-prong plugs. Plus, it seems the makers of the powerstrips haven't caught up with technology themselves. The holes are too close together on some of them. A power strip that should hold 6 plugs actually holds three because most powercords have plugs that are about two inches wide.

Wow, that's a lot of electricity. It wouldn't be surprising at all to find out that the real reason for the power outage a year or so ago in the northeast was due to someone recharging all of their electronic equipment.

The vacation from which I just returned was a trip to New York City with my daughter, sister and niece. We all shared a room, and had about the same amount of re-chargeable equipment, which necessitated a schedule for recharging.

There was a brief scare, on my part, when it looked as though I had left behind the powercord for my PalmPilot. When I attempted to use the cord that I thought fit it, I was suprised to see that it was labeled "Black & Decker."

Oh, and speaking of tools; sadly, I lost a shoe on the trip. A beloved Liz sandal, which will be greatly missed.

Services will be private.