Is there anyone reading this who lives near Durham and knows how to take the tip off a coaxial cable and put it back? We tried to move our cable today and hit a snag -- the cable goes through a hole in the floor, which hole is smaller than the end of the cable. We don't want to remove the end because we don't know if we'll be able to put it back. It might be easy, or it might not, and we'd be without cable in the meantime.
We went with the quick-n-dirty fix (duct tape) until we can figure out what to do. Otherwise we had a productive day: took the couch to the dump, loaded the truck with the loveseat and the old hideous china cabinet, moved the new cabinet and filled it. Also sorted through a bunch of things in the old cabinet that we didn't want anymore, like a stack of placemats and tablecloths that are a bit too "country kitch".
Another problem today was the discovery -- well, rediscovery, it's not like we didn't know this had happened -- that we had left the wall unfinished behind the old china cabinet. Looking back this seems like a stupid decision, but I remember how hard that job was, scraping off the glue, replastering and sanding, and how exhausted we were. Cutting a corner (literally: it was a corner cabinet that hid the corner of the room) was just too tempting. Unfortunately the new cabinet is not the same shape and there's a big patch of ugly unfinished wall showing. Well, now we have another project for spring.
And another problem: I had kind of a panic attack at the farmer's market this morning. I was stressed about crowds after the inauguration but I thought I was over it; we had been at the DPAC on Thursday night and had to work our way through the crowd in the lobby and it was a little stressful but not too bad. But then Georg and I split up while I tried to buy hot chocolate, and I thought I was in line but I must have been wearing my cloak of invisibility, people kept cutting ahead of me, and people were all around and then a couple of them bumped into me, and I kind of freaked out. Fortunately I got away from the market before totally losing my shit. I think I'm going to need to avoid situations where I don't have a clear path to not being surrounded by people, at least for a little while.
I've done that before, you can get the tool-less new screw on connectors, or get a crimping connector. Radio shack carries both. Make sure you get the one sized for whatever cable you have (written on the cable itself: RG-6 or RG-59).
One thought on the panic thing: you may not want to back off on the situations, as that may reinforce your subconscious's idea that these situations are scary and should be avoided. I'm not a shrink, so take my advice for what it's worth, but instead of avoiding, you might want to do the opposite and *seek out* those situations, but do so in a way that ensures success: with support, with clear exits visible, with defined goals (go here, do this = win), with pre-psych-up, etc.
Feel free to drop me an email/call if this doesn't make sense -- I'm not sure i've done a terribly good job of explaining.
Jason!: thanks! We will try it, probably next weekend since we have to go underneath the house.
Gina: That actually makes a lot of sense. I thought about it some more and the difference between "this is stressful, but I'm okay" and "oh my GOD I have to GET OUT of here NOW" may have been whether I was alone or not. Perhaps Georg and I should make a point going to moderate crowds for short periods of time until I get more comfortable.
I definitely need to deal with this before the state fair. We go every year, I'd hate to miss it, and right now the thought of going makes my stomach hurt & my palms sweaty. Good thing it isn't until October.