Today there was a knock at the door. We had already been visited by the maintenance man, so I knew to be cautious. I asked who he was in my fiercest voice.

"Cable guy. We are tracking a cable problem and it seems to be coming from this apartment."

I was a little impressed. Everything seemed completely normal (except of course, our cable wasn't working). But under the radar, our little apartment was the headquarters of a neighborhood cable problem.

The diagnosis?

Cheap cable chords. My roommate informed me that they had cost about a dollar at Harps. I've been without Jay Leno and Bravo and Cartoon Network because of cheap cable chords.

The new ones were complimentary. Thanks, Cox.