Leave it be, John-it's not worth the bother!

Do you remember when you were a kid and there were those little puzzles that were a sqare tray with tablets numbered 1-8 and only nine spaces? You had to re-organise the jumbled numbers into order which was hard because there was only one space to move into and you had to plan. Well, keep that in mind for a few minutes-you'll see why.

I think I may have mentioned before that I keep fishes. Things to avoid when you keep fishes include 1) Moving the tank around if you can avoid it. The tank, without water in, is 3' and monstrously heavy; taking the fishes out, keeping the mature water and so on is a logistical nightmeare, And 2) Putting the tank anywhere it'll get to much light, especially direct sunlight. Too much light means algae, which consume oxygen which your fishes need, harbour pollutants, looks unpleasant, and is a bugger to clean.

You will be starting to see what is coming by now. Also the weight of the whole setup was starting to deform the very strudy coffee table it was sitting on, so something had to be done. Thing is, my living room is a bit like the sqare puzzles-everything hsa to move before anything else moves, plus there are places some things can't go because they will be away from sockets, blocking fire alarm buttons and so on. But the tank had to move nonetheless, and, with the help of a burly friend, this happend yesterday without too much disturbance or problem being caused to the fishes.

However, disconnecting all the leads for lighting, computer, hi-fi and such and moving all the other furniture round to open the space for the tank in it's new place, and the cabinet it now sits which is the only furniture I have strong enough was 3 hours work before the old coffee table was gently slid across the room and the half empty aquarium was gently lifted into position. That was fairly close to the physical limit of what I am capable of, and it is as well it went up and in first time! Today, my back is a bit tender.

Now, 24 hours later, I have still not finished wiring everything back up, and there is a pile in the middle of the floor of USB hubs, cables and power supplies which can only matched to thier devices by trial and error. It is sorting itself out slowly, but at the moment I am starting to wish I hadn't bothered!

There are collateral advantages, though. My new sofa position allows me to look out on to the patio, and the monitor, through which I also view tv, faces away from the window so there are now no reflections on the screen-and I don't have to look at the kitchen all the time...