Hidden Wires

            On Thursday morning it was the third day of me forgetting the opening guitar part for “Leave the Naive Alone" my adaptation of "Laissez tomber les filles" by Serge Gainsbourg. I’d worked it out a few years ago and I'd played it every day since then but three days ago my hand just forgot it. But this morning it dawned on me where my fingers are supposed to be and I found it again.

I worked out a couple more chords for the chorus of “J’suis snob” by Boris Vian.

            I posted my translation of “Puisque je te le dis” by Serge Gainsbourg on Facebook and then I started memorizing his song, “Les capotes anglais” (The English Condoms). The lyrics are from the point of view of a woman who only uses condoms as balloons because there are fewer accidents that way.

            I rerouted all of the wires that go to and come from my stereo to accommodate for the fact that the receiver/amp is now higher. I also discovered a few wires there that I didn’t even need. Previously the wires had been all hidden because the hole they came through at the back of the set of shelves was on the same level as the stereo. After I’d raised the shelf the hole was alone and so the wires were visibly all jumbled up, coming out of the back of the set of shelves and then running up under and behind the shelf at its new level. I got everything but the speaker wires moved but when I started undoing the left speaker wires from the back of the amp the music that I’d been listening to stopped from both speakers. The yellow “on” light was blinking. After turning it off and back on again it was steady but I couldn’t see the input display. After fiddling around and turning it off and on, plugging and unplugging and reconnecting the speaker wires the display was on but there was still no sound. I switched to the radio and that was muted as well. I was beginning to worry that the Yamaha receiver that I’d bought a year ago had died. I tried plugging in my headphones and there was still silence but I turned up the volume and the sound came through the speakers. The volume might have been down all along but that didn’t make sense since it had suddenly shut off while at high volume. Maybe there had been some sort of overload while I was fiddling with the speaker wires in the back and that was why the display didn’t even come on at first. Anyway I got my sound back and I’d moved the wiring so that it looked better and so there was progress. The only thing left to do with the tall set of shelves is to clean behind and under it and then put all the stuff back on that I’d removed a couple of days ago.

            I took out the garbage in the afternoon and while trying to press into the bag a plastic peach basket my finger wound caught the sharp edge of the plastic and started bleeding again.

            I did some exercises and then took a bike ride to College and Ossington. On the way home I stopped at Freshco where I bought grapes, cherries, Ontario nectarines, chicken drumsticks, yogourt, Bavarian sandwich bread, coffee and strawberries. The strawberries were cheap enough to buy two packages but they were in bad shape. I opened up the packages and picked the best I could find to fill two packs. I didn’t get all good ones because I lost patience but that’s the first time I’ve ever done that at the supermarket. The final bill for all my groceries was very high. I guess cherries weigh a lot.

            I grilled frozen pork chops in the oven. I had three little potatoes, a pork chop and gravy for dinner while watching parts 14 and 15 of Victory at Sea.

            Part 14 was about the liberation of Italy by the Allies starting with Sicily in the summer of 1943 and advancing northward towards Rome. With the capture of Sicily the Italian army and navy surrenders and joins the Allies, although Mussolini remains a German puppet in Rome. After that the Germans move south to hold the Allies back from Salerno with planes and cannons. They also used unmanned rolling mines called Goliaths and remote control glide bombs. They put up a much better fight than the Italians and at Naples almost defeat the invading Allies but they are ultimately thrown back until Rome is freed. About 65,000 Allies died in Italy and between 40,000 and 300,000 Germans. The documentary doesn't mention that there was an uprising in Naples before the Allies arrived that contributed to the defeat of the Germans.

            Part 15 was about D-Day on June 6, 1944. The documentary says that no one knows exactly what the “D" stood for but it means "Day", just as the "H" in H-Hour means “Hour". They just indicate the day or hour of a special attack. There have been several “D-Days” and “H-Hours". The coast of Normandy has been extremely fortified by Germany and Rommel, after his failure in North Africa has been put in charge of its defence. Every month the United States has been pouring 150,000 men into England. By the end of the war there would be 1.5 million. The men sail from different ports at varying intervals to arrive at the five beaches together. The first to go are the paratroopers. Tactical air squadrons fly 5000 sorties to soften up Germany’s defences. Germany’s naval support is driven from the channel. A million tons of concrete float across the channel in the form of artificial docks called mulberries that will be sunk to form piers.

            The actual first Allied action on D-Day was a glider assault. The Allies coordinated with the French Resistance four plans of sabotage to be carried out on D-Day. There were 5000 landing and assault craft. 160,000 troops crossed on D-day with another 875,000 by the end of June. 4114 allied men died and 1000 Germans. One factor contributing to the invasion’s success was that German fortifications in some places were only 18% complete.