Electrician Extraordinare!

I successfully hooked my stereo up to the television, so we have decent sound for when I watch the Gilmore Girls.  (Priority.)  However, the ole' cd player just isn't working the same way.

So I took apart the stereo.  I used two different screwdrivers and most of my brain tools and dug around its insides.  I scooped out a bunch of goop with q-tips, which I now think was some kind of lubricant for all of the wheels and whatnot inside there.  It only took me 20 minutes to discover the tiny, oddly placed, thin, black flap that covers the cd reader, so I could q-tip it and blow on on it for a while.  Very scientific stuff.  

So after working my magic for a while, the thing played almost one whole song on one cd.  Not the first song.  The seventh.  

Magic!

AND, on top of all that impressive activity, I managed to put the whole thing back together, just the way it was.  Amazing.