Scott’s been gone 3 1/2 years now (still seems like yesterday) and I take small steps into my new reality all the time.

But as a Rule Follower (yes with the capitals) I did nothing for the first year (2019). To be fair, that was more because I was up to my eyebrows just running the business, but THEY say let everything sit for a year before you make changes. So I did.

Well, not entirely. I did rearrange the living room so I wouldn’t have to sit on that uncomfortable leather sofa and keep looking at the beat up coffee table. But I didn’t buy anything new, just used what I had. Yes I had a new sofa we had never used and a coffee table my dad made stored upstairs.

But Year Two (2020) brought COVID and lots of time to shop. So I bought a rug and an end table and lamp and throw pillows with pithy, empowering sayings. And I unplugged the lamps from the center of the room where Scott had extension cords for phone chargers and any number of other devices. That part of the sofa was his command center.

That year I also took the TV and all the accoutrements: CD changer, amplifier, surround sound, DVD player that didn’t work and I unplugged everything and kept only the TV and it’s two remotes, one for Direct TV, down from five. By the end of the year, I had also bought a new Roku TV and jettisoned Direct TV, saving about $150 a month, even with the addition of four streaming services. And now I have one remote. As your Senior Influencer, I highly recommend this arrangement.

Year Three (2021) was nuts and I went bananas (excuse the mixed food metaphors.) I was busy running the business while trying to sell it. I began the serious reno of the upstairs and I embarked on more changes downstairs.

But first I needed to get rid of the horrid Ring doorbell that had been connected to Scott’s phone, of course, and never liked mine and would shut down every time my phone updated (which was often.) I unscrewed the offensive gadget and replaced it with the most luddite doorbell I could find, stuck it to the doorjamb, plugged the ringer into a now-empty socket and Voila! A lovely, traditional doorbell that works EVERY time and that I never have to worry about. As your Senior Influencer, I highly recommend this arrangement.

We moved the leftover equipment from the store home in October and I sold off the remnants in November. What was left of any value, I donated to the high school. The rest has gone in batches to the curb, where some crazed cord collector always picks it up before the city comes.

So the Media Room where I moved the heavy leather furniture and still have a video editing setup is cleared now and ready for next year’s redecorating. I hope that Scott would approve of how I handled the dismantling of our business and his collection of cords and cables and gadgets. I kept asking him about what I should do, but he was unusually silent about it all.

Year Four (2022) I continue to refine, and uncable my life from cords, tech and remotes. It’s still part of my life for sure as I have two full blown computer editing systems still working. However I strive for a simpler life. One that doesn’t require being tethered to a device or a charger. Do you know that I still have a remote for the window unit above right, one for the ceiling fan in that same room, and one for the range hood in the kitchen. No, I don’t understand why.

And I’m still unplugging extension cords all over the house that are no longer needed. This is what I collected the other day and piled on the floor in the den. Then I sat down on the sofa that Scott never used and cried loudly through the guilt I often feel as I dismantle the web of cords and the life he so carefully constructed.

I hope he knows it’s because I need clarity and simplicity and not because I don’t value his skills and talents in creating comfort in our home. But now that I don’t have him, it just doesn’t matter if I can command Alexa to turn on lights or see the UPS man put the package on the porch. I am reconfiguring my life and my surroundings to best suit my new reality, now that Tech Support doesn’t live in my house.

And as your Senior Influencer, I highly recommend this arrangement.