Electrifying

  So the keyboard is worn out, sticks on letters, particularly the letter "v." It was a surprise to find how frequently I type that letter, so annoying when there is a series of vvv. We had an extra keyboard, in actuality a Dell, the one that came with our present computer, but was never connected.  Though I've never replaced a keyboard, it needed doing so I figured it had to be an easy thing to do:  Simply unplug the old and plug in the new.
    That sounds easy and indeed it is---once you've found your way through the jumble of wires and cords and cables in colors of yellow, blue and black. I wiggled the wire, a black one, connected to the top of the old keyboard, and isolated it by following it through the tangles, and I mean tangles, of connections for the computer, the monitor, the keyboard, the phone, the answering and copy machine, a pair of speakers,  the Guardian alert, something called Trendnet, and the desk lamp.  I unplugged the old, taking great pains to remember which slot I removed it from. I located the proper opening and inserted the wire for the new Dell keyboard, and Voila!  Success.  The keyboard was functioning.
    But hold on, when I tried to access the internet, the message read "No connection."   Weaving through the jumble of wires must have detached or loosened something.  Back beneath the computer I go, exploring. I find on the floor there a clothespin.  Surely not used to hold a wire in position, I hope.  Then, a 2-inch long yellow plastic item with a white cap, something I'd never seen before, and also a slender 4-inch black plastic-handled implement of some type, completely foreign to me.  I place the 3 items on the table, and proceed to randomly push in or tighten every connection I can find, sporadically checking to see if we're back on the internet. Eventually I find a yellow wire that's loose, lying on the floor, at least by now.  I see that one end is connected at the back of the computer, but where the other end should go is a mystery to me.  I don't understand enough about technology to even see the big picture of what connects the computer modem to the internet, so I just look for open slots where I can plug something in. I find one and it works.  I don't remember where it was. I've never heard of anyone being electrocuted by computer, The day I hear it happens is probably the day I give up home repair.
   *I rather like the new keyboard. It clickity-clacks, like a typewriter.  The previous one was, or had become, silent, with the key pressure soft and kind of squishy.  Due to old age, I presume.