A Ghost in the Machine?

A few weeks ago, my dvd player stopped working. It's demise wasn't really a shock; I have had it for over ten years and the vhs side of the machine had quit vhs-ing a few years back. The problem was that there was still a dvd IN the machine when it gave up the ghost, and it was a dvd that I really like.

So, since the whole thing was headed for the trash heap anyway, I decided to grab my screwdriver and rescue my dvd from the wreckage.

(You just can't type "trash heap" without including a shout-out to Fraggel Rock!)

Taking the player apart was actually pretty darn fun. I felt like quite the handy (wo)Manny, until I popped the front cover piece off and found...

... a dead spider.

After taking a few moments to react appropriately to this discovery (shrieking, throwing the cover/spider tomb across the room, more shrieking, spraying the all ready dead spider with half a can of bug spray), I collected myself, continued the operation, and rescued the dvd. Mission Accomplished.

I know that the spider's corpse wasn't the cause of the dvd players malfunction, but the gruesome discovery has made me a little jumpy.

 I already know that there are spider carcasses inside my hallway light fixture, (which means I will have to move when those light bulbs burn out) so where else might there be spiders lurking?

Has my Wii, which has similar elements to a dvd player, become an arachnid apartment? Is it safe to reach into my printer to change ink cartridges, or are there creepy crawlies hiding in its mechanical bowels?  My kitchen clock stopped this morning and, before grabbing a new battery, I reached for my best spider squishing shoe. And I am not even going to start on the nightmares I have had about my toaster.

Only time will tell if rescuing the series pilot of Inspector Lewis will be worth the arachnid anxiety it has caused. I am pretty sure that a new dvd would be a lot cheaper than therapy.