Cable Guy

Today I played cable guy. I got everything ready. (or so I thought.) This involved drilling holes, pulling wire, disconnecting the old box, climbing a tall ladder drilling holes in the side of the building, mounting a ceramic bracket for holding the line tension, etc.

Then I reached out my window, held my breath and clipped my cable line. Wheee... I watched it fall. Then, as quick as I could, I pulled it across the yard, climbed back up the ladder and fed it through the building. (Except I wasn't ready. I realized the hole I had made wasn't big enough. So I had to climb back down, climb back up with a drill, and feed the cable through again.)

Note: new ladders are bright yellow for a reason. My ladder is not new. It is grey metal. It can hardly be seen in an alley that is paved in grey asphalt. I did not feel entirely safe at the top of the ladder, especially since it was near 5pm and there were lots of cars threatening to come down the alley. I put a garbage can out in the middle of the alley to make it more clear that I was up on the ladder. Next time, I think it is a two person job.

Anyway, I didn't get the job done by 6:30 pm, so I had to go to the dentist. (Shady dentist hookup: Tom Sarna is a dental student at UIC. Last week was taxes for dinner. This week was dental for dinner.)

I finally got the cable hooked up by 9pm or so, this required a flashlight and would have looked very suspicious if a cop had come past. Fortunately I didn't have to climb the ladder after dark.

I still have to climb the ladder a couple more times. I need to caulk the openings, attach the tensioners, and run the two phone cables. I need to get a hex security bit to move the NID before I can move the phone lines. Anybody happen to have this bit handy or know what size it is so I can order it?

My cable modem is back up, so I guess I got the cable hooked up correctly. I still don't have cable TV, but that doesn't bother me much. I need to add a splitter and maybe an amp for the TV connection. I also might move my cable modem to the garage.

I got a path ready for the hot-tub today, and the siding and the gutters are done. That's good to have complete.

The path is flattened out to push the hot-tub into position for the crane. The crane shows up Friday. I need to find somebody to help me push the hot-tub. My brother said he would help me do this tomorrow. I hope he remembers.

My piano goes into position tomorrow. A bit premature because the insulation and drywall are not complete, but Jamie's mom wants them out of her house. Piano movers are quite expensive. I hope it turns out to be worth it.

My mortgage people called today and asked what number they could call to verify my employment. I had to tell them I was between jobs. I hope that doesn't affect my eligibility. I gave them both companies' numbers.

I've been eating a lot and expending probably twice my usual energy per day. I don't think I've gained any weight. My muscles feel good though.

I've also been going to sleep at 10pm. Hopefully I can keep this up to be ready for my new job on Tuesday. Life will be different.

I need to eat a second dinner. Then it's off to bed. Mmmmm. Sausage for breakfast and steak for lunch and dinner. My fridge is fully stocked. I went shopping today. Mmmmm.