The Adventures of Andy and the Cable Guys

It was a beautiful thing when I first heard about it… 200 channels of IP based television over a fiber line coming right into my home with a 4 channel DVR and high speed internet… Excuse me while I go change my underwear.

Well, Monday was the day that it was to be installed. I was so happy! The greatest TV/Internet experience possible for only $89 a month, including NFL Network! God Bless you AT&T!

As the installers arrived I let them in and showed them around. Told them where I wanted everything installed.

They started looking at things, unscrewing a few phone outlets (of which I have surprisingly few in my condo) and otherwise trying to plot out the game plan.

Eventually they ask to see the attic, and look at a few other options. They called in another guy, who also went to look at the attic, the outside and all 3 of my phone outlets.

Eventually, three hours after they started, I asked how things were coming. Apparently they had given up.

My condo is not wired conductively for this type of fiber/cable wiring. I’ve had some custom work done that was purely for cable, but there is virtually no parallel between the phone and cable lines.

For some reason this made me want to spite Time Warner. And we all know what happened the last time I wanted to spite a company. Maybe it’s just that I really want the NFL network, maybe purely digital TV is going to make the eventual upgrade to HD more worthwhile… But mostly I wanted it because I can see the hook-up box outside my window! I’m so close the fiber internet will be screaming fast!

At this point it was not worth it for me to go back to work for the day (Oh, yeah, I got a job… I probably should have mentioned that). So I called my girlfriend (Something else I’ve been meaning to mention… her name is Krystle, she’s awesome!) who is very fiscally sound. She convinced me that I shouldn’t go out and call and electrician to completely re-do everything at my expense just to get NFL Network.

Well I did email a friend of mine who is an electrician. He’s done some work for me in the past and we’ve sort of traded wiring for website updates and/or a bottle of Jose Cuervo. He said he’d be able to give me an estimate. At least now I think I know what I need.

I think the biggest benefit to that 4 channel DVR is not having to choose between “Heroes” and “24” on Monday nights. At least with the writers strike I didn’t have to worry about that this year… but I may need to figure something out by next season!

Minor site update...

Check out the right-hand column. You'll find a permanint link to my movie reviews at bloggernews.net via dailylife.com...

It's complicated, but just do the point-and-click thingie and enjoy!