If you recall, we recently picked up a new (old) house and our plate is full of projects – including some relevant to a digital media blog. So, on with the story…

I’ve continued to make progress removing and recycling speaker and aerial antenna wire as I encounter it. There’s no way I’ll extricate it all, and fortunately I’m not quite OCD enough to have to. But it’s no longer an eyesore in various built-ins and closets.

The Verizon FiOS experiment continues, although we had a very slight set back last week when the contract crew missed their 9:30 – 10:30 appointment to bury the fiber. As I had to get into work, the company sent out a manager so I could go over an alternate run through the yard that wouldn’t sever our custom drainage system in three places. After some debate, he relented and marked my route. However, when the crew eventually arrived that afternoon they weren’t satisfied with the electric and copper markings in the neighbor’s yard (where the phone box resides), which put the project on hold over the long Christmas weekend. On Monday, the utilities were (re)marked and the line went in. As far as I can tell, they pretty much followed my path although I’m not sure how they handled the single drainage pipe they’d have to bypass. But cable, electric, and water continue to function – so I’ll call it a success.

While the fiber’s been dropped at the existing Verizon phone box, I’m hoping the installer can run it straight into the house so as to skip the sullying of my new siding (expected next week at the earliest). Worse case scenario, I hope I can convince him (or her) to remove the copper box and put the fiber one in it’s place. And, speaking of that siding, the company was a little put off when we chatted yesterday (regarding their delay) and I requested a few minutes of the project lead’s time before or during the install so I could discuss what I don’t want reattached. Given their initial reaction, I may be the one on the ladder removing the coax run so they’re not liable.

Lastly, in honor of the holidays, we caught Elf via Vudu on our temporary bedroom television. And while the speakers leave a lot to be desired and the set “boots” a tad too slowly, I’m fairly impressed with the 26″ Vizio Internet-connected TV. Netflix streaming and Vudu VOD without the clutter of another box is quite nice and Vizio’s wireless streaming capabilities have been extremely reliable. Although, at the end of the day (or spring), this TV will still most likely move to my basement lab/office.

(This post republished from Zatz Not Funny.)

 
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