Today I got installs in the SE part of town. My first job was a large house near one of the universities in town. From the front the house really doesn't look like much. But once you got inside it just kept going and going. The install seemed easy enough, the guy only wanted two outlets. But there was only one in the house. So I had to make the other one and it was on the second floor, which involved getting on the roof. I'm always surprised at how much strain walking around on a roof is on one's knees. The guy was nice about my age, I didn't ask what he does for a living though he did mentioned he works at the very southern part of the area, where there is a lot of tech jobs. The job took most of my morning. Right as I was finishing my Supervisor called to say he was going to come down to help me, I told him not to bother.
Afterwards I drove around to try and find some shade and actually enjoy my lunch, when my supervisor called me about my 10 -12 job, asking why I wasn't there and that he was going to meet me there, I told him I had no 10-12. I then called back some of my jobs from the previous days and one of them was still having problems. It was the one with the splitter in the attic. I went back there, and since I'm such a nice guy, I went into the attic and sure enough that fixed the problem. He was very grateful.
Then I headed to my first afternoon job. It was an apartment building and I ran into two other guys from my team there. It turns out that everyone there has had cable with their rent, but the building is no longer having a bulk account, so everyone is scrambling to get us out there to make sure their service isn't cut off. the job turned out a little more difficult than I thought it would. Both the internet and phone wouldn't cooperate. I spent some of my time there as well trying to help one of my fellow teammates with a problem he was having. The woman elderly and very crotchety. She would say things that borderline sarcastic to the point where I wasn't sure if it was a joke or comment. So I wasn't sure if I should laugh or not.
She would suck on an oxygen tank when she wasn't sucking on a cigarette.
Next I went to an apartment complex. I've been to this complex before and I've noticed that it is largely populated by immigrants. The hallway for some reason smelled to me like cornnuts, I haven't even thought of cornnuts in a very long time. The woman who opened the door was an attractive blonde. I could tell by how she refrained from speaking that she probably didn't speak much English. She had a baby crawling around. I went outside to hook up the cable and when I came back there were two guys. At first I thought they were all russian, but it became apparent that they are in fact Turks. There was a bigger (and uglier guy) who I figured to be the husband and a shorter guy, who was their friend. The shorter guy knew more English than the other two and did all the talking and translating.
After I finished I called dispatch and they said someone was running behind. I called him up and he said he had a job left after the one he was on. So I decided to start that next one and he can come over when he's finished with the one he's on. Once I got there I saw a bunch of stuff needed to be replaced. The guy there was laying down tile on the porch. He kept talking to me about the process. I wasn't sure if this is because I was willing to humor him or because he considered me a fellow handy-man. It took me a while to replace this stuff and of course the other tech showed up when I had everything done.

Yesterday I started my day at a series of town-homes near some hospitals. It was a really nice place. There was an old man there watching his grandchild. I was there for the internet. I noticed an unusually low signal, which turned out to be the line to the house. So I replaced that, but they were still not getting internet. I replaced the modem and it still wasn't working, so I told the guy that the problem was his computer.
The next job was in the land of scrape-offs. I noticed on the fence to the yard there was a note saying that a sexual offender has moved into the neighborhood. I knocked on the door and a woman answered the door. She was the housekeeper and she spoke little English. She wanted me to call the actual family before she could let me in. Eventually the husband showed up. He explained that one night his middle daughter was flipping through channels and came across some unfiltered porn (it was probably Cinnemax). She is autistic though so he thinks it probably didn't register. It turns out that they have a digital TV that was actually reading our signal without a box. So I had to put a box on it to regulate what channels they were getting.
The next job was further south. This house had a beautiful garden. The woman who answered the door apologized for her slow movement because she had just got out of the hospital this morning. She said her husband was at the grocery store. I was there to replace a box that had obviously gone bad. I complimented her on her garden and she mentioned that her husband is a landscape architect. He makes gardens for a living, he's good at it too. I finished the job and headed to my next job.
The next job was to check whether or not an apartment had the appropriate filter on. So they weren't getting more than they were paying for.
Afterwards I headed to an apartment near my place. There was a strange effeminate man there who was waiting for me by the door. I was just there to swap his remote but he kept talking to me about this and that. I don't know if he was lonely or what, but eventually I had to leave and I felt a little bad for cutting out on the guy.
The next job was a house a little east of where I was. The house looked like it was recently remodeled. The guy described his issues and I tired to find the problem. I replaced a few things including the box. His basement had a full weight room. I told him if the problem persists he should replace the splitter that I know is in his attic.
The next job was further south. This was near the land of scrape-offs. This house is still being worked on. The guy was nice, and had a lot of really interesting japanese artwork. He asked me to set up a couple TV's for him that the contractor who originally installed the place refused to do. Which I did and didn't take very long either. I was actually there to replace his HD boxes for DVR's, so he could use HDMI chords. I also arranged a better signal for his internet. I hate cleaning up after contractors.
The next job was down the street in a town-home complex. The door was answered by a woman with an accent. I think she was Israeli. There is a large jewish population in this part of town. I was there to replace the box.
Normally I would go home at this point, but I am on call so I called in and ended up grabbing a job from somebody who was running behind. I ended up at some condos downtown that were design by a world famous architect right next to our art museum. I had to get in at the south building, then go to the top floor go through a park that is on top of a parking garage between the buildings. There was an area for parties, even a small kitchen. I then went in the east building. Their condo looks directly at the museum and more specifically where they are doing some work because of a leak. There were ropes streaming down the side of building for the workers to scale the building. The problem was that their phone number for some reason, inexplicably went back to our competitor whom this customer had come from. So I had to turn the job over to our tech group to fix it.

My first job today was near the country club. It was a very nice house. I was meet at the door by a nice old man and his two cocker spaniels. He had a problem with his HD box, since it was recently replaced. I just had to change a setting and explain to the man exactly what happens with HD. This is something that should have been explained by customer service over the phone. I shouldn't have been here.
My next job was near plasticland. It was a decent looking house, the porch looked like a recent addition. No one answered so I left.
Afterwards I headed towards downtown. I went to a very nice apartment high-rise near one of the city parks. When I got to the apartment the guy called me in. He was sitting on his bed at a table that was set up next to it. He looked like an old John Goodman, like this is exactly how John Goodman would look in about 30 years. He had an oxygen tank and he struggled to speak at first. He mentioned he had emphysema. He started asking me questions about his remote, more specifically the picture in picture function. It wasn't set up for his TV so I went ahead and set it up and explained it to him. Afterwards he decided it was too difficult and said he probably wouldn't use it. He then proceeded to ask me about every little thing about the remote and was really trying my patience. Towards the end of my being there I thought I saw the guys balls dangling out from underneath the shirt he was wearing. For some reason up to that point it never occurred to me that the shirt was the only thing he was wearing.
During that job I got a call to go back to my last job. I have spent most of my life doing jobs involving customer contact and I think the concept of, the customer is always right, has gotten far to out of control. Americans are spoiled. If you make an appointment you need to be there, if you can't make it then cancel it. But don't blow it off then ask us to come back when you do get home. This happens all the fucking time, and part of it is our policy which allows for this to happen. But we as a society are too spoiled to the point where people expect us to come back. What's the point of even making an appointment.
I told dispatch that I'll get there when I get there. Then I went to my next job.
The next job was in an apartment complex. There was a nice black lady who lived here. She was watching a christian television station. I just needed to change the settings on her TVs. I didn't spend much time here.
I finally went back to the job where people weren't home. There was a black man there who was nice and older black lady and a white adolescent. Their internet was going down but nothing else was affected. I looked everywhere but couldn't find what the problem was. I eventually found a connector that was starting to go bad. I'm not sure if that was the problem, so I cancelled the job. This was the only time I used my tools today. After last week I earned an easy day.
I took a very short lunch, not even 30 minutes, and headed to my next job at an apartment complex. No one answered so i left.
The next job was up in plasticland. It was a big house. There was a thin effeminate black man here with his wife. One of his HDTV's wasn't working properly because he didn't hook it up right. The other one wasn't working correctly because the HD box was bad. While I was working on this job dispatch offered to take my last job from me and give me three phone jobs on the west side of town. I accepted the offer because I was on call, so I would probably end up doing these jobs anyways. Besides I wasn't looking forward to that last job.
So I headed over to a neighborhood where some friends of mine live. It was a nice brick house, it had a historic placard on it. No one answered so I left and went to the next job.
The next job was at an apartment above some shops. There was an old woman here who kind of reminds me of a friend of mine's mother. She was white and listening to spanish music. She mentioned that her husband and her only watch the spanish channels. I figured he was Spanish or Mexican. Eventually he showed and sure enough he was definitely one of the two. I don't know if I heard him speak a single word of english while I was there. Both the boxes for her TV and phone quit working. She said it might be due to the lightning strike that occurred during the electrical storm a couple days ago.
Next I headed a little further north past a school where a friend of mine teaches to a small house. The woman who answered the door asked if I spoke spanish. I signaled no, she got her son to translate. I was there because their phones were not working. After some confusion I got them to show me where their computer is, it was in the teenagers room, who was apparently sleeping. So we waited for him to get up and probably throw some clothes on. That is where I found the box for the phone which was not plugged in. I plugged it in and told them that it must stay plugged in no matter what. They mentioned they had a party over the weekend.

Yesterday I was called into work on my day off. I was at a friends house eating pizza and getting ready to sit down to play some poker when they called me in. The first job I went to was a job I was at last week. At this point I was pretty sure that this was a line problem. So I talked to the on-call supervisor and he agreed so we turned it over to our network team.
After that I went to was a house only a few blocks away. No one was there so I was about to call it not at home, when I got a call back and it turned out they were told i wouldn't be there for at least another half hour so they went out to dinner. So I waited for them to get back. The problem was obviously the box for his internet and phone. I finished the job and left. Afterwards I caught with the one other tech that was still out working. I meet him at an apartment building downtown. No one answered so we went home.

Yesterday they had me doing installs in the southwest part of town. The first job was at a house. There was a nice old lady here. In fact the few times I've been in this area, the people all seem old and retired. The woman was nice but very nosey. She asked me questions about every little thing I was doing. I had to go into the neighbor's yard across the way to get to the pole. When I got back to her house, there was a guy across the street with no shirt on pulling mushrooms out of his yard and throwing them into the street. I headed back inside. In her basement there was a deer head mounted on the wall, for some reason I only run into this sort of thing in this part of town. While I was there working she got a phone call from my company asking if I had shown up yet, when I had been there for at least 2 hours.
The next job was much further south. I've always been shocked that this area is covered by my office when there is another office just a mile or two away. There was another old lady here. She was little confused about things, because her daughter ordered it and is paying the bills. She, like the last woman, was very curious about everything I was doing. She has these little candy dishes in her living room which I thought was such a stereotypical Grandmother thing to do, it was awesome. She had one of the nicest crawl-spaces I had seen. It was spacious and lit. It even had ground covering. Since these jobs entailed a bit more than what was on paper I was starting to run a little later than I wished. I skipped lunch and went to my next job.
The next one was near my first one. I was here to install phone in an office that was in the garage. When I saw this I was relieved because it looked much harder on paper. But I ended up spending 3 hours here anyways. The business was home appraisals. When I was working behind the building I noticed a bunch of little insects scurrying about the wall, but when I looked closer I saw that they were in fact 20 or so little baby spiders that must have just hatched. Inside I was hooking up the phone, when I realized that the alarm they have set up for their office, was never properly hooked up. So I ended up hooking it up for them, which is what took me so long.
By the time I got to my next job I was still on time, but had to resign myself to the fact that I would be getting home late today. When I got there there was a couple of hispanic teenagers there. I told them that Iw as there to install the phones and they said someone else had already done it. My paperwork said that there was a contractor who was going to go out there and install the internet, but this person went ahead and did the phone as well. I made sure that everything was working and I took off. I guess the contractor didn't see that they were two different jobs.
Starting yesterday I'm on call for the next week so I decided to see if there is more work to be had, because I would hate to go home only to be called out again. I picked up one more job that was in a condo downtown. I showed up and couldn't get a hold the customer. Then right as I was about to leave a guy on crutches who had been hanging out outside asked me who I was looking for. I told him and he said that was him. So he led me inside and explained what the problem was. He was having issues with his phone. I brought up a spare phone, and it looked like it was the phone itself and not the service. So I canceled the job and went home.

Today they had me doing installs in the southeast part of town. My first job was a house. The guy here was a big black guy with dreads. He was nice. The line to the house was old and needed to be replaced and there was no alleyways which means I had to carry my ladder into their backyard. He also wanted outlets in three rooms that didn't have any. So this install was basically doing everything from scratch. The guy left to go to work and his nanny was there to watch the kids. She seemed nice, but we didn't talk much. I spent 4 1/2 hours toiling in the sun doing this job. At one point my shirt was completely soaked with sweat.
Once I finally finished I had to go straight to my next job. This was an apartment building in apartment town. I have been to this one before. The box to hook people up is on the roof about 6 floors up, which I wasn't looking forward to. I spent too much time in the sun already today. There was a small patch of shade up there which I did my best to stay in. The lady in the apartment was very nice and very happy to see me. She said she has been living there for a week just watching DVDs. She had a small child with her. She looked very young, possibly 18 or 19. I assume her husband/boyfriend was working while she was caring for the child.
The next job was an apartment building near a local university. There was a large woman there, who was the building manager. I was there to hook up video for her. She spent the time talking to somebody from the company. I just wanted to get to my next job and get this day over with.
My last job was another apartment. There was a very talkative hispanic woman here. She said that her company is eliminating her office downtown, because most of the people who work there are out and about, so they don't really need an office. So she is going to start working from home. As I was there Cribs was on showing Pauly Shore's house. It was really nice, but it raised the question, "Pauly Shore still has money?" He must have saved it, because I haven't seen him in anything in a long time. She agreed with me. I left and went home.

My first job today was at a very nice house. Though it's along a very busy road there are a lot very big very nice houses here. This one was great. The guy who was moving in had a bit of a limp said he bought it $438,000. WTF? I've seen houses 1/8 this size in this town go for more. I can't believe it. Anyways big houses are always big installs. In this case I needed to create 2 extra outlets. The guy was very nice. Apparently he hurt himself and can't work anymore so he flips houses. He also likes to fix up old motorcycles. He was very social. He talked about his sons, one who's my age and spends all his money partying and the other one with a family. He also got me severals drinks (lemonade and water). He was telling me that the original plans for the house said that in the basement there was maid quarters and an intercom system in the house. The job took me all morning. I was relieved when it was done.
From there I went straight to my second job and skipped lunch. This job was farther up north in a worse neighborhood. As I walked up there were a few hispanic adults and a kid on the porch just starring at me. I told them I was there to install the cable and they just continued to look at me. I asked them what TV's needed to be hooked up and the kid said the one in the living room and the one in the basement. I then asked them to show me, all the while they kept looking at me like I was some sort of alien. There must have been at least 10 different kids running around the place. The basement was as big as the house itself, it even had a kitchen. It looked like a completely different family lived down here. When I went out back I noticed the line needed to the house needed to be replaced. I also noticed that the cables on the side of the house were a cluster-fuck. I knew I was going to be here a while. The backyard had two trucks, a car, a washing machine, a toilet, three barrels full of crushed beer cans, a trampoline, and a kiddy pool (with some kids swimming in it). This job took me a long while as well. Once I finished this job I had spent most of this upper 90 degree day outside and wasn't exactly thrilled about it.
The next job was at an apartment not too far from where I live. I just had to install internet and was happy to finally get an easy job. The door was answered by a large hispanic woman, who was probably a little younger than me. She was watching a friends DVD. I flew this job, I still had two more to do.
The next job was at a high rise apartment for seniors. The woman was very nice, she had an English accent. She wanted me to set up her VCR so that she record and watch something different. She kept talking about how she had moved her TV to this stand because where she had it before was about to break under the weight. It didn't take too long to fix the problem.
My last job was to disconnect someone who hasn't paid their bills. It wasn't too far from where I live. This is actually the first time I had to disconnect someone for not paying. I wondered if someone might be watching TV, and come running out. But nothing so eventful happened.

My day started slow due to a shortage of equipment I needed to do my installs. I finally got to the first job about 9 am. The apartment building was in one of the worst areas I work. The building looked nondescript from the outside, which for around here is a compliment. The inside looked really nice, it has obviously been renovated. An old black woman with an oxygen tank opened the door. there was a couple kids sleeping on the floor. She mentioned she was just the babysitter, and gave me a note about what the woman who lives here wanted me to do. I went outside to hook them up, then as I was going back into the building someone from inside the building told me that all the lines have been cut on the roof, due to the renovation. So I had to reschedule the install so we could get a team out there to replace the whole line.
Next I went to plasticland. This was an apartment complex I was at last week (the gay guy who tried to block my exit). In fact this was even the same building. But know one showed so i picked up an extra job, since I've done nothing up to this point.
The next job was a complex I haven't been in before. There was an Indian woman and her son here. The kid did most of the talking which led me to believe that she knew little to no english. They were unpacking the few boxes that was there. I installed all three services and moved on.
Afterwards I ate my sandwiches I had packed and moved to my next job which was back in plasticland. This job was at a retirement community. It seemed everyone here was black. This particular lady had an oxygen tank and her granddaughter was there as well to help. The place was crowded with boxes, obviously they were still moving in. I finished the job and moved on.
The next was at an apartment complex that I seem to be at at least once a day. This was another install. The door was answered by a somewhat effeminate middle-aged man with a mullet like hair-do. It turned out to be his mother's place. She was an elderly woman (possibly Italian?). She started complaining about how she has been here for three weeks and techs keep saying she's not at home when she is. I just shrugged it off and did the install. They were nice but I had to over-explain a few things.
It was about time to go home, but I knew there was still a lot of work out there to be done so I grabbed an extra job. This was also in an apartment building one that is in that town I was talking about that is all apartment buildings. This building looks pretty run down, but once inside everything had been newly painted and looked nice. There was a couple here with their child. They had a large hatchet man (read ICP) rug on the wall. They had been accidentally disconnected. I reconnect them and headed home.

I started my day hung over and this is not the kind of job you want while hung over. I arrived at my first job in a town-home complex. There was an asian woman here, I didn't talk to her much at all. I wasn't very talkative. Her cable had been cut off, so I hooked it back up.
The next job was in the resort town. The woman here was a very chipper southern woman. She started asking me all sorts of questions. She then told me something the tech who installed her place, had told her, which was an outright lie. He said this just to be lazy and not do as much work. Of course I had to make up for this person's laziness and was not thrilled at all about it.
I went to my next job when I was finished which was in an apartment complex. I was there because their cable box was showing the wrong time. We decided it wasn't that big of a deal, so I left. The next job was cancelled, so I found a bathroom and got some badly needed food.
Next I went to one of my afternoon jobs early. This was an apartment, lived in by a nice very religious black woman. She had a lot of gospel CD's and christian DVD's about the place. There was a quite a few things that needed to be replaced, eventually leading to the box. After leaving I needed to find a bathroom yet again.
The next job was listed as a house a couple blocks from where I live. When I showed up a kid answered the door and I asked for his parents. He said no one was there, then I mentioned that I spoke to his mom on the phone. He then said that she lives in an apartment somewhere else. Fortunately it wasn't too far away so I went over there. This is actually a different town that has been completely surrounded by the city. There are no houses in this town either, it's all apartment buildings. There are a lot of immigrants who live in this are as well. Across the street form this building some gentlemen where drinking beer and playing what looked like checkers under the shade of a tree. The Elevator smelled of piss and I was a little to trapped in my head to notice that the light in the elevator was not working. Once the door shut it was pitch black in there, which felt a little like a horror movie. I also couldn't help thinking that people have had sex in this elevator, taking advantage of this darkness. The lady was nice I just had to swap the box. She had four different locks on her door and as I was leaving I could hear her locking all of them. The other elevator also smelled of piss.
The next job was back in an apartment complex I was in earlier. The door was answered by an attractive woman. Everything was working as I was there. I changed some things and gave her my number. I told her to call me if it acts up anymore.
The next job was in a house in the land of scrape-offs. This particular house was still intact. I was actually at this house back in October, when I was still new and riding out with another tech. I remember that he replaced the line to the house, which was reassuring that at least I know that part is good. I was actually here just to replace a box. I also installed a new box for her.
I decided to pick up one more job, it was an apartment building a couple blocks from where I live. It's a really nice building I've walked past many of times. It turned out I needed to replace a splitter outside, but their signal was still really low. So I went outside to get some levels and turn it over to the line crew. But I noticed that the line to the building was old, and I would have to change that before I could turn it over. As I was finishing up some asshole pulled up behind my van in the alleyway and started honking. Like he couldn't just turn around in his little geo metro and go the other. So I took my time and pulled my van over a little giving him just barely enough room to get through, he was really pleased with that. Eventually I finished the job and went home.

My first job was at an apartment complex which looks more like a resort town. When I showed up the woman was watering her flowers. She was very nice. She had a poodle, which she said was her first champion. I asked if she did dog competitions. She said she had breed 4 generations and had 9 champions of these poodles. But she doesn't do it anymore because she doesn't have the facilities for it and they developed a lot of health problems. She said she couldn't stomach it any more. I was there to show her how to use her remote and drop a off another box for one of her TV's. But mainly she wanted me to show her how to switch the inputs on her TV so that she could play Nintendo. That made her very happy when I got that running.
Next I headed to a retirement community. There was an older gentleman here, who was having trouble working his TV. I figured it out very quickly. He kept asking me questions but for whatever reason I wasn't feeling very talkative, so I wouldn't say much. As I was leaving I remember one of my fellow workers once telling me about how older people get lonely and will sometimes do something like change the channel and call us in, just for some company.
The next job is in the same complex. This one was a woman, who ever since she was upgraded to a box lost her ability to record with her VCR. So I had to set her up with an A/B switch to toggle between her cable and VCR. Didn't talk to her much.
Next I went back to the resort town. This was a round gentleman. He was wearing a volunteer policeman shirt and spent most of his time on the phone. It sounded like he was buying property in a small town to rent out. He was having problems with some channels, and I had to get behind the wall-plate to fix it, which meant moving a lot of furniture. But eventually I fixed the problem.
I then went to lunch. Parked in my favorite spot and read a little. Then I went to an apartment complex, in a new part of town. I'm not sure why I never noticed this before, but this place looks horrible and wreaks of garbage. Though the smell is probably enhanced due to how hot it's been lately. The door was answered by a black guy who looked like he just got up. He said he didn't live here then went and woke up some other guy. As I was fixing the problem, he said he works the midnight shift. Then he eluded to the fact that he works at Burger King. Admittedly I though of that as sad. I just couldn't imagine working in fast food. Hell I'm worried about getting stuck in my current job. Anyways I finished the job and left.
Next I went to a town-home complex. There was an older gentleman here. I just needed to replace his cable box. He seemed disappointed at first that I was bringing the same box to replace it. But that one didn't work either, so I had to use a different box.
Next I went to a different apartment complex. There was a woman here who just moved here from Boston. She moved here for work, where she is the food buyer for a very large restaurant chain. It seems she didn't know anybody out here when she moved, which I have to say is very bold. It seems kind of scary to move where you don't know anybody. At least when your older it does, because it seems harder to meet new people the older you are. All I had to do was replace the box.
AFter this I picked up another job that was closer to downtown. This was a very nice, recently remodeled, town-home. The gentleman was very nice. I saw some bills to an upcoming play. I assumed he was involved with it but for some reason never bothered to ask. The line going to his unit was really old and crusty and needed to be replaced, so I did that. I made sure everything was working and headed home.

Today was our meeting day, which means getting up early. This was the first one I've been to in weeks, so it was a little difficult getting up early this morning. My first job was in an apartment complex I'm at often. The guy was nice, he was still moving in and it was a little difficult maneuvering around the boxes. He just moved from Indiana with his wife, who got a promotion/transfer to here. He works from home. He was asking me about the area, so I told him about some of the local attractions. He was excited to get to see a concert at a certain local venue that is rather infamous. he mentioned that a friend of his is in a band that is on the Family Values tour with Korn and Effervescence (I'm pretty sure he meant Evanescence, but I was really amused at how he got it wrong). The job was easy, so I headed to the next one a little early.
This job was at an apartment which lies in a series. This place wasn't too far from where I live but right next to an independent theater that shows midnight movies. I didn't even know this place was here. It was really nice, but I'm sure I probably can't afford it. The lady here had been accidentally disconnected because some screw up with our system. This was easy for me, because she still had everything set up. So all I had to was hook it up outside. Once I was finished I found a bathroom, got some gas and went to an early lunch. I pulled up under a tree and read.
My first job of the Afternoon was in a large brick house. The lady who answered was very old. She at one point mentioned that the house was built in 1897. I turned out that there was never any cable in the upstairs portion of the house so I needed to run a new line so that she could get her internet. The place was largely decrepit and needed a lot of work. She was talking about remodeling parts of the upstairs, I wasn't sure is she had been working on this a while or what, but the place needed a lot more than that. The one room I worked in inside the place was largely vacant (due to the remodeling), but on the wall there was some words by Sherman Alexie that she had printed up. I asked her about it and we started talking about Sherman Alexie and literature in general. I mentioned that I love Moby Dick. She said she has never read Moby Dick but as a kid growing up in Kansas she read some of Herman Melville's short stories and was so propelled to check out the ocean her and a friend went to Europe for 3 1/2 months in 1955 (by boat of course). She mentioned that she got to witness the Russians pulling out of Prague and looting it in the process. She said the total trip cost $1,000. I think it's about that for the plane tickets these days. As i was leaving she said she was glad she knew someone else who like Sherman Alexie.
While heading to my last job I called ahead and the guy told me to go to a specific exist outside his apartment building, which was close to his apartment, and his girlfriend would let me in. Once there I went into the parking garage bellow to hook them up. While there I noticed a man standing in the garage watching me holding a plastic bag. At first I thought maybe he owned the car I was standing next to and was making sure I didn't damage it at all. After a few minuets the elevator opened and a woman came off holding a baby a speaking a foreign language. I first thought it was German but after a while thought maybe it was russian. She was walking towards the man but he just stood there stoically. After a while he finally started to talk to her. I finished up and headed for the elevator and the woman was standing there in the middle of it surround by groceries. I used the stairs. I finished the job quick and headed home.

I started my day in plastic land. The door was answered by a black man who seemed very out of it. At first I thought he had just woken up but after a while I got the impression that he was a little slow. As I was trying to solve the problem he mentioned two other people who live there, but I only saw two rooms which had me wondering if they a couple of them might be shacked up together. While I was in his room I saw some gay porno magazines in the corner which confirmed this suspicion. All the while the guy just kept talking to me. First about the movie Pride, which he highly recommends, then about the game Resident Evil which he apparently owns every copy of, then about the Simpsons, which he collects, and about Yosemite Sam which he used to collect. He mentioned that once he went to a theme park and got drunk and kept harassing people about where he can find Yosemite Sam until somebody had to finally tell him there wasn't one there, because they couldn't find someone to fill the three foot high costume. I finally found the problem which turned out to be a splitter in the closet. As I was leaving he stood in the door way blocking me. I kind of had to force my way out.
Next I headed to a very poor part of town. Though across the street from this particular house was a bunch of fancy new houses next to a golf course. It's amazing how much difference lies in such a short distance. how one road can literally mark the difference between a rather affluent neighborhood and a destitute one. There was a nice black woman who lived in the house. There was someone else there (daughter?) whom I never saw but heard shuffling around and using a hair dryer. Everything was working fine while I was there, and I couldn't find anything wrong. So I swapped the box and headed to the next job.
The next job was not too far away actually. The house looked a little nicer, but no one answered the door, so I headed to the job after that. This one was closer to downtown. I've been in this building once before. The door was answered by a very frail old woman. From the way she described the problem I knew she had the TV on the wrong channel. She spent most of the time talking about how she had only recently moved into here, since her husband died. I didn't spend much time there.
Afterwards I had lunch and read some.
I then went to my first afternoon job. The door was answered by a nice gentleman who was apparently here to deal with this for his mother. He does not live here. He had set up the box by himself, but did it backwards which was the problem. So I easily fixed it. After I was done I was walking around back to check the line coming to the house. The road along the house was in the middle of being paved so I was collecting rocks on my boots. I tried knocking them off on the curb but some guy from their yard started yelling at me for knocking the rocks into their yard. He told me to stay off the grass. When I got to the pole, I noticed the line needed to be replaced. So I had to go back there, which i wasn't looking forward to. The guy apologized for snapping at me, then got real social. He started talking to me about watching the British open this weekend. Then he mentioned that those who area so willing to send others to war really need to go themselves. I assumed he must be a vet. the He talked about how he and his buddies from the service all used to drink when they got back and how it has ruined their lives. He said some now go to AA or NA, but he says he keeps control. As I was leaving he told me to always maintain control and have fun without hurting other people.
After this I headed to a nice little gaited community that I've been to once before. A rather short jewish man met me at the door. As I entered his wife was complaining that he had put dirty dishes in the dishwasher which was full of clean dishes. The gentleman explained that they had just got back this morning from a trip to St. Martin. That must have been nice. He said that as soon as he had it installed he took it apart to move the TV and couldn't figure out how to put it back together. So I set it up for him. his wife was more happy than he was, because she couldn't miss her favorite show Big Love which is on tonight.
Next I went to an apartment complex. No one answered the door so I called. A woman answered and said she didn't need me to be there so I cancelled the job. I picked up another job farther north. This was part of some row houses, that I had been to before. I just needed to re-connect her. Everything else was already set up. The place was absolutely trashed. There was someone else there in a back room that I didn't not see (roommate?). I finished the job and headed home.

They gave me installs today, which I'm glad. After taking a week off I wanted to ease into things. I started out in plasticland. It was a nice place like all the others here. The guy had a grill in his backyard that was larger than the kitchen in my apartment. It was built into the ground. He had a gas fireplace out there as well, talk about opulence! I wonder how much use these things ever see. I sometimes wonder if people just get there sorts of things just for the sake of getting them. He is a pilot for united, he trains as well as does some occasional flights. He was very eager to talk. He had a cat that was also very vociferous. It turned out that I couldn't do the job, because the line didn't go all the way to his house and to burn a new one would have to go through the gas line to his fireplace.
I called dispatch to pick up more work and they gave me a job for 10 am, which gave me a little time. So I ran some errands I needed to do. I then went to this job which was in the land of scrape-offs. This was a very nice ranch home, that I've actually been to before. It's a middle-eastern family that lives here. Last time I was here I replaced the line to the place, but nobody seemed to know anything about the inside wiring, so I wasn't looking forward to the fact that I was back here. Though I also remember that there was an aunt visiting from out of the country who was very attractive. Nobody was home so I got another job from dispatch.
The next job was in an apartment complex. This was a very young (probably 18) woman. She mentioned she just moved out of her parents place. She was transferring from working at a Nordstroms in a mall on the very southern regions of the area. To a new one opening up not from from here. She also mentioned she was going to school at the local university for education. She was still moving in a getting organized. The nice thing about moving out of your parents place is that you can take your time about getting everything out of there. Until recently I didn't everything from my parents place. The job was basic.
I then grabbed a sandwich and made a phone call, then I headed to my first afternoon job which was back in plasticland. The couple here was surprisingly old for this area. I'm used to running into young couples. They just moved from about three blocks away. When I got there they started complaining that they've been told they can't keep their old phone number. they were very mad about this. It turns out that even-though they are in the same city, though on the very, very fringe of it, this address had been lumped in with the suburb not far away, meaning that their phone number is not transferable. They were not very pleased with this answer. I don't even think I was to be honest. That really makes absolutely no sense that a phone number can't be transfered 3 blocks because of some arbitrary line. The rest of the install went easily.
Next I went to another install that was in some low income housing amidst some town-homes. The woman who answered the door seemed to be a single mom. She was making buffalo wings while her kid was watching TV. She seemed a little slow to me, but she was talking about having to finish a paper by midnight. To hook her unit up I had to go into this creepy storage unit. There was a washer dryer unit some old furniture, unused doors, cobwebs all over the place and some kids bicycle in the corner. The place had a horrible smell and there was a constant dripping sound. There was another room further back that was too dark to see in. All in all the place was the perfect set for a horror movie. When I got back she wanted the phone to be set up in the back room, which I did. There wasn't a whole lot of room to work in.
It was only about 3:30 so I had to call in a pick up work. I picked up a job in the land of scrape-offs, which I knew only needed me to remove a trap, but there are no alleyways in this part of town. So I wasn't too thrilled about the job. When I showed up the guy told me nothing was wrong. Then as I was about to leave and get a new job, he flagged me down and said that they were in fact missing that channel. Unfortunately to get to the pole I had to go through the guy's garden. So I had to tip-toe through this guy's garden carrying a very awkward 70 lb. ladder. All in all the job was more difficult than it was supposed to be originally and quite the workout. Though it spared me from going to some other part of town to get more work, so I was perfectly happy with this job. Afterwards I headed home.

I started my day in an area I usually dread. Largely because the houses in this area require more work than other areas typically. Fortunately this house had recently been remodeled, so all I needed to do was replace the box. The guy was nice, he obviously just woke up. He didn't seem any older than me. There was this low hanging chandelier that I almost careened into at one point because I was looking down at something. He also wanted an upgrade of services which I'm pretty sure i got some commission for.
The next job was in a nice area. I wouldn't mind having a house in this area, but I'm sure I couldn't afford it. This house looked like most in this area. A modest brick home. There was a couple here who were currently doing yard work, but apparently they have been remodeling the basement as well. All I needed to do was reset the box. They left me alone to go back to yard work, so while I was waiting for the box to start working I watched Wimbledon for a while.
Next I headed to the land of scrape-offs. This house was actually an original and a very nice one too. There is no need scrape-off this home. They were missing Discovery which is an easy fix, but to get to the pole I have to carry my ladder into their back yard (for there are no alley ways in the land of scrape-offs) and then fight some trees as I climbed the pole. After a bit of carnage (to the trees) I was able to get the job done. They had two very nice dogs here. One of the dogs the guy described as a "lump," which I thought was a very amusing adjective and rather apt once I got to know the dog.
Next I went to an apartment complex. There was a older woman who answered the door. She wanted me to switch out her remote. It turned out she couldn't switch the input on the TV with our remote, I told her that she will have to use two remotes.
I decided to forgo my lunch to expedite the day. So I called around and one of my later jobs was home. This was in plasticland. There was a kiddy pool across the street that was packed. There was a young couple here, they had a little dog that wouldn't quit barking at me. I was here to switch out a box which was easy enough. The woman was studying for her master's degree. She remarked that it's a shame I'm working today when I could be at the local art's festival.
Afterwards I found a bathroom then went to my next job. This was an apartment building closer to downtown. The woman who lived here was an artists, she was busy making a sign for a friend. She had some interesting stuff on the walls that was hers. The problem looked to be a damaged cable, which was once again an easy fix.
The next job was on the exact opposite side of the block. I was way early and happy that the woman was here. This was another case of missing discovery channel. To get to the box I had to pull out my big ladder to get on top of one part of the roof where it was. While I was there someone who works at the corporate office who lives in the building was asking me to check something for him, while I was there. I spent some time cleaning things up in the box. Pulling out filters that we don't use anymore.
Next I headed to a house on the far eastern border of town. As I got there they looked like they were getting ready to leave. He told me that I just needed to replace the box, which got me excited. Then he started explaining what has been going on and I knew it wasn't the box. I asked him where the splitter was and it turned out to be in the attic. Fortunately he climbed up there and replaced it while I replaced a connector. They looked to fix it. The guy had two kids and they were very amusing. The girl kept asking me to turn the TV to Ice Age, while the boy would pull her hair.
I was so far ahead of schedule they started giving me more jobs. I drove back towards downtown, to a small house. Fortunately no one was home, I got a sense from the description that this one would have been a pain in the ass. So I picked up another job. This was one of the apartment buildings in town that is based on a theme. This company hires local artists to create stuff for the buildings according to a theme, I live across the street from one of them. This particular building has a water theme. The building was painted blue and had some interesting tiles in the lobby. There was some image of a deep sea diver in the lobby as well. No one was here either, which was too bad because this woman had such a great name I wanted to meet her. At this point it wasn't quite 4 p.m. yet but I go on vacation tomorrow so maybe I was feeling a little lazy, either way I didn't pick up any more and headed back to my shop to return some equipment since I will be gone for a week.

Today I started at a house on the south side of one of the parks in town. This particular park is one where me and some friends get together to play a game we call thundersneak. When I answered the door a women answered in her pajamas and mentioned something about channel 16 so I went around back and took of the filter on the line. I went to the front again and some other woman was there we went inside to make sure it was working and i left. I didn't even look around.
The next job was on the north side of the same park. It was an apartment in a high rise. It was a nice old lady who lived here. Her apartment was huge and had a magnificent view over the whole park. The place had a grand piano and tons of art work. I even saw a small Magritte with the pipe, that below it says "This is not a pipe." The problem as I could tell was a loose connection.
The next job was an apartment complex on the west side of the same park. The complex had a little court yard that was not kept up at all. The was a guy there reading a paper and smoking. The customer had completely forgotten about the appointment and kept apologize for the mess but the place didn't seem messy at all. He proceeded to start cleaning the place with ammonia. I kept going around and replacing things to try and fix the problem and until I replaced all I could. In the end I did have it working but I wasn't confidant about it at all. I'm sure it was going to start not working once I left.
the next job was on the exact opposite part of my area. It was in a retirement community near the suburbs. The woman who lived here was a round little russian woman. She was a little brusque at first but warmed up the longer I was there. The problem was another case of missing channel 16. So I went outside and got rid of the filter. Afterwards I found a bathroom ate a couple sandwiches and called my next job.
My next job was home early so I went there. This was one of two high rise apartment buildings that seems to primarily be for retired individuals. This particular woman was rather old and moved very slowly. The whole time I was there she kept managing to talk about the fact that she had a stroke. She would mention how she stays primarily in here bedroom, and how other areas of the place don't see much attention any more. At one point the screen was breaking up or as we call it tiling and she mentioned that when she had the stroke that's what the world looked like. she said she likes to watch the weather channel to know if there are tornados so she can pray for whoever might be in it's path. At another point I was fixing something in another room and she said her mom used to stay in that room until she died. So she doesn't go into that room anymore. All in all even thought he lady was nice the place was depressing. She would talk about enjoying life when your young and able to use your body. She also talked about having to relearn all her motor skills after the stroke. As I was leaving she said for me to tell my parents they raised a good kid.
Afterwards I found another bathroom made a couple phone calls and went to my next. This one was next to another park and not to far from where I live. In fact I used to pass by this building often while walking to friends houses (when I didn't have a car). I even wondered sometimes what the inside must be like. This is one of those buildings where there are a few store fronts and apartments on top. This particular unit is on the ground floor and houses the owners of the building. They were two very large brothers. One of the was putting on a tattered shirt as I showed up. At first there was no light inside it was all shut up and they had no lights on inside. The walls were a weird shade of yellow. The guy told me his grandparents built the place. They showed me exactly what needed to be done which was nice. So I just replaced some damaged cable.
The next job was further north. This house had blue Astroturf all over the porch. The person who lived here was a nice old black lady. She just wanted me to program her VCR for her. I noticed she had some old Blue Note jazz records. She also had a stack of 45's. I was out of there relatively quickly.
I was out of work so I picked up an extra job. This was at a restaurant near a University some of my friends work at. It was an asian food place and boy did it smell good. They had a bit of everything Dim Sum, Pad Thai, etc. I just had to replace the box. I was really hopping they would give me some food. I had this whole fantasy of their having cooked too many fried wantons and them asking me top take some. But like life in general fantasy never reflects reality and I left hungry and craving asian food.

They put me in the southeast part of town today and I lucked out. I had internet jobs all day and my first three jobs were in the same apartment complex. Internet is (at least in my opinion) mush easier. At the first job the door was answered by a middle eastern man who informed me that everything was working, so I cancelled the job.
The next job was in the same building. At first no one was home, but as I was leaving the guy showed up. He was out getting breakfast. When I got into his place his internet was working, I had to change one setting to make it work. His room was decorated with pictures of rustic mountain towns and log cabins.
After this I walked to the next job which was not too far. The woman had a dog that would bark at me if I made the slightest movement. Her signal level was way too low, so I went outside and noticed that the splitter she was running through was bad. So I rearranged some things and her signal was fine.
The next job was in a complex I've actually been in before, in fact I've been in this same building. The guy who answered the door was very large. Not as in overweight but as in football player huge. He had every disney movie on DVD. He had his computer and TV setup so he could sit in one chair and do both. He also had a web cam and a headset. I thought maybe he was a gamer but he said he wasn't. He mentioned he's been on disability for 7 years, he didn't say for what. He talked about how he would like to actually work and earn the stuff he has. Then he mentioned how he hasn't had a car for 10 years. He takes the bus everywhere. He mentioned that he meets a lot of hot women on the bus. his internet was working fine when I was there, but supposedly there was a problem, so I replaced the EMTA.
Next I called up my first afternoon job to see if I could go there early and they were home, so I headed over there. The teenage son opened the door. His mom was there. She was russian and I don't think she spoke much English. The kids English was perfect though. He said his internet was working fine but had questions about his router. So I helped them with their router. I didn't find anything wrong, I told them if it is going slow, it's probably their computer. After I left I realized that there was probably some other questions I could have asked. In retrospect I actually feel as though I was little lazy and probably could have done more. I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me.
I then found myself a bathroom and ate some sandwiches. I made some phone calls and proceeded to my next job early. The woman who answered the door was pregnant. Her internet would not work if the TV was plugged in as well. It turned out to be because it was hooked into a splitter wrong and their signal was really low to begin with. So I had to bypass a splitter outside to get it working.
I then went to a house in a neighborhood I've never been to before. This woman was pregnant as well. She mentioned that she had a child sleeping upstairs. So I was trying to be as quiet as possible. This place was really white. The walls, the carpet, it was blinding. The problem was that their internet kept dropping out. I replaced a crusty looking splitter outside and it started working great. Unfortunately I wasn't terribly convinced that that actually solved the problem. The only other thing I could do was replace the modem, but we've been having system problems with setting up modems, so to replace the modem would leave them without internet for a while. Since it was working now i just decided to leave it be and hope I actually solved the problem.
Then I went to a house that was about three streets over. I was little early so I just camped out in front and tried to stay awake. When the lady finally showed up she was unaware she had an appointment and said everything was working so I cancelled the job. There was nothing else out there so I went home early.

To start the day I went to a large complex of apartments that looks more like a resort. When I got to the door a woman opened it just enough to stick her head through and say she didn't need me to be there. So I cancelled it and left.
Next I went to a really nice house along one of the bigger roads in town. Though along this specific strip all the houses are nice and big. The woman who answered the door mentioned that she doesn't have to be in to work until noon. She obviously was taking full advantage of this. It looked as though her and her husband had fixed the problem but as I was making sure everything was working correctly I realized that her DVR wasn't recording, so I replaced the box. While we were waiting for it to work we watched Deadliest Catch and talked about our favorite shows on Discovery Channel (Dirty Jobs, Cash Cab, etc.). She kept talking and talking though, almost to the point of being annoying.
Next I went to another house in the same neighborhood. The door here was answered by an old black lady. It looked like she doesn't leave the house much. Everything about the place seemed old, even the photographs, there was nothing recent. The woman started complaining about how I'm the third guy out here. She was talking about what the other guys did, and how she kept having this problem. I turned the TV on and it was on channel 78. I changed it to three and everything was working fine. She then proceeded to act as though she didn't touch a thing. I tried to explain to her that it needs to stay on three, she said she will probably forget once I leave. I probably should have cancelled it so that I don't get repeated.
The next job was a house that is actually on what I think is the busiest street in town. At least the most congested. I had to access the house through the alley, because I can't park on the street. The problem was that he wasn't getting MTV or USA network. His basement was full of old movie posters. He had a whole wall dedicated to Hitchcock (Birds, Vertigo, Rear View, North By Northwest), as well as Sci-Fi (Plan 9, Day the Earth Stood Still, etc.). I was replacing a few things here and there and nothing was changing. At one point I was up on the pole and I eliminated a part of the cable he didn't need any more and he came out and said it was working. I didn't think that I actually did something to fix it but it was working so I left.
I then went to lunch. I listened to NPR and went to the library to use the bathroom and check something out. By this time two of my afternoon jobs had cancelled so my afternoon was looking up. My first job of the afternoon was in a newer area. The box she was given was not working at all, so I had to replace it. She works from home so she went into the other room while I worked. There were various kids toys around, but I just watched TV while I waited.
Next I went into an even newer part of town that I think I'll call plasticland. this house was very large and there were a lot of birds hanging out on the porch. The door was answered by an asian lady. She went back to washing dishes while I worked. i just needed to replace the box. The place was cluttered with children's toys and books.
I got called by a customer who's place I was at last week, who said that I didn't fix the problem. So I drove back there. We talked it over and decided that I should replace the box. I told him if this doesn't fix it the problem, he needs to replace the splitter in his attic. I'm not going up there, not when it's above 90 degrees out.
Then I picked up another job near my first afternoon job. They had this very friendly puppy that had the hardest time on their hardwood floors. it was slipping and sliding everywhere in that over-enthusiastic way that puppies go about. Their internet wasn't working, which turned out to be kind of easy. I just had to bypass the splitter they were using. When I finished it was about 4:30 p.m. which seems too late to pick up more work, but I always feel a little guilty for not be a team player a such, by staying out until all the work is done. Although someone else on my particular crew lives on the same block as me, and he is always home before I am (no matter how early I get home sometimes). So when I do get home early I always look for his van. That way I don't feel quite so bad for being lazy/selfish.

My day started at some town-homes near where some friends of mine live. After I knocked on the door I noticed that there was dog shit all over the porch. I can't believe I missed it at first, I'm glad I didn't step in any. The guy who answered the door was nice. I thought I smelled a faint odor of marijuana when I stepped in but I could be wrong. I just had to set up a DVR for the guy because we didn't have any when we first installed him. It didn't take too long to set that up for him. He apologized for the mine field as I was leaving.
The next job was a ways away. The was a unit in a single level u-shaped building which I come across often in my area. These area always in poor income areas. There was a large black woman here with her daughters, who seemed to be teenagers. The job was an easy fix, it could have been done over the phone. I got the feeling that the mother had some medical condition, partly due to how slowly she moved but partly it was just an intuition about the situation. One of her daughters signed the paperwork for her.
Next was a house that was divided into two units. Three were at least four kids and four adults living in this place. All hispanic. A gentleman with no shirt answered the door and pointed me towards the TV that needed to be worked upon. As I was getting a started a woman appeared who spoke really good english. She told me what was going on. The place was a mess, clothes and dishes everywhere, but what do you expect with so many people under one roof. I fixed a few things and it improved things but more work needed to be done. The woman said she needed to take a shower because she needed to be somewhere, she was obviously in charge of the house. So I had to reschedule the rest of the work.
Next I went to an apartment building that I had never been to before near where I live. The building has a ship theme since it is named after a famous sailor. I like all the sailing stuff in the lobby. The guys place was very minimal. I was there to replace his box. I noticed both a book on the coffee table and a movie under his TV that were both about aliens. I also noticed a Frank Zappa DVD so I started talking to him about Zappa. He has everything Zappa ever put out on vinyl and CD. His vinyl went in reverse alphabetical order so it started with Zappa and ended in the a's.
After that job I went back to a job from last week, because they had called me and said they were having problems. Of course once I got there nothing was acting up. So I told them maybe it was a freak thing, but if it keeps happening call me again. I then found a nice tree to park under ate my lunch and read a little.
My next job was at a nice little house. A teenage boy and girl where hanging out on the lawn with a puppy. I walked up the stairs and got hit by the sprinkler which felt great. I went inside the house and noticed all sorts of real interesting African art. I kept saying hello, but it seemed no one was inside, until someone finally came in from the back. She was a nice black lady, she told me what was going on with the TVs. The girl from outside was staying here, but I wasn't sure to their actually relationship was I know it wasn't mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter from their conversations. At one point they were playing with a tickle me elmo and were getting the greatest kick out it. The problem here turned out to be piece of bad cable.
Next I went to a neighborhood that I don't find myself in too often even-though it's part of my area. It was another house that looked to be divided into two units. The walkways looked like new concrete and there were a bunch of metal poles in the ground for a new fence. the yard was just dirt as well so there is a lot of work being done on the place. There were two black women here who looked to young and had matching facial piercings. I personally have never understood facial piercings, I have never seen one that I thought was attractive. One mentioned she was twenty, she was talking about how she can't wait to be 21. There was also a child here as well, I'm not sure who's though. One of them was talking about seeing someone they knew who was 8 months pregnant at the club walking around in heels. Once again I had to just replace the box on this.
Next I headed to the fancy new part of town. Where everything looks like it was formed out of a set of cookie cutters. Apparently my paperwork was wrong because when I went to call the guy to see why he wasn't answering the door he said I was at the wrong address. When I got to the right address the door was answered by a guy who was at least 5 years younger than me and his wife was not any older. I didn't even want to know how they can afford this place. The problem was that he unplugged some cable to paint and plugged them back in wrong. This was an easy fix.
Last I headed to a complex I'm in often. The door was answered by a nice lady. The way she looked made me think lesbian. This was another easy fix, in fact it was something that could be done over the phone, I didn't need to be there. We talked about Deadliest Catch (Great Show!) for a while then I went home.