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.