Get your Geek on

CAT5. RG6. Quad Shield.  DVI. HDMI.

if any/all of these things sound familiar to you, you might be a geek.

like me.

DC is experiencing a June heatwave.  its been 90+ for days on end.  and in the still not-air-conditioned house on Q street, you can go ahead and add 10-15 degrees to whatever it is outside.

so it was the PERFECT time to pull 3000+ feet of audio/video/computer cable through the open walls of the house!

I had this idea [usually i say "we" but for this one its definitely "I"]  of wiring the house for not just the 21st century, but maybe the 22nd century too.  HD screens all over the place. a universal remote that controlled even the kitchen stove with the push of a button.  speakers that allowed you to play music anytime, anywhere...even/especially when you're on the "throne"...the ability to surf the web while watching a dozen NFL games and a "Teen Mom" marathon.

I wanted it all.

BUT....after a some price estimates on the equipment and labor, I decided that I could not have it "all".

but I could have most of it!  but at a price....I would need to do the work myself. [and recruit some homeboys for the task as well]

so I set about getting on blogs and other sites that told you how to wire your house up for all the latest and greatest stuff.  HDTV. Multi-room audio.  A powerful in-home network.  It was alot to digest.

Then I designed a system in my house that reflected some of those things that I wanted.  No, theres no need to have speakers in EVERY room of the house [but I do have one in the bathroom----ha]

the next step was to buy the wires.  I had several thousand feet of the stuff delivered to my place.  it was slightly overwhelming.

then came D-Day: Installation.  Jenny was planning to sand those old doors we've been stripping, so I wouldn't have my usual tag-team partner to lend a hand, so I had to recruit some new blood.  big shout outs to Darryl and Ian for grinding it out with us in the hot hot heat.

our day went like this: drilling holes. pulling wire. drinking water.  re-pulled wires that were pulled wrong the first time.  drinking more water.   sweat. sweat. more sweat.

i dont think I'll ever forget how hot it was that day.

in the end: we made a pretty good dent on the project.  [which, of course] turned out to be MUCH bigger than expected.  It took another 2+ days to actually finish it

why the rush?  because they were about to put up the drywall, so we needed to get our hustle on to make it before then.

and my reward: another full weekend cleaning up the wires once the drywall is painted...yay!

all the sweaty photos are here.