Respect.

Big ups to Mike, the cable guy, who really kicked-ass at his job today. He showed-up well within the appointed time frame, asked if I wanted him to take his boots off, made perfectly enjoyable small talk while still totally intimidating me (he was almost as tall as I am, but I was in a hoodie, baggy pants, and slippers whereas he was wearing winter outerwear, a tool belt, and a Harley-Davidson belt buckle), and then ran a whole new cable to my house from the telephone pole across the street in the middle of the crazy fucker of an ice storm that has been pummeling us all afternoon! He had me do some of the wiring inside the house because he couldn't feel his hands... But he stuck it out and got the job done, so I made sure to get his card. To tie things up neatly, I now have HDTV over digital cable, and analog cable is much cleaner with the new line. The problem was indeed the old line running to the house that was installed, I'm told, nearly 30 years ago! The guy said it was the two splitters, the amplifier, the coupler, and the surge protector causing the problem, but I tried it without all of those the other night, and it didn't help. So, the only loose end now is the component switch. I think the easiest route would be to pick-up two sub-$30 composite switches and use one for component video and the other for stereo audio.

I'm worried now though... My computers are all solid and still fast enough to keep me from upgrading to a whole new build, I have no service or consulting jobs lined-up in the foreseeable future, my home theatre setup is just about complete, and no video games are really holding my attention. I guess that leaves me to focus on university and my band... Weird. I'll try to find something to post here until things pick-up :)