Day 3503

The Internet is working again. I wasn't imagining things. There really was a problem. It turns out that the last time the fiber optic cable was attached to the box on my house, they did a sloppy job and the end of the glass fiber was a little dirty. There was also a splice in the cable that made the situation worse. Evidently, there are always small errors in the data coming through the fiber, but the second box on the wall inside the house is designed to compensate for the errors. If the end of the cable isn't perfectly clean, it can cause reflections in the light coming through the cable and confuse the box that is trying to correct the data errors. This is why my system had to be constantly reset. The technician told me that the cable was too short to cut the end off and make a better connection, so he installed a completely new cable out to the street.

This is the third time AT&T has had to do this. Like all the other installations, today's new above ground cable is only temporary. Another crew will come out next week and bury the cable. You'd think they'd just bury the cable the technician installed today, but typically they just throw this cable away and bury an all new cable instead which also needs a special technician to hook it up. "Is this why my bill is so high," I asked the technician? He just laughed. These fiber optic technicians are the first to admit that the crews who bury the cables underground usually screw up all their work. "Why don't the guys who bury the cable come out with you, so you can do everything at the same time," I asked. "That would make too much sense," the technician told me. AT&T hires third party contractors to bury the cables because they want to do this process as cheaply as they can. The people who dig the holes know nothing about fiber optics and how fragile the cables are. Most of the time they are putting in sprinkler systems. I don't think they are saving any money at all. This is the third time I've had to have the fiber optic line installed and they still can't get it right. Everything is working now though. Janet probably picked a good week to be away.

I still had time to go to the gym after the technician completed his work. I basically spent the rest of the day exercising and walking and might have set a new Fitbit record. 22,000 steps today. Needless to say, it was very hot outside. One of the many indicators on my new watch is a daily UV Index. Along with the air quality reading, this basically tells me whether I should just stay inside. The Ultraviolet Index is usually very high toward the middle of the day when the sky is clear. I guess I should be wearing sunblock even when I'm walking. No wonder my skin is starting to look like a lizard.

I got some pictures of Jenga and Pongo in their new homes this afternoon. They looked happy. It was amazing how relaxed they both seemed. You could tell that they had settled in to their new surroundings very quickly. Dogs know when they have found a home. I predict that they'll be sleeping on the bed in a matter of days.

The carpenter told me he needed to come back to the house and look at the greenhouse again before he could give me a firm estimate. The tree guy forgot where I live. The roofer told me that he would bring me some of the silicon product "soon." I don't know whether this means tomorrow or next month. The fact that I'm still communicating with these people is progress though. Eventually everything will get done.

I have no idea what will get done tomorrow. It's hard to get motivated in this heat.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day