Ray and the Severed Coax

Well, as my previous post stated, I sliced cleanly through the coaxial cable for our TV and RoadRunner internet with my new gas-powered lawn edger.

At first I was really pissed at myself. But then I remembered that this was something my dad has done before so I called my parents. Sure enough, I was right. My dad has done this before, except he did it with a axe while trying to remove roots near their house's foundation. Through a tip from Chris who runs ToadGames.com, my dad was told there was a kit you could buy a Radio Shack which quickly resolves the situation.

Currently, it was 8:00PM and we were pretty sure they were open until 9:00PM. So while I was driving to Radio Shack my mom was looking up the phone number for Time Warner Cable so that Nancy could call and get a service ticket issued to get it repair more permanently. Just as luck would have it, our Radio Shack closed at 8:00PM. I came home a bit upset, but at the same time a bit relieved that I wouldn't be out in the dark repairing the cable with a flashlight clenched between my teeth.

Nancy was meeting me at the door with the news that Time Warner had an installer in our neighborhood the next day and would just send them by after they were done but that could be anytime between 8AM and 8PM. So we spent the night watching programming on our DVR.

The next day came and Nancy called the service line for Time Warner to see if they locked a better time range for us, but alas that wasn't the case. So back to Radio Shack I went.

Sure enough, Radio Shack had the kit and plenty of them. Apparently, I'm not the only one severing coax this time of year. While I was there, I picked up some speaker wire and some banana clip adaptors for my home stereo.

So as to not completely was a trip out, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries and pick up a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe which came out earlier in the week. While I was as it I picked up the soundtrack also. Nancy is finding soundtracks to be good studying music.

So I get back home and start to work on the cable and quickly find out I don't have the right tools to strip coax or to crimp the connector. I call my parents to see if I could borrow theirs. They should have them since they've encountered this problem themselves. Alas, no dice. Apparently those tools have gone the way of the odd sock in the dryer.

So, now I was going back to Radio Shack again. So I had to pick up a coax stripper, coax cutter and crimpers.

This time I was set. I got back home, changed into some clothes that I could get dirty (my well worn denim jeans with the hole in the crotch......long pants with air conditioning). Within 15 minutes I had the line patched and the TV and internet was working!

After accomplishing that task, Nancy was in the mood for hamburgers on the grill. So as luck would have it, while I was cooking on the grill, the Time Warner service technician shows up to repair our line. Oh well, my patch was good for at least an hour :)