Laying Pipe

My Cable Guy was hooking me up with the new High Speed Pipleline yesterday. But not yet. Oh no. I'm well into Friday and still have no blazing fast internet to speak of. I'm told it's turned on. The new Expanded Teevee package is functioning, calling to me, inviting me to trade sleep for Mythbusters or MXC or a documentary about aircraft carriers or boll weevils. But the phone and internet - not so much. I spoke with the Cable Guy three times yesterday. Not sure which of us was cluelesser, but the result was much nodding while pretending to understand for both of us. The IT Guy at work says I need to have a router with a firewall, otherwise I can expect to be infected within 35 seconds of plugging in. I asked Cable Guy if the cable modem came with a firewall, and he said I could download one free after I get connected. Craptacular! So, I can get a virus while trying to protect myself from viruses. The recommended solution was a new router for $50, and installing a Windows service pack which I gave up on last year because at dialup speeds it would take 11 days. I stuffed the whole thing onto my new external hard drive (which I bought last month to comply with the new No Personal Music On Company Machines policy) in about 11 minutes, and drained it into my thirsty home computer last night. I might be ready to hook it up tonight... But first, there's the matter of some wiring. Cable Guy asked, "How do you propose I get the wire from your cable box to your office?" I gave him my answer, and he said, "Oh. We don't do that. We drape it along the outside of your house and drill through the wall into the room you want." Call me picky, but that didn't work for me. The cable box is on the side of the garage facing the back yard, and the office is on the front of the house facing the street. He'd have to string it across a driveway, front sidewalk, front door, and down the steps to the office, and that just screams 'fugly' to me for some reason. Since I'm a recovering builder and have all the tools and some of the skills necessary, I asked him to leave me some cable and I'd do it myself. I tried to forget that I am paying for the installation, and IT'S FEBRUARY. Coldest week of the year so far. Vinyl siding tends to shatter when touched in this climate. Remind me to bite my tongue next time, would you? (On a side note, we DID get half the install cost refunded, because he didn't bring the cable modem. Coming in the mail. Grr!) So, that's my project for the evening. If I don't slip off a ladder, die of exposure, or chuck my computer out the window, I'll be posting again tonight.