Just got a frantic call from a friend who does computers for customers. He's smart enough to do simple wiring, and also smart enough to realize that he should call me to do the wiring.

He arrives at a customer who has hired a "master" electrician (the same guy in my small town who figures prominently in many of my Sparky stories) to interconnect two residential buildings on a property. Sparky has run 6-pair, 22-gauge Cat-nuttin' buried service wire and has attempted to terminate Cat 5e jacks at each end, right on the icky-pic cable. No lightning or over-current protection, no transition to inside wire Cat5e, etc.

I am scheduled to go over and try to get some minimum connectivity over the BSW, but am not confident. I will bring with me a foot-long piece of buried Cat5e and show it to the customer. I will also explain to the customer the advantages of owning a time-machine, so that he can go back and hire the right guy (me). We'll see how that conversation goes...


Arthur P. Bloom
"30 years of faithful service...15 years on hold"