Excited that I learned how to crimp RG6 cable

I've been having issues with my digital television tuner where one channel (and one channel only) will pixelate so much that it is not watchable.  This issue has been there for over a year and I just never had the desire to fix it.  The channel that was not watchable was ESPN2 and when college football is not on, there's really not much that I want to watch on that channel.  Besides, the standard definition channel for ESPN2 worked just fine but was obviously just not crisp.

This issue became much more apparently to me during this year's college football season where I was forced to watch one of my football games on a different TV in the house.  I had my cable provider come out to my house for a different issue but I mentioned this problem to them.  They wanted to charge me $60 to run a new cable.  I decided that it was something that I could do myself.

So, I purchased this cable crimper.
http://www.harborfreight.com/coaxial-cable-compression-tool-95862.html

And, this cable stripper.
http://www.harborfreight.com/rotary-coaxial-cable-stripper-98953.html

Luckily, the stripper was already configured for RG6 cable and my first compression crimp was perfect.  These are great tech tools to have and I spent less money on these than I would have paid to my cable provider.

I now have the capability to crimp RG6 and RG59 with these.  This adds to my collection of tech tools.  I already have the capability to crimp my own 8p8c and 6p6c connectors for making network and phone cables.  I love learning new skills.

Fix what's broken

I had somewhat of a funny and silly experience at home yesterday.  See, I have this light switch in my room that includes an IR sensor.  With this sensor, I can command the lights to turn on or off from my media center remote control.  It is really nice and I've become very accustomed to it over the years.

Well, this last week I started having a problem with the light that is plugged into it.  The IR light switch wouldn't respond to either an IR input or through the button presses directly on the switch.  When it works, there is a series of green LEDs that will illuminate on the light switch that tells me it is working.  These LEDs were not turning on.  Dang!  I've got a dead light switch.  This was expensive and now I have to replace it.

I really need a light in that room and so I decided to replace the IR light switch with a standard flip switch.  I shut off the power, replaced the light switch, turned the power back on, and tested the switch to make sure that fixed the problem.  Nope!  The lamp didn't turn on.  What's wrong?  Could it be the wall socket instead?  So, I proceed to plug in a known working lamp to make sure it is the wall socket.

Wait!  That lamp works in that wall socket.  So, what could be the problem?  Maybe this other lamp is broken.  Uh oh...I wonder if it is just a broken light bulb.  Once I changed the light bulb, that original lamp was working.  Doh!  Why did I go through all that hassle to find out I needed to change a light bulb?

So, I went back and installed the IR light switch with the new bulb in the lamp and it's working again.  Needless to say, this was NOT the best way to find out that I needed to change a light bulb!

I keep feeling like there is a valuable lesson in this experience for me but I can't seem to grasp it.  Here are some thoughts.

• Keep it simple stupid (KISS)
• Fix what's broken
• Don't assume you know what's wrong
• Don't over think the problem
• The most obvious solution may be the right solution

Or, maybe this was just a simple mistake and there's not a vast amount of wisdom to gain from this.  Maybe I'm even over analyzing this experience.

Business of photography

My wife and I have been discussing the possibility of starting a photography business.  We have been receiving lots of requests for portrait sessions. We have purchased studio lighting equipment, backdrops, and a backdrop stand.  Our trial run of capturing Christmas pictures for a local school was successful.  So,  when is the point where this turns from a hobby to a business?

My life's statement

I had a moment this past week where I began to wonder what my legacy would be if my life suddenly ended.  As I was thinking about this, the only thing that came to mind was that I am a devoted family man and I work to support my family.  I began wondering what my tombstone would say.  One phrase came to mind: "Here lies a man that lived his life supporting his family."

While this is a valiant cause to pursue, it should not be the definition of a life that was lived.  I certainly want to support my family in every way possible but this statement made me a feel a little depressed that there wasn't any stronger statement that could be made.  This statement speaks of love but it also speaks of hidden talents and gifts.  It seems this statement could be used to describe a life lived that was not proactive but rather could be used to describe a faithful yet stagnant Christian.  However, as I was thinking on this, I could not figure out a better statement that could be placed on a tombstone that would describe my life.

This Sunday at the morning church service, I was worshiping God in song and felt a new phrase just drop into my mind.  This phrase was a strong and powerful statement yet simple.  It speaks of love but describes an active Christian.  It encompasses the previous phrase concerning my family but it extends to mean much more.  That phrase is: "Here lies a Servant of the Lord."

In pondering this phrase, I definitely think this is the statement that I would want to define my life.