Git R Done!

I've been working on the home theater efforts for the last week. I got all my toys and have made quite the mess.

The TV now has 100% of its cables running behind the walls. I found that the paneling on the back side of the wall could be easily removed, so in-wall cable management and electrical wiring became much easier.

I abandoned the toe-molding cable tracks because of cost, and routed a speaker wire up through the ceiling, around past the furnace, down through a hole the electricians drilled last year, through the crawl-space under the house, and up to the right spot in the den. That means that I conquered one of my greatest fears in the natural world: the crawl space. I don't like camel crickets.

Once that was done, I rigged up all the wall-plates: a 3-gang plate behind the stereo sends 2 HDMI outputs, one component-video output, one S-Video output, and one composite output up to the TV. The 3-gang plate also allows 2 F-type inputs to the Tivo for both cable and antenna reception, and has space for 3 network jacks (for Tivo, the Onkyo, and whatever future BluRay player we get that's network capable).

Below the 3-gang plate is a 2-gang plate of speaker inputs. 7.1 surround is fed into the wall and distributed. Currently this is the only portion of the job that's incomplete, as only 2 inputs are actually routed through the walls. Ultimately 2 of the connections will go to zone 2 audio, which will be distributed throughout the house.

Behind the TV is a new power receptacle for the TV itself and a 2-gang plate with the corresponding outputs from the stereo.

I also bought a truck last week. Found a deal on a '97 F-250 in Highland Springs, and jumped on that puppy. It has A/C, power steering, automatic transmission, an 8' bed, and manual everything else. It's big, it's white, it's ugly, and it's perfect for towing the race car, taking stuff to the dump (did that on Saturday!), and bringing big stuff home from Lowe's. And as another plus, Alastair loves it!