A/V Nightmares

I've known for quite some time what I wanted to do for the entertainment system in the living room. I knew where I wanted the TV and the speakers, where the Receiver, etc would go and the cabling that would need to happen to accomplish this. I even knew that I wanted to expand beyond what I had now to get some music in other areas of the house.

Knowing is one thing. Doing is another. For whatever reason, I've waited and waited and waited. Why? I don't know. Maybe I just wasn't totally sure of my plan.

Well, it finally came time. The drywall was on it's way and once that's in place, I'd be sealed off. So, I thought out what I needed, consulted some online opinions and from others.

Conduit was step one. Conduit is a pretty fancy word in this case, since what I'm using it 1 1/2" PVC pipe. As I sit here recalling what I went through, it's starting to run together. I'm pretty sure I made several trips to Mendards and Ace collecting the pipe, the fittings, the cement, etc. Oh and the drill bits. I then made a trip to Best Buy for some speaker wire and then again to Ace for more PVC fittings, junction boxes and a flashlight. Over the course of a week and a half, I made several trips to the house. I started by measuring, then I started to run the pipe. I'd run out of something and then have to come back. Finally, I got all the conduit run. Just in time too, since the day after my last conduit run, the last of the drywall went up.

But, then I was threatened with attic insulation. That shouldn't have meant much since I had my conduit run, but I wanted to get some of that wire through while I had access to the attic just in case. Good thing. I was smart enough to run a string through my conduit to I could pull the wire through afterward. I wasn't smart enough to tie one end down...so when I showed up Thursday night to start my wiring, where was my string pull? Laying on the floor in the basement in a pile. Not a good start. What to do now? The stores where I could get a proper fishing wiring were closed. So, I sat in the attic thinking, when I notice a long run of stiff electrical wire sitting there. Why it was there? I have no idea. But, it seemed stiff enough, so why not try pushing that through. I took me a while. I took me taking my conduit apart where I hadn't cemented it. I took cutting my conduit in half at one point, but.... I did it. Several bumps and bruises and nasty words later, I did it. So, I had the stiff electrical wire pushed through (with one run of speaker wire taped to it, btw).

But, that was only step one. Then I had to place my junction boxes for where my yet to be purchased speakers would go in the kitchen and the back of the living area. That wasn't too bad, but still took time. Then I had to run the next set of speaker wires. I had a string to pull these through (I taped that to the stiff electrical wire too). Again, it took time...running (or rather cat walking) from the attic to the basement several times trying to get my wires positioned right.

By 1am, I was done. Now, I only mention this next part because it's par for the course. Ann shows up the next day and finds out what? The insulation didn't happen. I could have had Friday and the entire weekend to finish it. !#@$ !@#$! !#@$!%@%#!# !#$!@#$^ ^@$%!$# !#$!@ %$#!@$#!