I love my Grande internet service. Grande is a local company that in my experience provides better cable service than Time Warner. When you call Time Warner for a service problem, you get put through punishing phone menus that insist that you run some tests on your cable, such as removing and restoring AC power to the modem. Well I do those tests before I even call Time Warner. Then, after you've done those tests, and finally talk to a human (when they get around to calling back), the human then insists that you perform the exact same tests. For the 3rd time. For me, it's very difficult because I have to push junk out of the way and crawl under things. Then, finally, after you've proven that the problem is their 5 year old recycled modem, you go pick up a replacement, another 5 year old recycled modem. And that new recycled modem may have a worse problem than the old one. So then you go through the same process to get a second replacement. That's exactly what happened to me in 2007 and I swore I would switch to Grande. Grande gave me a brand new modem which has never had a problem. The only problem I've ever had with Grande is breaking their cable by pulling weeds in my back yard. They came and fixed that in less time that it would take to pick up a replacement modem from Time Warner. And Grande's standard internet speed is far faster and more reliable than Time Warner also.
(As far as TV is concerned, I get broadcast TV and Dish Network because only Dish has Link TV and FSTV. Until cable companies offer those Alternative channels, I won't listen to any offers they make, IMO they're part of the great plutocratic disinformation system, and it just reinforces my conspiranoia that they don't carry the anti-plutocratic channels. But for internet, cable is the best.)
But Grande doesn't bury their cable very deep. (Nor does Time Warner--they say they can't because the power utility CPS won't let them, and that is probably true.) And for the last 3 years I've had a Grande coax emerging from the ground and running more than 2 feet before going back under. It emerges right next to my service entrance in the SW corner of my house, which has become quite complex, and if you try to do something with the breakers you end up trampling on the Grande cable.
About 2 years ago, I re-buried the cable myself. I dug a trench, pushed it down, and covered it up. But quite likely my mistake was that I used sand to cover up the cable. In just a few months the cable was poking out of the ground again, and the sand had just flowed into the ground.
Now I want to have that corner covered with sod before or during the sprinker installation next week. So on Monday when the Grande cable guy came to mark the lines for the sprinkler company, I pointed out the emerging cable to him. He said he would tell his supervisor.
I wouldn't have been surprised if nothing happened. I was fully expecting to have to call Grande myself. So I was very pleasantly surprised that the Grande cable guy came out today--just 2 days later--and buried the cable. I thought he did a good job. The only annoying part was his repeated insistance that I let him test my cable. Right then, I did not want a cable guy strolling through my house. If people want to come into my house, they should let me know way in advance, like a day or two. Finally he left after I tested it myself and insisted that was the best we could do.
That small corner of my back yard has had serious erosion and settling problems, and I've had trouble growing grass there. It was sodded in 2008 and looked great afterwards, but the next year all the grass died and the topsoil washed away. I think part of the reason was the neighbor's tree left it in too much shade. The other part was that I overwatered at first and then nothing afterwards.
After fixing the No-Gutter system to prevent more erosion a few months ago, I've already dumped two bags of topsoil to fill in the area. It could easily handle 5 bags more, though I'm going to stop at about 2-3.
Anyway, after the Grande guy left, the filled area was very clumpy, with medium size chunks of clay dirt. I first sprinkled the area with sand to help the de-clumping process. The sand immediately filled in the gaps between the clumps. Then, on top of that, I spread 1 bag of Scott's topsoil. Then I watered it down. I had to let out about 10 gallons of very hot water out of the hose first. I avoided spraying my new Oak tree but couldn't help spray nearby, which worried me.
Today I picked up two more bags of Scott's (they are very light feeling thanks to compost like stuff) and two bags of Texas Friendly Topsoil at Home Depot. The Texas Friendly is very much like pure sandy loam, and flows nicely into ground cracks.
Spreading just two bags last weekend gave me a backache. I'm going to be careful this time. I have many depressions and cracks to fill in my yard.
(As far as TV is concerned, I get broadcast TV and Dish Network because only Dish has Link TV and FSTV. Until cable companies offer those Alternative channels, I won't listen to any offers they make, IMO they're part of the great plutocratic disinformation system, and it just reinforces my conspiranoia that they don't carry the anti-plutocratic channels. But for internet, cable is the best.)
But Grande doesn't bury their cable very deep. (Nor does Time Warner--they say they can't because the power utility CPS won't let them, and that is probably true.) And for the last 3 years I've had a Grande coax emerging from the ground and running more than 2 feet before going back under. It emerges right next to my service entrance in the SW corner of my house, which has become quite complex, and if you try to do something with the breakers you end up trampling on the Grande cable.
About 2 years ago, I re-buried the cable myself. I dug a trench, pushed it down, and covered it up. But quite likely my mistake was that I used sand to cover up the cable. In just a few months the cable was poking out of the ground again, and the sand had just flowed into the ground.
Now I want to have that corner covered with sod before or during the sprinker installation next week. So on Monday when the Grande cable guy came to mark the lines for the sprinkler company, I pointed out the emerging cable to him. He said he would tell his supervisor.
I wouldn't have been surprised if nothing happened. I was fully expecting to have to call Grande myself. So I was very pleasantly surprised that the Grande cable guy came out today--just 2 days later--and buried the cable. I thought he did a good job. The only annoying part was his repeated insistance that I let him test my cable. Right then, I did not want a cable guy strolling through my house. If people want to come into my house, they should let me know way in advance, like a day or two. Finally he left after I tested it myself and insisted that was the best we could do.
That small corner of my back yard has had serious erosion and settling problems, and I've had trouble growing grass there. It was sodded in 2008 and looked great afterwards, but the next year all the grass died and the topsoil washed away. I think part of the reason was the neighbor's tree left it in too much shade. The other part was that I overwatered at first and then nothing afterwards.
After fixing the No-Gutter system to prevent more erosion a few months ago, I've already dumped two bags of topsoil to fill in the area. It could easily handle 5 bags more, though I'm going to stop at about 2-3.
Anyway, after the Grande guy left, the filled area was very clumpy, with medium size chunks of clay dirt. I first sprinkled the area with sand to help the de-clumping process. The sand immediately filled in the gaps between the clumps. Then, on top of that, I spread 1 bag of Scott's topsoil. Then I watered it down. I had to let out about 10 gallons of very hot water out of the hose first. I avoided spraying my new Oak tree but couldn't help spray nearby, which worried me.
Today I picked up two more bags of Scott's (they are very light feeling thanks to compost like stuff) and two bags of Texas Friendly Topsoil at Home Depot. The Texas Friendly is very much like pure sandy loam, and flows nicely into ground cracks.
Spreading just two bags last weekend gave me a backache. I'm going to be careful this time. I have many depressions and cracks to fill in my yard.
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