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January 21, 2016 - 10:50 p.m.
"security cameras: day 3" or "tv catchup day"

Hey Journal!

This morning I got up and headed off to work. I arrived at about 9:15 and I got right to work on the camera system! I used the new HDMI cable that I got from Home Depot last night and connected the DVR to the TV.

This is a very different setup than we used to have so I had to come up with some new workarounds to get the same display that we are used to seeing on the screen.

See, in the past, we had analog cameras and ran them through a multiplexer and then into the DVR. The nine cameras of the multiplexer were shown on the TV via a cable that transmitted the analog signal. It had a BNC connector on one end and an RCA on the other.

The problem is that the new system is HD and the HD signal is transmitted over the old BNC cable but it's a proprietary encoding so the multiplexer can't interpret the signal. The good news is that the new DVR is much more versatile in its ability to display the cameras. I just had to set up the sequence of cameras that I wanted to display.

In the top right grid we had always displayed the TV and, in the past, the TV signal was not routed through the DVR, it just went straight to the multiplexer. However, with the new DVR the TV signal has to come into it. So, I swapped out one of the less important channels and set that camera never to record. I mean, there's no reason to record 24 hours of ABC in our security system! lol

After that I wanted to get the camera closet in order. I was so frustrated at how hard it was to get around and how many jumbled wires there were all over the place! I just started taking everything out of the closet and piling it up in the office. The office looked like a complete disaster area. It was a mess.

I opened the french doors and just started throwing crap into the garbage. We had collected so much junk in that room it was atrocious. I made a giant pile of garbage outside of the office and it felt so good!

Once it was emptied out I started trying to untangle the spaghetti mess of wires. I unhooked all the working camera cables and tried my best to detangle them. Then I took the camera wires that weren't connected to anything and moved them all to one place. I wanted to keep them separate and later, I wanted to test them out and see if I could get them working again!

There are so many abandoned camera cables! I took a separate DVR and hooked it up to the monitor and then connected all of the unknown/abandoned cables. I powered them all up and I was actually very surprised that only ONE out of like 16 cables carried a signal back!

It was pitch black.... but it was a signal nonetheless! The cable is labeled "covert." I'm not sure where it is in the building but there is definitely a camera attached and it must be up in the ceiling somewhere! I'm going to try to find it at some point.... just not now because I have about a million other things I'm supposed to be doing!

Around 1:30 I had lunch.... I ordered the prime rib sandwich. Kathleen said it's going to be taken off the menu soon so I figured I'd get it while I could. I like the ciabatta bread!

As soon as I finished eating it was back to work. I cleaned up the office and put stuff back into the closet in a neat and orderly fashion. This cleanout was long overdue and it really looks good in there now! I'm just going to have to make sure I keep it that way!

Around 2:15 I had a member come by to make a payment on his dues and then another person came in around 2:30 to pay as well.

The restaurant closed promptly at 3:00 today and they were out the door by 3:05! It's weird... some days they linger around after we're closed and other days they fly out and I have no idea what they're doing on those days when they stay.

Alas, I was finally done with the camera stuff for the day. There still a few more cameras to move over to the new system but I got the bulk of the work done. The new system is in place, the room is clean, and I feel like I have a good handle of what's going on now. We're going to order more cameras and hopefully I can put them all in before we open for the season.

For the rest of the day I got stuff done in the office and then I departed at 4:30. I needed gas on my way home from work - it's pretty low, but I didn't have Dan's credit card which gets superior gas rewards so I am going to stop on my way to work tomorrow.

When I got home, I brought in the mail and had some bills to pay. Dan got home from work and headed out to the gym shortly after.

I took a shower and when I got out I set up our humidifier in our bedroom. We bought the humidifier when we were living in Dan's parents' basement and it was really dry down there. For some reason, I think the second floor of our house is much drier than the first.

Anyway, I set up the humidifier to see if it would relieve ANY of the dry skin issues we've been having. It's too soon to see, but hopefully it will be of some help!

When Dan got home from the gym we watched second half of this week's premiere of Agent Carter and then watched the season finale of Heroes!

I love Heroes! It was such a great show the first time and I totally enjoyed this season! I'm glad we finally learned what happened to Noah Bennett.... I thought it was weird that he didn't surface all of that time and I'm even happier that he isn't dead! Or wait... did he die? I don't remember... and that's pretty bad! I swear I was paying attention!

They've set it up for another season with Angela saying that Claire's kids' father is coming for them. Who is that??

Next up we watched American Crime and I'm finding this season to be much better than the last. I think I like this story better.

Anyway, now it's time for bed! Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)