Drats, I was going for "nice looking," but "excellent article" will do. Actually, it's one of my favorite editorials. thanks.

I hadn't read that one yet...

You make a really good point. We've all seen hack jobs and the majority of them come from electrical or security contractors in my area. The rest come from newly minted retail guys gone custom, etc. I am well known on this forum for bitching about this and a few other things.

Part of my bitching is jealousy because I didn't get first shot, knowing I could have done a way better job... Question; What in my business plan didn't get me first shot?

Part of my bitching comes from the fact that the electrical contractor gives away his low voltage structured wire because he has the romex contract... acing me out... Question; If I don't want to give away my work to compete with this than how do I get to the best of these clients at the appropriate time to get the trimout work?

I could go on and on but the exercise I've been doing for quite a few years now is asking these type of questions to myself when the need arises and coming up with the best answer. QQQ, Impaqt and others have chided me for my rants without always fully realizing that they are just my way of venting. The fact that I, or anyone else on this forum is still in business means we do go over this and hopefully morph with the changing landscape... either that or we go off into the custom integration sunset.

Some of the electrical contractors here got smart and bought small integration firms... taking a few talented integrators and merging them with a ready to go labor force skilled at running wires and following plans. This type of contractor is getting harder to compete with and is making better appearances at Street of Dreams shows yearly. Julie is right that you can no longer automatically thrash the EC... instead you better get yourself out there as the better option in whatever way you can.

I will still, however, continue to bitch, whine, piss & moan once in a while here because I find it cathartic.

Oh... and what troubles me more than ECs is a certain big box retailer who sends out mass mailings to my entire area lauding their Custom Install Department... THAT DOESN'T FREAKING EXIST!!!! They call installer/ integrators in... some of whom are not licensed to pull wires. They even have moonlight salespeople who do the work for them. They don't carry their own license to subcontract either. Do your own research here... I won't narc and I guess I'll continue to be happy that sometimes they call me for the big ones. I guess my roundabout point here is that you better get used to Radio Shack, Walmart and Sears Custom Install of Home Theater trucks... you'll be seeing them soon and when you do... ask yourself questions!

You can rant all you want but this was SUPPOSED to be a T&A thread :-) :-) :-).

Oh yeah... I forgot... thanks for reminding me.

I guess being middle aged, married and too busy with work makes one put pleasures like that on the side... shame on me... I'll save my spewing for other threads.

Way to relent rhm9!

Good article Julie! I spend some of my time doing in-home repair on TVs. We are Runco warranty in my area but we also work on more run-of-the-mill stuff like Mits., Sony, Pioneer Elite. There are tons of a/v installers (and others that make that claim) here in Orange County California, and at one time or another, due to the repair work I do, I've seen all of their work. The range is shoddy to magnificent. And a/v "specialists" are not discluded from shoddy. Last month I saw a Yamaha RX-V1000 connected to a Mits WS-55907 with composite video only. There was an HD Motorola (think it was a 5100) and a DVD player in the system, all composite. The (poor ignorant) client was very happy with the system and the a/v company that installed it.

Ah, but I too digress. Julie, if you want people to comment on your good looks in a T&A thread, you're going to have to jump into a thong and pose on your elbows. :{)

This message was edited by HDTVJunkie on 10/01/04 04:45 ET.

Obviously, you've never been to the EH Expo!

No... but maybe now I will.

OK... since its T&A...

AVDude... answer when the wife is not present... are the "gentlemens" establishments in near proximity to the Denver Expo Site?

Rhm9

they are not IN...we do have some work to do!

there are eleven within 5 minutes of downtown (that reasonable people would inhabit) and there are three women's clubs in roughly the same areas

Ohh...and wife doesn't care, cause the only time I go there is with her two brother's, and last time, I was the one that kept the cops from taking them both to jail!

Now, there's a man that's done his research.

oohhh...ohhh....a complement from QQQ....I did it, you saw it hear first! He LOVES me, he really LOVES me!!! ;-) LOL

Hey, I love you and RHM9 so much I even started a special thread for you as the consumer Quazy Quother Qucker that was looking for Internet pricing and specifically asked for YOU. And what did it get me :-)?

QQQ,

I knew it was you...

and I hope you DO love me...I know I'm not in RHM's leage yet (at LEAST not in print!)

What league is that?

The piss, whine, bitch & moan league?

Actually the Quazy Quother Qucker thread showed me there was a humorous side to the mysterious Q.

Its two years away but perhaps Q will join us at one of these "establishments" (assuming of course that they serve beer at them because otherwise my interest in them is gone... Washington serves stale Pepsi only)... the invite was there for Indy but Q chose to remain anonymous. Hey if we get in trouble we've got a former cop to keep us sane! And if we get too drunk AV dude is big enought to probably carry two of us over his shoulders.

As far as the ad... I've actually seen free pop ups for screen savers and emoticons come up here. It may have been my machine but the emoticons were what introduced me to "HOTBAR" and ultimately killed my machine (I know... stupid, stupid & stupid but I guess we've all got to learn somehow.

The all of what you said league with the ability to write a 100 page monologue about it league!

he he

Two words. Diamond Cabaret.