Cable

Pretzel logic: Cabling photos

May 21, 2021

ICT pros sharing to Reddit's photo subcommunity for showcasing various abominations and indignities to the cabling trade can attest to a worldview that's absolutely "twisted."

Matt Vincent

I stepped up on the platform
The man gave me the news
He said, you must be joking son
Where did you get those shoes?
Where did you get those shoes?
-- Steely Dan, 'Pretzel Logic'

According to its author (the great Donald Fagen), it's actually a song about time travel. Fiber broadband hasn't gotten us there yet...but maybe give it time? Meanwhile, ICT pros sharing to Reddit's photo subcommunity for showcasing various abominations and indignities to the cabling trade all know the job site absolutely can get you there (see photo second to last below) -- AND can attest to a worldview that's absolutely "twisted"....

"Yes, that orange pretzel is (was) fiber." -- Reddit/Cablefail OP [orig. poster]: u/mikebellman

"When I spend time it is not good, but when is it new?" (1) -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/exprenix

"Certification does not pass." (2) -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/exprenix

"In CAT6A." (3) -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/exprenix

"Wtf? Client of mine moved into new house. House has an outbuilding/cabin at back of garden and they said it’s already got cat 5 in. Got me down to do switches and wireless etc. When I arrive I find that they have a cable from router which goes out of the wall to the lounge into a blanked off wall lx then jointed like this with tape! SMH. To make things worse they had set one end up with a plug on t-568a and the far end module on t-568b and then messed up one of the punches as well and had been running poe down it apparently. Have now re-terminated them correctly and put a couple of sockets in for each cable and put switch in to join and hook up their media devices too." -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/bengillam

"This is what happens to an old fibre node. Old 24 fibre node. Honestly it's not too bad when compared to other nodes of the same model. That's 1 tray of 24f. I know of one with 96 fibres; the tray lids are collapsing and to work in it safely I usually need another engineer to lie on the ground and support the lids. In its defence it is 30 years old. Never really designed to be a distribution point. Only ever intended as a track joint. As soon as you start moving fibres around all it takes is one person who doesn't take care and it ends up like this. Ripped it out and replaced it with a nice new node today." -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/Matezza

BONUS: CI&M Reader-Submitted Photo

"I just had to send this one. They asked us, “Can you clean this up after we replace the flooring?” -- CI&M Reader W.N., RCDD, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

Send your must-see cabling photos to [email protected].

About the Author

Matt Vincent | Senior Editor

Matt Vincent is a B2B technology journalist, editor and content producer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in the full range of media content production and management, as well as SEO and social media engagement best practices, for both Cabling Installation & Maintenance magazine and its website CablingInstall.com. He currently provides trade show, company, executive and field technology trend coverage for the ICT structured cabling, telecommunications networking, data center, IP physical security, and professional AV vertical market segments. Email: [email protected]