This is one of those things you might not notice till someone points it out, and then you cannot unsee it.
Have you ever noticed how many wires are in the sky in most cities? It’s kinda nuts. They’re everywhere! Wires upon wires upon wires.
I am so grateful for the modern technology and convenience these wires offer…but what I recently realized is that some of these wires are unnecessary. They’re old connections for cable and phone companies and the wires DO NOTHING.
Similarly, you may have old satellite dishes in your neighborhood. Back in my day, it was the height of sophistication to get satellite TV. TV from SPACE, people! No one could resist.
But now, at least in my neighborhood, every single house has at least one old dish hanging around, being ugly, doing nothing.
All these wires and dishes need to connect to something, so then end up with tons of miscellaneous wires attached to our homes.
Along with having a contractor remove our old satellite dish during some unrelated interior work, I recently asked a CenturyLink technician if any of the wires coming into our house were extraneous. He marched right across the street and clipped a wire in about 2 minutes. Sweet relief!
What You Can Do About All the Wires
If your cable/Internet company is visiting your house for any reason, ask them if there are any wires that can be eliminated. They can’t clip other companies’ wires, and they won’t touch anything on your house, but if their own company has more than one cable they can simplify. They can also help identify which (if any) wires on your house seem to be in use.
Get together with your neighbors and hire a trusted handyman to remove everyone’s old satellite dishes. It actually isn’t hard, and everyone will be happy not to be staring at old dishes anymore.
If the city is doing electrical work on your block, chat with them about all the wires and see if any can be removed. At the very least, you’ll learn what each one does which might help you appreciate them even in their ugliness.
Any time a cable gets added to your home, ask that technician what can be removed. The homeostasis rule works in your closet, and also in the streets.
Fun fact: “Landlines” no longer truly exist so you don’t need those wires. Phone companies are no longer required to maintain POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service, adorably), so those copper wires are pretty much defunct. If you love the idea of a landline, we have a Tin Can phone and absolutely love it — no spam calls, you can set quiet hours, and also restrict which numbers are allowed to call your home. So great for kids!
I wish you all the luck in achieving a wire-free sky, or at least a less wire-filled sky. If we each clue into this area of decluttering, we can make a difference in our neighborhoods.
In somewhat personal/administrative news, this fall I backslid on my news sobriety and found myself entrenched in existential despair these past couple. Hence, sending email newsletters has been a little slower than normal. (But really, how many more emails do we need?)
I henceforth re-commit to not consuming news, thus freeing up my spirit to write more. In the meantime, here is my past writing on clearing your brain clutter if you’d like to join me:
I look forward to more house machinations in the future, and hope you’ll join me in distancing yourself from Internet toxicity. There are great things we can do for ourselves and each other in the real world. Let’s start there!
