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Originally posted by jeffmoss26:
How do you figure? If you are talking all cat 5e, all on patch panels, then I might agree. But if you are talking about running cat 5e to 66 blocks, then no way. Yes, I have seen people do that.
From your statement, I get the feeling you don't often see CAT5 terminated on 66 blocks. Around here that's what we find probably 90% of the time. You get pretty fast at it too with enough practice..

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Originally posted by hbiss:
Obviously you don't use plenum listed cable. That's all we use because most of our work is commercial in air handling spaces. CAT5e is almost twice that of CAT3.
You are absolutely correct, Hal. We don't even keep plenum in stock; it's ordered as needed, which is rarely.

And I totally get what you're saying about termination time on big jobs. For most of our jobs, we're not doing enough drops to make a big difference.. I get it though.

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Originally posted by MacOSX:
I will bet that shiny Amish penny that you can't make that case... now, as Gary Winston said "Surprise me, challenge me, defy me!"
Why does talking cost justification with a Mac guy seem like a bad idea? =) (just playin - we do Mac too, although not a lot)

I'm no accountant but the thought behind my admittedly hyperbolic statement was factoring more than just material costs. Space on the truck costs money, space in the warehouse (or converted barn, in our case) costs money, freight costs money..

I've been doing our purchasing for about three years now and still don't have all my landed costs worked out.

Hal makes a great point about repetitive strain injuries too.. with the absolutely obscene cost of healthcare in the US today, that alone probably negates all the things I've been considering by an order of magnitude or two.

Good food for thought, gentlemen. Thank you.


"There is one thing and only one thing in which it is granted to you to be free in life, all else being beyond your power: that is to recognize and profess the truth." - Leo Tolstoy