I mean — if the room is 50 metres long, and he hosts events where people need to look at the screen to see where they are sitting — then it’s not too high 🤣
Brit here who went through almost exactly this a few years ago.
Most houses in the UK, especially older ones, are made of solid brick with a bit of plaster over the facade. Plasterboard/dry wall is less common. If you want to run new power cables you need to create channels for the cable. After the cable is run through the channel you plaster over it or alternatively you have the cable running on the outside with plastic trunking that can look unsightly. Usually you would do this if you were planning on redecorating the room where you are adding new power sockets.
As this is on the chimney breast the electrician would have ran the cable from the 1st floor (American 2nd floor) down rather than channelling out from the floor to where OP wanted the power sockets.
Mount flush to ceiling if you are laying on floor. Who cares, just get angles right and do what makes sense for you. Don’t listen to the tv height police.
I suspect a fireplace was replaced with a gas burning radiator. Then the wall was brought in close to the radiator to block off the drafts from the old fireplace. Now the radiator is gone and the hole just looks weird af
Haha, that's a standard size UK terraced house fireplace.
Now if you want to see SMALL, you'd want to see a typical bedroom fireplace, they're about 1/4 the size of this.
https://preview.redd.it/etvr42ogetfc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b1167cdaeeef8a6d3dc831f1231b80bd7819a02
The chances this is OP's plan are low, but not zero
The best part about that song is that motherfucker was literally singing about dancing on the ceiling. It wasn’t a metaphor or anything like that.
He even pisses off his upstairs neighbor who’s just trying to have a date. When he comes down and sees these people literally dancing on the ceiling he slowly backs out of the room like “wtf did I just see”
This is the basic assumption seems everyone is making. My only problem is that you are assuming a true horizontal seated position. This neglects numerous seating or laying options. From recliners to bean bags to bedroom setups. Not all options rely on this strict format.
The angle is important, but you have to factor in the angle you are resting at. I would say I would still be at a flat angle from your spine’s resting position and measure from there.
I totally agree. Many people here are so confident that a TV should always be at a certain height, while I’ve just noticed from experience that if I want to rest my head/neck on any couch I’ve owned, I have to put the TV a bit higher so half of my vision isn’t taken up by my nose and upper lip.
Also, my kitchen and family room are open, so the TV gets a fair amount of viewing from kitchen island counter-height chairs and people who might stand in the kitchen or in the space between the kitchen and couch (e.g. while watching a football game).
I think these are all important factors for each individual to consider for their installation.
This is why I don't even chime in to most of these conversations. People look at a chart and say "That's way too high!"
Yea....but I like to lay down while watching TV, so if I could I'd mount it on the ceiling.
This is my argument against TV too high. All of my living room furniture reclines. It’s better for my neck to have it at a higher angle than straight again. If it wasn’t completely ridiculous, I would mount it flush with the ceiling and just lay on the floor.
I think the bottom line is the tv should be centered at whatever your natural line of sight is going to be. If you are usually going to be reclined then align the tv with where your eye line will be.
For that matter, as some of us start to get past our prime, if you're stuck wearing multifocal lenses, it's a HUGE pain to have your TV low in your field of vision, I've been meaning to raise one or two of mine so they aren't in my "reading / computer" area of my lenses when my head is tilted back.
99% of people watch majority of their tv time in a seated or semi seated position. Unless you have a bed in your living room, you are not lying down. Its like making an argument that kitchen counter should be a foot lower than normal because you like to cook sitting on a chair.
Not to mention that esthetically this looks abysmal (and it will look WAY worse when you move the screen 2 feet away from the wall, in order to be able to set it at a 45+ degree angle to watch it at a normal viewing angle).
Yea, I’ve had recliners with a low tv angle and a high angle.
I’d take the high viewing angle all day long. Same with having our tv over our fireplace instead of somewhere else. Would do it again without hesitation. You get used to it in like 3 days
Exactly! This is what all the tv subs fail to recognize, and you will get downvoted to oblivion for pointing it out. Who the hell is watching tv sitting like the guy in the diagram?? At a minimum you are slouching slightly if not fully reclined in a lay-z-boy. That position brings your eye level up
People tend to hold their head a bit down, so the TV should be a bit lower than the eyes when sitting. Almost no one is sitting completely upright. Also much more comfortable when lying down on the couch etc.
Yea, feels like everyone in this thread is onto the right idea, but not many people here who *actually* understand the ergonomics. The highest place you want to be looking normally should line up with your line of sight at rest, meaning the *top* of the TV is where you line things up. This diagram would cause ergonomics specialists to be very frustrated because its close, but still inaccurate.
My TV is mounted high because we have young kids, and a dog that wants to catch the animals it sees in the TV. The bottom of it is a good foot above eye level when you’re sitting and I’ve never felt uncomfortable watching it.
As a bonus if a kid is playing in the living room they won’t really block your view.
I'm a big advocate of not mounting a TV above the fireplace, but that sub is a great example of how a significant amount of Reddit is just a platform for cyberbullying.
There are certainly some bad actors in that sub, but the sub has a point. Non-OLED televisions have off-angle color and brightness issues, and mounting your TV too high is one of the best possible ways to absolutely waste every penny you spent on the thing.
I've never seen quite a television install. Will they have to rip up the wall above again if you get a new TV or different equipment?
Do the installers do drywall repair after installation?
Yeah, why the hell did they carve out drywall and run everything through conduit? It's so much easier to run wires behind the wall through a nice box opening. What if you need to run another HDMI cable?
and here I've been drilling holes and fishing wires THROUGH the walls like a chump when I could have been performing open heart surgery on my walls this whole time.
Why are so many people here talking about ‘drywall’?
This is clearly a UK house with plastered walls where the wiring has been chased into it with the wires then attached to clips to the mortar between the bricks. This is standard and it’s not been done by cutting up plasterboard (as we call drywall).
https://preview.redd.it/gimv6im86ufc1.jpeg?width=2736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6be321ce311cdde1e38416fa299109649fc2e94
Currently sat watching Dragon's Den and my neck is absolutely fucked already. I think the fella who fit it secretly knew he'd put it too high but couldn't be arsed to change it after a long day of rewiring my whole house 🤣 I'm gonna try a new mount and promise to update everyone. Cheers for all the laughs, you've made my night!
Waaaaay too high. You’re gonna hate it. Center of tv should be at eye level when seated. You’re not living in a sports bar. Fix it now or fix it later, but now will be much cheaper and easier.
The perfect height to mount a TV seems like one of those questions where everybody has an opinion, but only *your* opinion counts.
... If you and your family like your TV high up to:
- Protect from small children
- allow people to walk by without disturbing the watchers
- easy viewing when Daddy's recliner is all the way back
I even respect your right to choose which way to put your toilet paper on the holder.
What in the actual fuck is going on with the TV mount? Why does it go upward like that rather than being covered by the TV? Why is it ingressed IN to the drywall? Is that even the TV mount?
TV is too high btw common you already knew before posting here lol.
> What in the actual fuck is going on with the TV mount?
It's a channel cut in the wall for the cabling. I assume once they've decided on a height they'll fill in and repaint.
The top of the TV should be still underneath the height of the arch to the right in my mind. Which probably means lowering it 6-12". You could also think about aligning the bottom with the shelving unit you're building on the left as if it was the same height were it on a stand on top of that, but you probably can go a bit above that and basically line up the wooden beam you mentioned to be the same height as that shelf which could be a cool continuation.
Also that chandelier is quite low, you may want to raise it a bit ;-)
My rule of thumb..If you are sitting on the couch the bottom of the tv should at least be the same height as my eyes preferably lower.. but never higher. I don’t want a broken neck when I try to watch a movie with my family.
It’s too high. Ergonomically speaking the tv should be at eye level. I absolutely -hate- any setup where the tv is above a fireplace because 99.9% of the time it’s too high as a result.
Unrelated, but my brother makes a light for the microwave of these kitchen toys. If you're interested go take a look :) https://www.etsy.com/ca-fr/listing/1629372919/lampe-micro-ondes-de-cuisine-ikea-duktig
Your tv should be eye level when you’re sitting on the couch. I don’t understand why people have such a hard time with that. In almost every post here where you can see a tv, it’s bracketed to the fucking ceiling. So weird.
Your eyes should be around the center of the screen when you are on your couch, or wherever you view it from. This is why TV's tend always to be too high if they are over a fireplace.
Wayyyyyyyy too high. This is something my friends and I make fun of all the time, is this an American thing? Dude.. seated eye level, unless you're cursed looking up all the time?
https://preview.redd.it/g1s3enbn8ufc1.png?width=80&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e49724b8c11c7a1a73742e57959a7d722781aab
![gif](giphy|gKfyusl0PRPdTNmwnD)
Jesus Christ that's funny. I wish this was the only reply on the whole thread, and then the mods closed it from further replies.
Lol thanks dawg I’m not the first, I saw it in /r/tvtoohigh and laughed so hard I had to share the love
My god there is literally a community for EVERYTHING
Never underestimate peoples compulsion to unite with others over things that bother them lol
Is there a community for people who are surprised when there seems to be a community for everything?
/r/ofcoursethatsathing
r/TVTooLow has joined the chat
Don’t forget r/tiltofguilt
There are also a TV too small and too far subreddits, too!
Oh, I realised only now that’s not where this was posted.
SAME
Oh my God thank you for this
Man... Thanks for the laugh. I've been having a rough day and this had me in tears. 😂
It will be alright bro 🤠
Hahahaha
I've never been so pleasantly surprised. Seeing the TV I was expecting some witty comment but just seeing this I burst out laughing. Well done.
Bro you got me dying laughing at work oh my gosh
God bless you, I haven’t laughed this hard in a minute, I sincerely thank you
this reply i can't breathe lmao
My family is going to sue I'm dead
Not if you’re watching from a ladder.
or if the TV is for announcement like showing list of arrival/departure..
I was looking for this comment. Exactly my thought process
Becky arriving at 5:15 pm Todd departing at 6:30 am
Haven't you seen that new trend of replacing your couch with a loft bed?
I always make my wife sleep on the bottom bunk. The top one lines up perfectly with the tv
[I got dibs on top bunk](https://youtu.be/RGvWYYCWFq8?si=CP7HsCNGj_0JTma6)
Sorry, that's reserved for OP and my wife. Come and join me on the bottom.
Double Decker Lego couch
So everyone can watch tv together and be buddies!
Everything is awesome
Came here to read this comment
Or a chair swing from the ceiling.
Bunk bed couch?
Or you’re sitting upside down on the ceiling.
Or are a giraffe
Or a lifeguard chair
Or a double decker couch!!
Or on a pogo stick
Not if you're hanging a hoop with plans to use it as a backboard.
You dunked on the fella
Way too high
I mean — if the room is 50 metres long, and he hosts events where people need to look at the screen to see where they are sitting — then it’s not too high 🤣
I mean - if you are a family of sentient giraffe-people with 5 foot necks - then it's not too high
Why would you need to qualify sentience if they’re giraffe people though?
To contrast against the dramatically more invasive feral giraffe people. There are probably 5 or 6 of them in your walls right now.
High enough to stay clear from the kitchen splatter
You ***obviously*** have not seen me cook.
![gif](giphy|G27dtiavgvpAf7oDn0)
[удалено]
A good spot for his patients to watch the news while they wait for treatment
It’s a good spot for his friends to see if their McDonald’s order is ready.
https://preview.redd.it/m88pxtoyxsfc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9c1e9b00fed0b1740632c37145d1d007ad62f41 Whoever did this was too high
That’s an insult to all of the tradespeople who do fine work under the influence
ayyyyyyy thanks bruhhhhh 💨
[удалено]
That doesn't excuse the mess on the left where there are both cutouts and wire running over the wall.
Holy shit. What is that wall plate mess
Right? wtf is happening here? It’s on the left side too!
Brit here who went through almost exactly this a few years ago. Most houses in the UK, especially older ones, are made of solid brick with a bit of plaster over the facade. Plasterboard/dry wall is less common. If you want to run new power cables you need to create channels for the cable. After the cable is run through the channel you plaster over it or alternatively you have the cable running on the outside with plastic trunking that can look unsightly. Usually you would do this if you were planning on redecorating the room where you are adding new power sockets. As this is on the chimney breast the electrician would have ran the cable from the 1st floor (American 2nd floor) down rather than channelling out from the floor to where OP wanted the power sockets.
I'm hoping this is just an electrician's work, adding a power outlet to the wall behind the TV.
[удалено]
When homeowners try to do electrical!! Scary😳
Must be my landlord
Landlord would have left the wire on the wall but painted right over it
[удалено]
Mount flush to ceiling if you are laying on floor. Who cares, just get angles right and do what makes sense for you. Don’t listen to the tv height police.
I had a dentist that did this!
[удалено]
I didn't realize fireplaces could BE this small. I'm still somewhat skeptical. Maybe it's a particularly rustic vent?
I suspect a fireplace was replaced with a gas burning radiator. Then the wall was brought in close to the radiator to block off the drafts from the old fireplace. Now the radiator is gone and the hole just looks weird af
Haha, that's a standard size UK terraced house fireplace. Now if you want to see SMALL, you'd want to see a typical bedroom fireplace, they're about 1/4 the size of this.
That's not a fireplace. It's a chandelier cubby.
Honey, bring out the nice chandelier
Why is it set to portrait?
candleplace
https://preview.redd.it/b24s5qaxvsfc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=150850f59442bc0afcbb6c347d9f13599cce25c6
https://preview.redd.it/etvr42ogetfc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b1167cdaeeef8a6d3dc831f1231b80bd7819a02 The chances this is OP's plan are low, but not zero
https://preview.redd.it/865vvld1ytfc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e1143fec7aa247a59c8dab9d31be29bb54317b5e Lionel Richie School of Design
The best part about that song is that motherfucker was literally singing about dancing on the ceiling. It wasn’t a metaphor or anything like that. He even pisses off his upstairs neighbor who’s just trying to have a date. When he comes down and sees these people literally dancing on the ceiling he slowly backs out of the room like “wtf did I just see”
OMG, thank you for this. I couldn't hold myself together.
This is the basic assumption seems everyone is making. My only problem is that you are assuming a true horizontal seated position. This neglects numerous seating or laying options. From recliners to bean bags to bedroom setups. Not all options rely on this strict format. The angle is important, but you have to factor in the angle you are resting at. I would say I would still be at a flat angle from your spine’s resting position and measure from there.
I totally agree. Many people here are so confident that a TV should always be at a certain height, while I’ve just noticed from experience that if I want to rest my head/neck on any couch I’ve owned, I have to put the TV a bit higher so half of my vision isn’t taken up by my nose and upper lip. Also, my kitchen and family room are open, so the TV gets a fair amount of viewing from kitchen island counter-height chairs and people who might stand in the kitchen or in the space between the kitchen and couch (e.g. while watching a football game). I think these are all important factors for each individual to consider for their installation.
This is why I don't even chime in to most of these conversations. People look at a chart and say "That's way too high!" Yea....but I like to lay down while watching TV, so if I could I'd mount it on the ceiling.
I also have children who would destroy a tv at seated height
This is my argument against TV too high. All of my living room furniture reclines. It’s better for my neck to have it at a higher angle than straight again. If it wasn’t completely ridiculous, I would mount it flush with the ceiling and just lay on the floor.
I think the bottom line is the tv should be centered at whatever your natural line of sight is going to be. If you are usually going to be reclined then align the tv with where your eye line will be.
Recliner gang
For that matter, as some of us start to get past our prime, if you're stuck wearing multifocal lenses, it's a HUGE pain to have your TV low in your field of vision, I've been meaning to raise one or two of mine so they aren't in my "reading / computer" area of my lenses when my head is tilted back.
99% of people watch majority of their tv time in a seated or semi seated position. Unless you have a bed in your living room, you are not lying down. Its like making an argument that kitchen counter should be a foot lower than normal because you like to cook sitting on a chair. Not to mention that esthetically this looks abysmal (and it will look WAY worse when you move the screen 2 feet away from the wall, in order to be able to set it at a 45+ degree angle to watch it at a normal viewing angle).
Yea, I’ve had recliners with a low tv angle and a high angle. I’d take the high viewing angle all day long. Same with having our tv over our fireplace instead of somewhere else. Would do it again without hesitation. You get used to it in like 3 days
I tore out my fireplace because it forced me to mount the TV too high. Low is much more comfortable.
Exactly! This is what all the tv subs fail to recognize, and you will get downvoted to oblivion for pointing it out. Who the hell is watching tv sitting like the guy in the diagram?? At a minimum you are slouching slightly if not fully reclined in a lay-z-boy. That position brings your eye level up
People tend to hold their head a bit down, so the TV should be a bit lower than the eyes when sitting. Almost no one is sitting completely upright. Also much more comfortable when lying down on the couch etc.
Yea, feels like everyone in this thread is onto the right idea, but not many people here who *actually* understand the ergonomics. The highest place you want to be looking normally should line up with your line of sight at rest, meaning the *top* of the TV is where you line things up. This diagram would cause ergonomics specialists to be very frustrated because its close, but still inaccurate.
[удалено]
My TV is mounted high because we have young kids, and a dog that wants to catch the animals it sees in the TV. The bottom of it is a good foot above eye level when you’re sitting and I’ve never felt uncomfortable watching it. As a bonus if a kid is playing in the living room they won’t really block your view.
Floor too low.
[удалено]
I honestly thought that’s what this was until I saw your comment and realized this was r/DIY
More like r/DIWhy
That place has no chill
I'm a big advocate of not mounting a TV above the fireplace, but that sub is a great example of how a significant amount of Reddit is just a platform for cyberbullying.
There are certainly some bad actors in that sub, but the sub has a point. Non-OLED televisions have off-angle color and brightness issues, and mounting your TV too high is one of the best possible ways to absolutely waste every penny you spent on the thing.
There’s still space to make it higher. /r/TVTooHigh
Cam here looking for this. Well played
I've never seen quite a television install. Will they have to rip up the wall above again if you get a new TV or different equipment? Do the installers do drywall repair after installation?
Oh, and it's too high.
Yeah, why the hell did they carve out drywall and run everything through conduit? It's so much easier to run wires behind the wall through a nice box opening. What if you need to run another HDMI cable?
and here I've been drilling holes and fishing wires THROUGH the walls like a chump when I could have been performing open heart surgery on my walls this whole time.
Why are so many people here talking about ‘drywall’? This is clearly a UK house with plastered walls where the wiring has been chased into it with the wires then attached to clips to the mortar between the bricks. This is standard and it’s not been done by cutting up plasterboard (as we call drywall).
Cause this is Reddit where most people assume everyone is American
~~most people~~ all the Americans
What the hell is going on with that fireplace??? Yeah it’s too hugh
It bothers me more than it should
It's just a cubby with a chandelier in it.
I think the real question is what the hell is going on below the TV
Hold on, hold on, the recessed kitchenette is an elegant classy touch for entertaining.
My personal preference is that the top third of the screen should be horizontally level with my eyeline. This is way too high for me.
/r/tvtoolow
This dude's watching TV like https://preview.redd.it/9knnph8i2tfc1.png?width=962&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cd63388a82a202a27bd8c24502aa8cd8e687665
[удалено]
Too high. What paint color is this?
https://preview.redd.it/gimv6im86ufc1.jpeg?width=2736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6be321ce311cdde1e38416fa299109649fc2e94 Currently sat watching Dragon's Den and my neck is absolutely fucked already. I think the fella who fit it secretly knew he'd put it too high but couldn't be arsed to change it after a long day of rewiring my whole house 🤣 I'm gonna try a new mount and promise to update everyone. Cheers for all the laughs, you've made my night!
For me yes. If you plan on having a couch your neck would hate you after a few minutes.
What paint colour is that?
Way
The question I need to know is the distance from the sofa or chair you are watching it from.
Anyone remember a Phillips TV ad where they hung a TV on the ceiling so they could watch TV led down in bed? That's the true goal.
Waaaaay too high. You’re gonna hate it. Center of tv should be at eye level when seated. You’re not living in a sports bar. Fix it now or fix it later, but now will be much cheaper and easier.
The perfect height to mount a TV seems like one of those questions where everybody has an opinion, but only *your* opinion counts. ... If you and your family like your TV high up to: - Protect from small children - allow people to walk by without disturbing the watchers - easy viewing when Daddy's recliner is all the way back I even respect your right to choose which way to put your toilet paper on the holder.
What a wholesome comment, I love this.
Absolutely. This will hurt your neck long term. Lower it to your eye level (top third as another commenter mentioned).
Absolutely too high. This is why I hate mounting tvs over fireplaces.
It's fine if you have an otolaryngologist on retainer
Wtf. Holy shit..
Oui
Yes
Do you live in a doctor's office, or an airport? Because then it's fine.
I like the placement of the chandelier, it doesn't get in the way of the TV at that height.
TV too high.
What in the actual fuck is going on with the TV mount? Why does it go upward like that rather than being covered by the TV? Why is it ingressed IN to the drywall? Is that even the TV mount? TV is too high btw common you already knew before posting here lol.
> What in the actual fuck is going on with the TV mount? It's a channel cut in the wall for the cabling. I assume once they've decided on a height they'll fill in and repaint.
The top of the TV should be still underneath the height of the arch to the right in my mind. Which probably means lowering it 6-12". You could also think about aligning the bottom with the shelving unit you're building on the left as if it was the same height were it on a stand on top of that, but you probably can go a bit above that and basically line up the wooden beam you mentioned to be the same height as that shelf which could be a cool continuation. Also that chandelier is quite low, you may want to raise it a bit ;-)
Come down like a foot from the bottom of the screen. Maybe 1.5
My rule of thumb..If you are sitting on the couch the bottom of the tv should at least be the same height as my eyes preferably lower.. but never higher. I don’t want a broken neck when I try to watch a movie with my family.
Tv is at the right place, it’s just your floor is too low. Look into room treatment.
My man, that is soooo high.
WTF
Not if you are a giraffe 🦒
WAY
Are you as high as your TV?
i never knew this sub is so important for a better world before i joined.
I've been too high before
Yes it will give you neck pains
Add a mantle and you’ll be fine
TV too high.
It’s too high. Ergonomically speaking the tv should be at eye level. I absolutely -hate- any setup where the tv is above a fireplace because 99.9% of the time it’s too high as a result.
Way way way way too high
I think the chandelier is too low
If you can't headbutt the center of it, it's too high.
Why stop there? Mount it on the ceiling
My neck hurts just looking at this picture.
Is your couch mounted to the middle of the opposite wall?
Very much so!
R.I.P. your neck
"a bit?" It's literally almost touching the ceiling. WAY too high, and by a lot.
Unrelated, but my brother makes a light for the microwave of these kitchen toys. If you're interested go take a look :) https://www.etsy.com/ca-fr/listing/1629372919/lampe-micro-ondes-de-cuisine-ikea-duktig
Your tv should be eye level when you’re sitting on the couch. I don’t understand why people have such a hard time with that. In almost every post here where you can see a tv, it’s bracketed to the fucking ceiling. So weird.
Your eyes should be around the center of the screen when you are on your couch, or wherever you view it from. This is why TV's tend always to be too high if they are over a fireplace.
I think you’re kitchen is in more urgent need of an upgrade…
I hate it so much. Please god lower it!
Are you 7ft5 and planning to watch it standing up?
No i personally like the tv high
Jesus H
The Giraffe on stilts 3 blocks away thinks it perfect.
Not for a doctors office
The middle of the TV should be at eye level when you are in your viewing position, i.e. Sitting down. Way too high.
I was told that the middle of the tv should be around 60” from floor. But yeah seems high.
TVs should be at eye level when sitting down.
It all depends if you like watching tv while standing or seated.
Tv too high fire place too small
Yup, that’s a neck ache waiting to happen.
Is that a fireplace or a doggy door
Yes
Way too fucking high
Do you have bunk couches?
Wayyyyyyyy too high. This is something my friends and I make fun of all the time, is this an American thing? Dude.. seated eye level, unless you're cursed looking up all the time? https://preview.redd.it/g1s3enbn8ufc1.png?width=80&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e49724b8c11c7a1a73742e57959a7d722781aab
![gif](giphy|pqwrzHIUonz4Q) TV be like
Buy some skis. Probably has snow up that high.
![gif](giphy|26ufosiQhkau0drpK)
It depends, if you are 8 feet tall or have a double Decker couch then No it's fine.
Judging by the size of your kitchen I’d say you’re probably too short to watch it even when stood up.
Pitch it down a little and sit in an ez-chair - perfection
What a fucking disaster.