Random Thoughts: Stupid Xmas Lights!!!

OK, so I pulled the box of lights down from the attic last week. I put up the ground-level lights during the week, but waited until this weekend to put up the roof lights. I really want to change over to all LEDs, so we bought two 60-bulb strands on Friday night as a piecemeal approach.

Saturday morning, I pulled out the incandescents and plugged them in to test them. First strand of 200, half-out; Second strand of 200, all-out; Third strand of 200, all good; Forth (and final) strand of 200, half-out. I tried replacing the fuses to no avail. I briefly scanned the bulbs, but could not find the dead ones. It's not that big a deal, though, because I have 2 other brand-new boxes from last year that I got as spares. I plugged them in to test, only to find out that one of those is half out as well. Fortunately, one of them is still brand new, so with the LEDs and the one good strand, I should have enough.

I went out, and put up the ladder and climbed up on the roof. Of course, the wind is blowing 20-30 mph straight at my body doing its best to push my frozen body down to the black asphalt below. I somehow manage not to fall off while putting up the 2 LED strands.

At some point, the ladder blew over and came crashing down, sending my wife (and, consequently, my baby) into a terrified panicky state trying to find out where my body must have fallen. After she puts the ladder back up for me and I come in for some warmth, she tells me I am not allowed back on the roof until the wind dies down.

Now, Sunday I go out and put the only good strand of incandescent bulbs up. What? You were keeping count of the number strands of lights I had? Oh. Yeah. When the ladder fell, it severed the wire, rendering the strand useless without solder and electrical tape.

So, back to the roof, I am up installing the lights, and it's about 20 degrees outside. So, I manage to finish installing those. Also, I installed the rest of the clips for the LEDs, so they won't blow away. Later in the afternoon, I put up a couple last accessory things like the snowflake over the front door and some net lights over one of the gardens just to add some light to that side of the house. When all was said and done, I was quite proud of what I did.

We went out shopping just before dark, so we didn't see the lights when they first turned on. Driving home, we had our little beacon of a house guiding our way through the night... sort of. Turns out, the LEDs look purple from a distance and the last strand of incandescents (the brand-new one) managed to go half out between the indoor test and
the turn on at night and the net lights aren't visible until you are standing right next to them. Oh yeah, and my hands are dry and cracked and rough from the cold air and I'm going to have to go buy more lights and replace them before it's "done."

Oh well. It still looks pretty good. Maybe some magical electrical fairies will come by in the night and fix all my problems. OK, any electric fairies that may be listening... I'm going to bed now... Thump, thump, thump; Squeaaak Zzzzzzz....  Nope, still broken. Damn.