MrJT
Collector of Mickey Merch
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2008
- Messages
- 1,427
You know the song "12 Pains of Christmas" by Bob Rivers? I have become the #2 guy "rigging up the lights".
For most of my adult life, I neer put up outside lights. I've mostly lived in aparts, duplexes, or other forms of Multi-plexes. That's life in the military I guess.
Two Christmases ago, the first one in my own place (a double-wide mobile-home), we decide to put up outside lights. We buy icicles. We bought a couple of strands. I first tried to rig them, by standing on a ladder. I was able to do some of the lights with my metal ladder. But the end of the house, the rood comes to a point /\ and it's higher than my ladder. So I grabbed the wooden ladder that came with the house, that was lying on the ground. Apparently it had been there a LONG time, because as I stood on it, I fell throgh, destroying the rotted ladder! Because I could only go so high, my lights made did this: /-\ they didn't go all the way to the top! Eventually, I got the idea to actually climb onto the roof and hang them. But around this time, we decide that we need more lights. So we went back to the store where we bought them, and they were sold out! So I went elsewhere, and they didn't quite match. They were shorter than the others!
Last year, I went through all the lights, tested them out, and sorted between the two sizes. I set them up, so the size difference is not noticeable, and let them hang. A couple of days later, I notice the lights hung towards the very top, and there is a chunk that is dark. I climbed back on the roof, looked at every bulb, and could find no problems! So I was stuck with a dark spot!
This year, it's Friday, I check the weather, and it's dreary. So my son and I run to the shed, and bring in all the decorations. I testout the lights, and 3 of the 5 strands are bad! So we decide to start from scratch. I run to Ace Hardware. This time we go with the multi-colored lights. Simple, no frills, just two long strands of lights. I go back home, and once the sun comes up, I climb onto the roof, and I am lit up. On Saturday, I go out for the evening, lights are on. I come home that night, and about a third of one my 2 long strands is dark!!! I go out Sunday morning, try to figure out what's wrong. Can't figure it out. So I pull the strand off the roof. I take it back to Ace, but I have no receipt, because I tossed it, after I tested them. Luckily, they do an exchange. I go home. The weather is getting icky, but I decide to go up anyways. If I don't do it on Sunday, I will have to do it the next weekend, because it's dark before 5. As I am on the roof, sleet starts coming down, I am getting drenched. And as I finish, I even see some snow!
But since then, my lights have worked. I was really close to cancelling outside lights this year...
For most of my adult life, I neer put up outside lights. I've mostly lived in aparts, duplexes, or other forms of Multi-plexes. That's life in the military I guess.
Two Christmases ago, the first one in my own place (a double-wide mobile-home), we decide to put up outside lights. We buy icicles. We bought a couple of strands. I first tried to rig them, by standing on a ladder. I was able to do some of the lights with my metal ladder. But the end of the house, the rood comes to a point /\ and it's higher than my ladder. So I grabbed the wooden ladder that came with the house, that was lying on the ground. Apparently it had been there a LONG time, because as I stood on it, I fell throgh, destroying the rotted ladder! Because I could only go so high, my lights made did this: /-\ they didn't go all the way to the top! Eventually, I got the idea to actually climb onto the roof and hang them. But around this time, we decide that we need more lights. So we went back to the store where we bought them, and they were sold out! So I went elsewhere, and they didn't quite match. They were shorter than the others!
Last year, I went through all the lights, tested them out, and sorted between the two sizes. I set them up, so the size difference is not noticeable, and let them hang. A couple of days later, I notice the lights hung towards the very top, and there is a chunk that is dark. I climbed back on the roof, looked at every bulb, and could find no problems! So I was stuck with a dark spot!
This year, it's Friday, I check the weather, and it's dreary. So my son and I run to the shed, and bring in all the decorations. I testout the lights, and 3 of the 5 strands are bad! So we decide to start from scratch. I run to Ace Hardware. This time we go with the multi-colored lights. Simple, no frills, just two long strands of lights. I go back home, and once the sun comes up, I climb onto the roof, and I am lit up. On Saturday, I go out for the evening, lights are on. I come home that night, and about a third of one my 2 long strands is dark!!! I go out Sunday morning, try to figure out what's wrong. Can't figure it out. So I pull the strand off the roof. I take it back to Ace, but I have no receipt, because I tossed it, after I tested them. Luckily, they do an exchange. I go home. The weather is getting icky, but I decide to go up anyways. If I don't do it on Sunday, I will have to do it the next weekend, because it's dark before 5. As I am on the roof, sleet starts coming down, I am getting drenched. And as I finish, I even see some snow!
But since then, my lights have worked. I was really close to cancelling outside lights this year...
I loved the innocence of them believing in Santa. 
My husband feels that if he buys you a gift, that's enough. Doesn't matter if you like it, want it, need it, as long as there's something for you to open, you should be happy with that. I really spend a lot of time and thought on getting people "the perfect gift" and it hurts when others don't expend the same effort or thought. 
and if we do, she makes sure to make the visit a visit from h*ll
but, her own daughter and her daughter's child are always welcomed into the house. I would also have to say my father has no friends
because of her and I know this because his friends, which were around when my sister and I when we were growing up, still call us to this day just to see how he's doing. She will not let any of them talk with my father. I'm just so disappointed because my father always told us, never let a man control you and he's doing exactly what he told us not to do. Another thing would be spending money. Money is pretty tight this year,
so christmas won't be as big as it was in the past and I refuse to put christmas on credit. I have no credit card debt and I want to keep it that way
But since he is doing all of the shopping this year, there's no way of sneaking something like that past him..
