The Lights...

This is the back side of my "lights" entry in my Christmas journal. I had a request from Christine to hear the story so I will do my best to type it up here though it's long and I doubt I can remember all the steps... LOL!

Right, we put the Christmas tree up on a Saturday afternoon. We didn't bother testing the lights first because we knew that there was one or two lamps broken and we thought we could easily get replacements. So lights go in the tree together with baubles, tinsel etc. We turn it on. A quarter of the lights are not on. Not good. We check the time and realise we might just make the local garden centre before it shuts. We scribble down the voltage/watt for the bulbs and rush off. We find some in the right strength and buy two packs. Off home again. They do not fit! Just a tiny bit too small.

We move some around to establish if indeed all the non-lit ones are faulty or if it's just a chain reaction from one or two being broken. Result? Suddenly we have HALF the lights not working. *sigh* Too late to do something.

On Sunday we go out and return the lights. Go to another shop and buy new replacement lights. Come home. These do not fit either! Back out into the city centre this time...resigned to the fact that we have to buy a new set of lights instead. Can't find anything suitable. Too few lights. Or coloured. Or something else wrong. So many people about. So much stress. So many shops. Nothing. Give up. Go to an out of town retail park and finally find a set of white lights with about the right amount for our tree. Go home. Untangle the old lights while baubles and tinsel flies everywhere. Add the new lights and straighten tinsel and baubles into place. Turn on the new lights. Good. But doesn't it look a little dark I say....?

We wait until it's totally dark outside. The tree is dark...too dark. It looks depressing. We can't have it like that. So we get the volt/watt figures off the back of the box and spend Sunday evening searching the internet for some brighter ones. It seems impossible. Surely people can't want lights that makes the tree look black? We're starting to get a little disheartened about it.

After work on Monday we eat quickly and then try to make some shops before they shut. Three. Nothing. Fourth one and we find a good set. But it has too few lights. So we decide to buy an extension cable that splits into two and two sets of lights. Come home. Untangle the "dark lights" from the tree (baubles and tinsel flies off again no matter how careful we are). Test both sets BEFORE we add them to the tree. One is faulty! *sigh* We still decide to add the set that works to the tree just to see that we like it. Another arrangement of the tinsel and baubles. Lights look good. Finally!

Tuesday comes and after work we again have to eat quickly to make the shops. We take back the "dark lights" and get a replacement for the faulty set and go home. Test them. They work. Add them to the tree. It looks good - just how we wanted it :)

So it only took us four days to get the lights sorted...four days of rushing about everywhere, having to through food into ourselves quickly just to make the shops, never sitting down and re-doing the tree I don't know how many times LOL!