Ok, I want to hear any exciting stories/incidents you have had with Christmas lights.
Every year when we put up our Christmas tree, we have trouble with the lights. It got to the point where we would buy new sets every year simply because we could never find them by the next year. Now we have TONS of sets because they are starting to appear in the garage in places you would least expect them. Well, we put the tree up tonight and couldn't find the lights again. I stumbled accross 2 sets and took them into the house. One set I plugged in did NOTHING, and the other only half worked. Ok, on a quest for some other lights. Found about 4 more sets and brought them in. The first set of those I plug in NOTHING, but finally the other 3 worked. That was the first time that has ever happened to me, a set doesn't work. A lot of ours get a loose bulb and half the set goes out, but I have never had a set (or 2 tonight) where nothing happens.

So I want to hear any anger you may have with christmas lights!!!

 

Almost fell off the roof putting mine up (~25'). Thank God for rain gutters.
Mike

 

A couple of years ago, we had a tree out front of our house, it was about 5' tall, the neighbors dog ate all the glass bulbs as high as it could reach, and it was a big dog it got about all the way to the top, the tree was also loaded with lights, at night it was like a triangle of light. the poor dog, musta really liked them they were on, hot and well i would think they may hurt goining down. if nto defidently comming out!!

 

Well, this story does not involve me, but the guy who works night crew at the store broke his arm putting up his Christmas lights a few days ago. Fell off the ole' ladder, and is now out of work for 6-8 weeks. (the movie Ernest Saves Christmas came to mind lol)
As for me, this year we just have candles in the windows, and a spotlight in the front of the house. We usually put christmas lights up, but we skipped this year for some odd reason. Heck, we don't even have a tree yet.

 

I always have trouble with the plugs- as in, never enough. So, a few years ago, we call up an electrician and have outdoor plug boxes installed on all four corners of the house. I figure I'm pretty much handled. The next day, after dinner, we see water running out from under the stove. This is, like, a bad thing, right? Walk outside with a flashlight, and there's soap suds bubbling out of one of the plug boxes. The electrician must've cut through the main drain line for the kitchen sink.

Sooo...electricians insurance adjuster comes out, looks at the damage, and OK's new vinyl in the kitchen and eating area. After they pull up the old, they discover a water leak by the back deck slider (kaching!). Meanwhile, I keep looking at the oatmeal-colored berber carpet in the family room, thinking "I've always hated that carpet." While the areas all torn up already, might as well see what it'd cost to pull that up too. (next kaching!)

A week later, after it's all done, we put everything back and the wife notices the old furniture doesn't go with the new carpeting No worries, new family room furniture was delivered a few days later. Finally we can start stringing the christmas lights.

I figure, that year, after it was all said and done, I was out a good $5 grand on that little fiasco- but the plugs worked great!

 

every year my dad puts up tween 6 and 17jillion lights, big and little ones, and one year some kids (that we knew) discovered that if you throw the big bulbs at our neihbors glass storm door they explode . . . that and that our neihbor has a really small amount of patients with kids.

 

We should be, and are perfectly capable of, making Christmas lights here and not buying them from a certain "other" overseas country.

 

When I was living at my parents, power was definitely an issue. There was a tree that I liked to light with big bulbs. I basically had extension cords running from different parts of the house because they were on different fuses all to one tree. We had a home made device that was great for hanging bulbs up on the branches. I told my wife when we get in the house some serious electrical changes will have to be made.. as in upgrades, outdoor outlets, etc.

 

I used an old set once that for some reason someone had looped and had two male ends. I did not realize it and plugged botends in. Kaboom! Glass went everywhere and then it blew the breaker.

 

I wasn't mad, but Mom sure was. Left the outdoor lights up til summer; we took 'em down in the dark so nobody would see us!

 

We've got those wire deer with the lights strung up on the wire frame. Its nearly impossible to find which bulb is the troublemaker when one will not work. If anyone asks why it's missing a leg.. well, we forgot to bring them in over deer season.

 

merry christmas

 

Christmas lights don't do a thing for me. I'm talking about outdoor Christmas lights. But, in the spirit of the season I've agreed with my wife that we will alternate the responsibility year to year. At that pace I can actually muster some interest and produce a worthy display. My wife on the other hand, I'm convinced, does an intentionally crumby job just to try and get me to take over her responsiblities too.

 

don't be a scrooge

 

Well, in my family, my little bro has always been the decorator. Which is good and bad. When he was younger, he used to start before dessert came out at the thanksgiving dinner table. He would have them laid out and tested a day before and ready to be hung. Now, he's a little older, a little more reserved, but he still can't decorate for the life of him. Don't get me wrong, me and the rest of my family love it and him for it, but seriously, you would think that one section of lights on the gutters ACTUALLY straight would kill him. And we have a Christmas penguin. The butt of all of my Jimmy and Christmas light jokes is that stupid penguin. "But the north pole is cold, and penguins like cold places..." is his justification. If it's quiet enough, which it usually is, you can hear...wwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreak, wwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreak...it's rudolph's head turning 1,000,000,000 times per night. This year, our display meets and is working together with the neighbors (we have pretty small front lawns). The reindeer are in our yard and Santa is in theirs.

And does anyone have THAT neighbor, because this guy does. Maybe, MAYBE a 30'x30' front lawn, with every imaginable Christmas light and decoration you could imagine. Halloween actually turned our neighborhood into a u-turn/shine-your-high-beams-into-our-living-room-while-you-stare-at-the-neighbors-horrific-abuse-

of-the-power-company area. Nuts. Nuts I say.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Ramadaan....what others are there?