That isn't to say, of course, that I haven't looked for excuses over the years as well. I've gotten pretty good at simply putting it off until it's too late. Last year Jennifer even bought a couple of sets of outdoor lights and clips. I merely tucked them into a drawer in the garage and ignored them. This year, however, Jennifer was determined that I would get them up.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving the weather was clear, and several neighbors had already gotten their lights up, so Jennifer said that it was time for me to get a move on. Being a software engineer (aka big geek), I couldn't just go buy a bunch of lights and start stringing them up. I needed a diagram. And measurements. And it had to involve my computer. :) So I took my 10 foot ladder out into the middle of the street, climbed up (to get the right angle), and took a picture of the house and roof line. Then I used a graphics program to extrapolate a diagram of just the outline of the house. Finally, I climbed out of the upstairs window with tape measure, pencil, and clipboard. The result: a simple yet complete diagram of all the measurements of the 2nd story walls and roof lines. Naturally, by the time I was done, it was too dark and cold to actually hang any lights, which we still needed to buy. I was starting to think I may actually dodge it another year.
Yesterday was my day of reckoning. Mid afternoon, when the slush finally stopped coming down from the sky (not snow, not rain -- slush). I bundled up, grabbed my ladder and five boxes of brand new LED lights and headed outside. Hanging the lights turned out to be easier than I thought, except on the west side of the house. The slope of the yard is not conducive to ladders, so I kept it folded up and just leaned it (somewhat precariously) wherever I could against the house. Oh yeah, and the rain/slush was back.
There is a scene in the end of "Back to the Future" where Marty and the DeLorian are accelerating to 88 MPH while Doc Brown is leaning out of the clock tower trying to connect the ends of the cable back together. At one point he's got one arm fully extended, dangerously reaching for the socket. That was me this weekend, perched up at the top of a crooked ladder, reaching for the end of the string of lights to plug them into the extension cord. Fortunately for me, there was no long ride down to the bottom of the clock tower followed by near-fatal electrocution. :)
And yet, the story doesn't end there. After all that effort, a section of one strand of lights right in the middle wouldn't light up. Not the whole strand, just one section of it. As anyone would, I had plugged the lights in before I hung them, and they were fine. I checked bulbs, replaced fuses, etc., but the one section still wouldn't light up. Even though it was dark and I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, with Nathan as my helper I took down the defective strand and replaced it with one of the extras. Just for fun, as I got stuff cleaned up and headed inside, I plugged in the bad strand again. It lit up. All of it. Go figure.
So what do I have to show for my efforts? A very modest string of lights across the first floor roof line, and a fuzzy picture to prove it. (It's hard to hold the camera still when your fingers are frozen. :) )
Why such a simple display? If I set the bar too high this year, what kind of effort is going to be expected next year? :)
4 comments:
You'll never keep up with the old neighborhood that way!
Jen--just do what I do next year: I time Waldo's arrival home from work with ME being on the roof. Totally shames him into doing it.
The Geek Squad sometimes has bad luck too.
Very very nice, Ryan! Hopefully I can inspire Justin to follow your example next year :)
Nice work. With hooks already on my house, most of the hard work was done - or so I thought. When I took my lights down, I realized how dangerous it is to lay on the edge of the 2nd story roof and reach over to unhook the strand. An extra thank you to Chase for his perilous perch to put them up!
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