...by Christmas!!
Yep, it's that time of year again when the normal model rocketry activities are swept aside in favor of breaking out the the many large totes full of Christmas light strings from storage that need to be sorted, tested, inventoried, inspected, repaired, staged, and installed.
Over the past 40-odd years, I have accumulated a LOT of lights! Many strings date back to 1980, and still work, but not without some small amount of repairs and TLC to be done annually.
The lion's share of the strings are incandescent, but I have been in the gradual process of switching over to LED in the past few years. Less current draw and IMO easier to maintain.
We are definitely not the Griswolds in terms of light displays, nor do I have a penchant for the dazzling (garrish?) computer driven / music synced affairs often seen on the 'extreme lighting' shows, but I still put up a hefty amount of lights. Somewhere in the 8,000 - 10,000 individual mini-bulb range. I've never counted.
And I've not tripped any of the 15 amp breakers. Yet.
All I know is that I typically spend at least three weekends on the install, and quite a bit more time in the basement la-BOR-atory repairing mal-functioning strings and modifying others for special custom applications. The scope of this work tends to take over the entire workshop.
Perhaps I should start another blog sub-page on the subject of outdoor Christmas lighting. I certainly have enough material to effectively do so.
Anyway, model rocket projects will be resumed once the Great Mini Bulb Frenzy is over.
Cheers!
