On Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:49:44 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
.. .
I do like Christmas lights, but they only last until the squirrels
are done chewing on the wires.
"Done", as in "thoroughly cooked"?
I use solar powered LED lights. Besides using less power, it's more
ecologically correct by not electrocuting the squirrels. I leave the
lights in place all year to light up the stairs and balcony, leaving
plenty of opportunities for the squirrels to ruin my day. One string
has perhaps 10 splices. The squirrels are cute, but they're rather
destructive.
It would break your mother's heart if she knew you liked Christmas lights.
Nope. Hannukah is the Festival of Lights. The story of Esther
specifies using oil lamps, which is proscribed in the local fire code.
So, we use electric lights. As long as the lights looked something
like a menorah, my parents were satisfied. However, they drew the
line with the Hannukah bush. I wanted to also celebrate Christmas,
but when they told me that Hannukah was 8 days, and that I was suppose
to get one present per day, I decided I could live without Christmas.
Unfortunately, the added presents were fairly tacky:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah_gelt
Lesson learned: Next time, get it in writing.
Hannukah also created another area of contention over playing the
dreidel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel
Basically, it was gambling, which my parents tended to discourage but
tolerated because it taught useful skills (math, statistics,
probability, bookkeeping, loans, etc). Us kids were soon bored with
the dreidel, and switched to playing craps with dice. It was many
years before I could understand why the dreidel was acceptable, but
the dice were not.
At some point, when I was about 15, I morphed into a very junior
Beatnick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatnick
Glorified poverty and a minimalist lifestyle meant that I was required
to discard all the trappings of affluence, reject all modern
conveniences, drop out of society, avoid clean clothes, and read
poetry, thus somehow demonstrating that I was a non-conformist. My
parents interpreted that as a rebellion, which they celebrated by
cutting off my allowance, demanding that I wash the dishes, and
refusing to supply the ritualistic gifts on the usual occassions. This
made life intolerable, so I ran away from home. I eventually
returned, somewhat wiser, just in time for Hannukah. After receiving
the requisit lecture, I was welcomed with a peace offering gift, which
I gratefully accepted, thus ending my life as a non-conformist. The
lights of Hannukah will always remind me of my first major screwup.
Happy Holidaze.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558