Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Demon Tree

Or maybe I should say -

the demon lights…

Are you ready for a story

full of frustration and woe???

Meet…  the demon tree.

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Looks pretty good during the day.

It’s a 7’ Frasier fir

with a luscious aroma.

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So, now begins the story…

of the demon tree.

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For the last 25 years or so,

I’ve been in charge of

going out and buying the real tree,

driving it home, getting my husband

and sons to unwrap it, trim it and

get it in the stand and bring

it into the living room.

Then the rest is up to me!

********************

I get out the strings of lights,

plug them in and check each bulb,

then  I start at the top and wind the

lights onto the tree, adding more

strings until I get it all done. 

Then I always turn off the lights,

plug it in and admire my work. 

And indeed, it was perfect!

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For about 10 minutes.

Then suddenly as I am

hanging the ornaments,

half of the top string of

lights wink out.

WHAT IS THAT???????

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So, I opened the plug and

replaced the tiny fuses and

plugged it back in…

This time the other half of the

strand that was dark is now lit,

but the part that was lit, is now dark.

So, I went to bed. 

I was SOOOOOOOO done.  :-(

***********************

The next day after work, I got out a

brand new string of lights, plugged

them in and checked every bulb-

all of them worked perfectly. 

So I took off the top defective

string and replaced them

with the new string.

And VOILA!  :-)

It was perfectly beautiful!

For about 10 minutes.

Then the exact same thing

happened… half the

new strand winked out.

I sat down and laughed for awhile.

    *****************************

Then, just for fun, I plugged

in the faulty string of lights I had

just removed from the tree.

And wouldn’t you know it-

EVERY SINGLE LIGHT WAS LIT!

     ***************************

I’m thinking next year, we might

just buy our first PRE-LIT fake tree.

I now totally understand the phrase

     B A H       H U M B U G!!!!

Hope your decorating experience

this season is perfectly sane.

1signature

 

18 comments:

  1. Oh Polly Sweetie...
    I am laughing and laughing so hard. Honey I have been there, done that, and last year started buying the artificial trees. I got tired of these darn bulbs and the problems I have with the real one. It is kind of like the little red hen story. We end up doing everything ya know?

    I absolutely love, opening the box, taking out the tree, putting three pieces together, plugging it in, and wa la. It is ready to decorate, and I have to tell you, they even have these wonderful ones that rotate. You put it together and plug it in, and it rotates and you can easily decorate all the sides without a care in the world. Just wonderful sweet friend. You must check the after Christmas sales and buy you an artificial tree without the cares and problems of this demon tree.

    Tomorrow will be a better day. Many hugs sweetie and much love, Sherry

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  2. How frustrating, Polly! Maybe too many strings connected? or faulty connectors?

    I hate to be a wet blanket, but about 10 years ago, I decided that I would buy a pre-lit. Beautiful and so easy. The following year --not so good. Couldn't find the hook-ups and when I finally did find them --dark spot. Same thing the next year --2 dark spots. We worked thoroughly over that tree changing bulbs and fuses to no avail the next year. We chucked it and bought a new one. Same scenario. We kept this tree and now add new strings as the original ones give out. So much for pre-lits. That is our experience with them.

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  3. Hi Polly - the spawn of the demon tree is currently residing in my family room. It is a prelit I bought 2 years ago and there is a section that will NOT light up -sooooooo I went to Wallyworld where I bought a string of 100 lights for a paltry $2.27 -- I don't have the time or the energy to find the trouble with the lights -- I swear demon trees can take all the fun out of decorating -- bah humbug! LOL!

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  4. Ahhh, the Glory of Christmas! Sorry, Polly, I feel for your frustration, but it is such a great story! A tree with character and a will of it's own! How enLIGHTening!

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  5. Is that a pink wall ? Now back to the tree...I have never heard of such a thing..it does look great during the day though....the whole room looks festive...maybe he is wearing glasses...lol too funny Holly...

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  6. Dearest Polly, Good Morning.

    It's still dark outside and I was laughing so hard that my husband had to stop eating breakfast and come and read over my shoulder. He was laughing so hard, and trust me, we along with tons of other Christmas trimmers feel your pain. There is nothing more frustrating.

    Breathe...relax...and maybe if you talk to the tree and not call it the Demon Tree the lights will shine.

    The tree is decorated beautifully.

    Merry Wednesday.

    Hugs,
    Joyce

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  7. Oh that's so frustrating! We've checked them all on the floor before we've put them on the tree...all lit...they hit the tree and poof...out! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

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  8. You are so right Polly. That was just what happened to us last year. I have over 1,000 lights on our tree and last year one by one were going out and do you think we could find the culprit. NO. So after taking them all off we only put on a few strands and off to the store after christmas and bought all new. I guess afer 20 years its time. lol.

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  9. NO! don't buy prelit! I've had the same issue this year...we bought a prelit and after four days of being up and decorated, an entire section of lights went out. The box says, "stays lit when one bulb blows!" WHATEVER! I didn't see any place to put a fuse, so I had no idea how to fix it. Let's just say, I undecorated it last night and it's going back to the store. I'm not buying something to have it broken in no time at all. =( UGH...made in "Ch..." I wonder?!?! =(

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  10. Don't buy prelit...the don't last and they are very expensive. It is much cheaper to replace strands of lights every 15 years than it is to replace a whole tree that doesn't work and was several hundred dollars.

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  11. Hi Polly, I understand exactly what you went through...I was the same way when my daughter was young and we were putting the lights up...oh no she has such awful memories of me struggling with the lights...I think, Oh, that is awful that the tree lights left such a terrible memory of Christmas...but she does well with her own tree..BTW...the tree is beautiful...a beautiful shape...I now put up an artifical tree...but I have pre-strung the lights up and put the tree away with the lights up...Love reading your blog..Have a Merry Christmas...

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  12. I can sooooo relate. I claimed my in laws prelit tree after my FIL passed away a few years ago and I LOVE it. My DH still wants the fresh tree too so we now have a HIS tree and a HER tree. He has to do all of his own decorating and deal with the frustrations I once did. We have bets going on in the family to see how many years he will continue to want that real tree.

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  13. Polly,

    A thought. I have 2 little trees for out on the front steps and last year 1/2 of each string died (see, here too). I was going to re-string,......but in Wal-Mart (not my favorite store but in a pinch...) I found strings but using LED lights. I bought 2 sets for those *#^%(#&^$ lettle trees and they are great. Hubby (engineer) was very impressed with them & said they will last forever because the LED's don't burn out and they do shine so brightly. You may want to try them. For a 50 light set they were just under $7. $$$ but.....they will last. (o:

    Hugs,
    Joyce

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  14. Those prelit trees can give you fits too. My mother bought one two years ago. The 1st year everything worked fine. The 2nd year, the middle of the tree wouldn't light. So guess who still has to add a string of lights to the "prelit tree". I hope you figured out what is causing your to act wacky.

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  15. Let me tell you my tale of woe. I got my tree up, got it all strung with lights (they all worked), got the crown ribbons on it and arranged, got all the ornaments on it..... stood back and looked...... it was leaning so badly that I thought it was going to topple over. So, not willing to remove all of the decorations, I got a hammer and nails and some kitchen twine and fastened the darn thing to the wall! LOL. Back to your troubles, how many strings did you have plugged together? Just thinking that maybe you had too many and it was causing some not to light. Try separating them into 2 groups and see if that doesn't help.

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  16. We have lots of allergies, so we converted to a fake tree years ago. We never take the lights off. It is stored in our basement in the box with the lights on. Normally, our son and I decorate the tree. This year he was busy. I so enjoyed putting the ornaments on the tree. Most of the ornaments were gifts from kids I taught, teachers I worked with or ones our sons made. Fun:)

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  17. Thank you for the good giggle of the day. This is why my husband bought an artificial tree with lights. So no one has to hear Mom say and do things she shouldn't. I grew up with live trees and it was hard to let go. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  18. ROFL it's the Christmas Gremlins! Been there, done that, how's this for glutton for punishment---I'm STILL doing it!! :D Gotta have a 'real' tree, no matter the 'pain' involved in having one. Merry Christmas!

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Thank you sooooooo very much for taking the time to leave a comment! I am always happy to know that someone is reading my ramblings!! Polly :-)