Sad to say that little has happened since our last entry in October. With the Covid virus infection rate steeply heading up, the Holiday season seems very subdued. No Holiday gatherings this year. Mall Day, when I spend the entire day at the regional mall getting all of my Holiday shopping done, was not an option this year. No annual trip to Manhattan to see the tree at Rockefeller Center, take in the Christmas fair at Bryant Park, and finish the day with the contra dance in Greenwich Village.
Also sad that this blog entry is a bit on the sparse side.
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Thanksgiving was not as dull as I had feared. I had a Zoom dinner with my sister and her family, everyone at home eating a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I was thankful for many things, but I hope I can be forgiven for being most thankful that a new President will be moving into the White House in January.
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Those small lights
that are in vogue today are wired in series. Each light runs on 2½ volts. Since electric voltage
divides over a series, 125 volts of electricity from an outlet would divide
over 50 bulbs to provide the 2½ volts for each bulb. As such there are fifty
bulbs to a string, which is why if a bulb goes completely out, another 49 bulbs
will go dark. To remedy this, each bulb contains a “shunt”, a wire that is
intended to bypass the burned-out bulb and allow the other 49 bulbs to keep
working. Sometimes the shunt does not work as intended, so the entire string
goes out. I went out and bought a $25 device that, in most cases, will fix the
shunt by zapping it with a high voltage welding it together. Unfortunately, in
my case it didn’t work. I tried replacing bulbs that looked burned out in the
hope that I would find the culpable bulb that way. No such luck. Finally, I
gave up, found some strings of colored lights I used to use when I put up a
live tree, and put them the dark tree. I thought they looked fairly good,
though I did not put any ornaments on the tree. I then ordered an LED pre-lit
tree, about the same size as the old one, online for next year.
In addition to the
tree, I bought an LED snowman window display for my other downstairs window in
the front of the house. Electric candles went in my three upstairs windows. I
was satisfied with my abbreviated house Holiday decorations this year.
Olive and the Christmas tree in my dining room.
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I came across this item on the web recently. Is it true that
only border collie people will understand it? See for yourself and let me know
what you think.
https://petpress.net/15-things-only-border-collie-owners-will-understand/
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For the past number of years, I have provided a
Christmas-themed cartoon for my friends who read this blog. This year the Pink
Panther inspired me.
A homeless, hungry, and cold Pink Panther is hoping for a
Christmas Eve meal. Even the prisoners in the city jail get a Christmas feast,
but nothing for the poor Pink Panther. If you don’t want to watch the entire
half hour, skip ahead to the last five minutes where the Pink Panther makes a
friend and finally gets his Christmas dinner. The story is a bit sad, but
things work out in the end.
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With that, Olive and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a
happy New Year.
