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Copyright 2006 - 2013 Woodinville Wonderland
5-12-13 - Happy Mothers Day! It
is hard to believe that Mom passed away 10 months ago. So much has gone on
in that timeframe. Since July, it seems that I have been running at full
tilt, with only a 2 week reprieve right at the beginning of the year. I
bought Tracy a new bike helmet for Mom's day, and we spent the afternoon
biking to Redhook and the wineries in the valley. We had a great time and
will do more of that this summer. So much time since my last Blog post too!
6 weeks. We are in May, and there is still display stuff in the garage and
out by they shed that needs repair and stuff that still needs to be put
away! There has been no time or in some cases, energy to square things away.
Now, Tracy has her Honey-Do list and NONE of that includes Display items.
Hmmmm go figure, LOL! Last week was our annual NW Christmas gathering,
C.L.A.P. What a huge success. We have some phenomenal talent and enthusiasm.
We had almost 60 attendees throughout the day, awesome subject matter, and
we also honored our friend and mentor, Bill Foley. It was a tough day
without him, but Nancy will continue to allow us to experience Bill through
her, and our memories. Due to work, CLAP, and Spring Clean/work around the
house, nothing but some cursory research has been done for the display. I
did the Powering RGB
Elements for CLAP which will help me with my display and some of the new
additions. I did get the new roof outline RGB
pixels delivered. They too are in the garage along with my seasonal Creative
Displays LED light order that was came as well. Next up on the travel docket
for Christmas is the large Expo show in Gatlinburg, in July. This year is
already going by WAY too fast. Love you Mom.
3-25-13 - Over the weekend I
started to clean out the garage to get it organized. I can now SEE the
workbench top without all the clutter YEAH! I also re-purposed Tracy's old
laptop to put it out in the garage to replace the VERY old laptop that
actually used to run the show in the early days. I will donate or sell that
laptop at our CLAP meeting in May if anyone wants it. I also had a visit
from Kurtis Clifford who is the recipient of our famed Mega Tree. Since I am
working toward a new RGB Tree, this now forces the issue as we will have a
large blank in the display without the RGB Tree. He was happy to get it. It
will provide years of use in his display that he is just getting off the
ground himself. A good win-win as they say. I spent some time revamping my
EMT Bending How-To. As I had a guy
locally ask me about it, and wanted some help bending circles, plus I have
to bend a new RGB Tree base for that element. That requires a 10' radius
circle that I had not done before. My first attempt I tried to squeeze 3 -
1" EMT sticks into 120 degree arcs, but alas, that came up short of my 10'.
So I will now create a base with 4 - 90 degree sections. I started to focus
on our annual Christmas gathering meeting planning. Getting sponsors lined
up, and working to get an agenda together. More travel at work. Tracy and I
head to Pullman for the day on Saturday, so busy, busy. More to come. Thanks
for checking in.
3-20-13 - I just stepped outside
to take something to the mail box tonight, and had to come back in to look
at the calendar. Today, we have had wind, hail, rain, sideways rain,
sunshine and now tonight SNOW! Yup it must be the first day of Spring in the
Northwest! The past month has seen a LOT of travel, mostly for work, but one
long weekend to Georgia, Savannah to be specific to see my oldest Nephew
Michael marry his girlfriend Gaby and step son Diego. Savannah is a great
place that Tracy and I will have to go back to [again] visit my sister and
bro-in-law, Marlene & Rich and get some golf in! A LOT of golf in that next
of the woods. In between airplane flights, I have had to focus on taxes,
taxes and some taxes. I had to get my mom's last tax return done, start
organizing for the Family Trust, and at some point very soon, I have to get
my own done and figured out. Always my favorite time of year, NOT! There is
still display stuff in the garage that needs to be put away, and stuff to be
fixed, before it can be put away too. Not too much to report on the display
front except some research and communication on the RGB Tree. I have decided
to add some presents around that tree that will be animated elf singers in
presents. A la Mike Ziemkowski of
Lights on Display. I have been talking to Mike about his elf/presents to
make a version of my own, for 2013. Mine this year will not have mouth
movement, rather just the heads popping out of the boxes for now. Should be
a cute addition. We finalized our plans for Planet Christmas Expo in
Gatlinburg, TN for the summer national meeting, and at some point soon, I
need to start final planning on our Northwest Christmas meeting, we call
C.L.A.P. There is not too much more to update on the display for now, except
we need to start focusing on the yard. There is an arbor to build, and other
home projects to mix in with the Display plans. I will post more as updates
occur. Enjoy Spring!
2-20-13 - I just posted video
number 3. We are on a ROLL! I have one more for sure to edit and post, then
we are done for the year with video. Next year I should be able to post
better quality overall now that I am comfortable with the whole set up. I
still will have the multiple camera angles to contend with, and I plan on
doing a walk though during the daytime as a "behind the scenes" tour. I have
seen these by others and it provide a unique perspective of how these come
together. Ah, but alas I am getting ahead of myself. I managed 3 decent days
on the Tear Down over the long weekend. Thanks to Conner Gracia who pitched
in a hand, all the lights are down, dryed, stored and put away. There is
still a few elements that need dis-assembly in the garage, and a good
majority of the extension cords are still on the lawn to be picked up,
sorted, dried, and put away. Part of Tear Down is always attempting to
organize things, so in the garage, there is now a new set of shelves that
allows more storage of "stuff", Christmas and otherwise. I got it from
Costco and it literally divides the garage in half and the stuff that WAS
there creating that barrier is now on the shelf, which actually now give us
more room in the garage. This coming weekend all the cords will be out of
the yard, THEN, I have to start the usual late winter yard clean up. Get the
plant beds cleaned out from the winter crap dump, (cedar droppings, cones,
leaves, twigs, etc....), weeds and probably the first mow of the season.
There is a lot of fix it projects over the off season, some Christmas
Display related, a lot are house and yard projects. On the display, some
more research has been done, and a few conversations with other light
crazies on the RGB Tree. I ordered new RGB Pixels to replace the LED C9's I
have complained about so much, so the roof outline upgrade is committed for
sure!. That will require an upgrade to an existing pixel, controller that I
had previously (E681 mod to E682), probably assemble the spare E681 I have,
and then figure out my power requirements and enclosures. This should be a
nice upgrade for sure. Gotta run for now, thanks for stopping in and GO SEE
THOSE VIDEOS!
2-13-13 - Our Family Reunion is
now behind us. We spent a week in Las Vegas and Boulder City, NV. Las Vegas
is what it is, we saw the Cirque De Soleil show Ka, at the MGM. Amazing. I
don't mind dropping a few coins on the Blackjack or Craps tables and in this
case, I dropped MANY coins, but had fun. The main activity, the Family
Reunion/Celebration is almost not describable in words, pictures or videos.
They can capture the scene, but not the ambiance. Through agreement with my
siblings, we decided to have a once in a lifetime event for our first ever
family reunion. We had the opportunity to rent
Pirates Cove
in Boulder City, NV. Amazing, stunning, remarkable, there are not enough
accolades to describe this personal resort. A great time was had by our
entire family, and those who attended our Celebration. We certainly created
a lifetime of incredible memories for our family. Now, for me, it is back to
reality and life around here in WA. I have a plate load of things to manage
being the Executor for the families Trust, but I will not try to bore
you with that stuff, except that it does cut into the time I have around the
house and display. On the display front, video is now published and posted
onto Vimeo. In 8 years of doing an animated Christmas display, this is a
first. I have taken heat from peers, relatives, friends and I did not
succumb. The Memorial vignette for my Mom, and wanting to sharing that with
my family,
ultimately made me dedicate the time to get this done. 2 are posted now, and
2 more will follow soon. I have to figure out how to embed the links to show
the Vimeo screen on the Video Page. At least I have
links for now. Beyond that, this weekend, being Presidents Day, it is a long
3 day weekend. I will focus mainly on getting the rest of the display down
and put away. If I can secure some help, I might be able to get it just
about completely down in the 3 days and be done with it. Things to be worked
on outside Tear Down are the local C.L.A.P. meeting in May, and the new
addition for 2013, the RGB Tree. Thanks for checking in.
1-31-13 - The yard is looking
bare except for the Mega Tree, and Spiral Tree. Now there is still miles of
extension cords all over the place, but when you go by, you don't see them.
The garage is full of stuff, the porch still full of blow molds, and I need
to put a lot of stuff away before we head off to the Family Reunion next
Tuesday. There is still a ton of stuff on the roof, and the weather has not
been conducive to getting up there to remove those items. I hope to get the
roof squared away on Saturday, then have a huge putting away party Sunday
morning before Super Bowl! That would leave lights on bushes, tree trunks,
house and rock rivers, the Mega and Spiral Tree to get lights down and
dried. Anyway you look at it, it is still quite a few more days effort, and
will be completed AFTER the Family Reunion. During the week in the evenings,
I have been focused on getting a LED Light order in, looking at data to make
decisions on the new RGN Tree, and working on video of the display. The
catalyst is that I want to complete the video of the Memorial Set we had for
Mom in our display this year, so I can take it to the Reunion. Part of our
Reunion will be a Memorial for our Mom & Dad. I am making a slide show, and
a formal DVD of it and the videos for all our family and friends that are
attending. So the good news is that video is DONE, at least the Memorial
Set, and the family will see it first. Then I can re-render it for Vimeo or
YouTube. I have 3 other songs to edit, and now that I am more comfortable
within the video editing software, I should be able to get it out faster.
However, having 8 camera angles really complicates the editing. I should
hopefully get better in the future. So all told, there should be 5 songs in
video for this year. Again, that won't get fully posted till sometime in
February.
1-20-13 - Snow, COLD, and Tennis
Elbow? We got about 2-3 inches of snow over a week ago, and then the temps
plunged and it has not gone away! While it is slowly receding, there is
still quite a bit in he yard and on the critical access points to the roof.
We have had freezing fog almost every day, and temps getting barely above
freezing during the day! Yesterday was the first full day of Tear Down over
the past few weekends. Today will be another full day. The garage is full of
stuff drying that needs to be put away or in a different spot to wait for me
to fix it. That way I can go get more stuff to clean and let it dry tonight
as well. Oh I forgot. Tennis Elbow. Since mid November or so, my right elbow
has been hurting, a lot. I have a pretty high pain threshold, so I just
grunted it out during the remainder of Set Up, then the Season. It sort of
got a bit better while I was off work for the Christmas Holiday, then when I
sent back to work, it picked up. I thought it may be carpletunnel or
something using my mouse, or the ergonomomics of my home office set up.
Nope, the doc said Tennis Elbow. It has been a LONG time since I played
tennis of any kind on a regular basis. Ibprophen and an elbow band is the
current approach for it. I am working on video! I will be getting the
"dedication set" I had for my Mom done so that I can take it to Las Vegas
and our family reunion/Memorial for our Mom & Dad on Feb 9th. I have been
tinkering a lot with the software to figure things out, and have to focus
getting it done. I have been doing that at night when I had a spare evening.
OK so I am off to get more work done in the garage and yard. Brrrr!
1-8-13 - Last night I started to
break down "The Tree in the Window". I got 3/4 done and needed some help by
Tracy and there it sits for now. Tonight I focused on getting the pictures
finished and posted to Facebook and now the website. I still used the High
Dynamic Range (HDR)technique. I like the way it makes the pictures pop. Some
say they look surreal, and that is true. No matter what, getting pictures of
Christmas lights at night is tough, so why not dress them up some, at least
IMHO. I also spent some time getting ready for the video editing. I am still
not sure how that will all turn out, I hope it goes well. Tomorrow I will
finish the Inside Tree, get it put away and maybe some of the blow molds
that are on the porch. That will at least get the porch almost back to
normal. Thursday or possibly Friday I have to head to Portland on a biz
trip. So we will see what gets done during the rest of the week. Saturday,
Tracy and I will head over the Lake Chelan for a site meeting with our
Architect, getting ready to finalize the plans for our cabin. That will be
exciting to start that process! Tracy is already starting to brim with
ideas. Planning and discussion is taking place on the Family Reunion next
month. I submitted our Donations to SOWA, put in for Cadence my
employer to match some funds. Actually it has been a pretty productive few
days all around. Keep checking back for progress and updates.
1-5-13 - The display is now
technically shutdown. I spent the last 3 nights getting video. This is never
easy, as you all know there is a ton of viewing spots for the display. It is
so tough to capture the feel of it in video, because it is expansive. I did
the best I could, taped my Mom's 3 songs, then 3 others for fun. I took the
videos with my DSLR that is supposed to be WAY better than the older HD
Camcorder (that I will be looking to sell). Getting the settings right
stumps me every time. Some have such elegant videos. I have a very wide, and
deep display. Trying to get it all in focus and have the camera capture it
naturally and clearly is difficult. So I will use this as a good learning
experience. We will see what the editing yields. The last song played before
I shut down the songs and went to the photo loop, was Mom's song Angels
Among Us. Fitting to close the display down with that song. So I went out,
stood next to the Mom Angel and gave it a hug and kiss. When the song
finished and faded, I had a hard time stepping out of the heart. I so
appreciate all the accolades everyone gave regarding that vignette. It was
special, and will have a special place in my heart too. I pulled myself
away, then took one last set of pictures, and then pulled the main power
plug and disconnected all the hardware from the Santa Power Panel. Tear Down
has commenced. I took the Virtual Santa screen off the frame in my office to
get some light in this morning, and the frame is going outside as soon as I
complete this entry. Pete Peters is coming over in a bit to help me fix a
new light that Tracy bought for our entry way. One of the sockets was not
working and in my attempt to get at it to fix it, well, I really fixed it
good. Pete, who is a Master Electrician is coming to my rescue and will be
Tracy's hero to boot!. I got wind that my early season order for LEDs has to
be in by January 24th!!?? I had to give Paul Sessel of CDI an ear full on
that one. Normally it is mid to late February. Now I got a LOT to process in
a short timeframe. So, gotta go, get things moving. Thanks again for your
love and support for the 2012 season. I am already working on 2013!
1-2-13 - Happy New Year!
Our most challenging year to date, is now behind us. We are looking forward
to 2013 and a hopefully more sedate year. I officially closed the Display
last night. I did not get a lot of time to watch the full program, as I was
trying to get some pictures. As always, there is seems to be one or 2 last
cars that drive up just minutes after the show shuts down and I get to break
the bad news that they missed out. To that effect, I told them that there
would be some blinky flashy tonight as I try to get video, LOL! It will not
be the full show, rather a 3-4 song loop. I really do need to document the
tribute we did for my mom, which is the catalyst for wanting to attempt that
effort this year. Woodinville Wonderland Inside is in the process of getting
put away, as Tracy started that late yesterday afternoon. The inside always
looks so bare for the first week after all is put away. Outside of
some difficult weather, and one difficult neighbor who some have labeled
"The Honker", we had a grand season. With Cadence, my employer matching
funds, we will be able to submit a grand total of $6485 to Special Olympics
Washington, and the Northshore Wranglers. This exceeds what we did in 2012!
I can't thank all our visitors enough for your support and charity
throughout the Season. The Season takes its toll on the display items, and
there is quite a lot of light strings to fix as I go through the Tear Down
process. All that fun will start this Saturday for sure. I made notes of
things I would like to change for next year, and one overwhelming thing that
worked well this year, was the Peanuts Gang up on the roof. With the custom
stands made to get them to stay up there, this is a good thing, as they will
get marked and put away to be used next year. Then the big emphasis for 2013
is going to be the RGB Mega Tree that fell out of 2012. I am already looking
at information on that to see which hardware direction I am going to take,
and then start to move on it very soon. I was also approached about our
local Christmas Crazy gathering, we now call C.L.A.P. (Christmas Light
Addiction Program), and we have out date set for May 4th. Planning will need
to start around that effort later in Feb, which is also when I have to have
some idea of an LED light order to my vendor Creative Displays Inc. Never a
dull moment! Next up for me personally is our Family Reunion in Las Vegas on
Feb 9th. So work has to commence on that event, along with the Tear Down
process. Saturday the Jan 12th, looks like a day trip to Lake Chelan to meet
at our property to continue the plans for our cabin to start building this
year. That will be a fun challenge to manage that process, along with all
the rest of everything that goes on in our lives! Thank you for taking the
time to read this Blog, and giving me feedback that you have read it. I
appreciate all of you who extend yourselves.
12-28-12 - New Year and 2013 is
almost upon us. We are still getting some of our friends over to see the
display, and those that come this time of year is nice, since I can spend
more time inside as the visitors wane some at the display. We still get good
crowds, but it is nowhere near as hectic. Yesterday, I spent doing some
errands, making a bank drop of our donations. Of which we are doing great!
Plus this year, I can get Cadence, my employer, to contribute $500 to our
cause. So at this point, we are even what we did last year. I also bit of
maintenance to the display, and there is one or 2 more items that need new
strings, but for the last few days, I probably wont get to them. The ones
affected are almost un-noticeable. Which leaves today as a completely open
and off day for me. What to do with myself. I still have to get
photos, and I have to video my Mom's section of the show for my family. So
maybe I will spend part of today reviewing the camera to get that done. I
also found out that my Nephew Michael and his fiancé are getting married in
March somewhere in the southeast, so we have another trip to plan back east!
It is shaping up to be a busy personal travel year already for us. So in the
mean time, I get to start evaluating what I want to do differently for next
year, go over the season to make notes for improvements, and start to figure
out some sort of LED light order. As I have mentioned in the past, I piggy
back off one of my primary vendors 2013 order, but I have to have some idea
of what I want and submit it to him by the middle to end of February. So my
display is not even tore down and put away, and I have to think about LEDs!
I burned through a lot of spares, and I have inventory that is low. It
amazes guests when I tell them I keep more inventory as spares, as some do
on entire houses! With a display our size, I need to keep them on hand for
sure. Looks like Mom Nature is going to settle down some through the New
Year and give us some good viewing weather to finish out the season as well!
You still have a few nights to catch another visit or 2 and you will almost
have the display to yourselves. Enjoy.
12-25-12 - MERRY CHRISTMAS! What
a day, what a night, what a season! We were again honored to have Santa and
Mrs Claus visit us last night to make everyone's Christmas Eve that much
more special. It was just part of a fabulous and memorable night. Christmas
Eve Night was my families special time. We opened presents many years at
midnight and shared time together as a family. So last night at midnight, I
launched a special tribute show for my Mom & Dad. As a family, Tracy, Chris,
his girlfriend Amber and I shared hugs, kisses, tears and a toast for them
both. I spread a bit of their ashes inside the heart that is the Memorial
Vignette. We had the Memorial Announcement, Angels Among Us, the Memorial
Song, and Stille Nacht, which was my Mom's favorite song. She loved our
version and the way it looked on our house and yard. It was my first and
still favorite show song. I have no words to describe the emotion of this
season, and what it meant to me, and to finally get to this day. I have
struggled all Season with tears and smiles each night that I was outside and
heard her song. Many of my visitors have shared those moments, voiced how
fitting and tasteful our Memorial has been. Families always have
trials and tribulations, but the love runs deep, and our family is no
different. I miss both my parents, and with Mom just leaving us this year,
today is especially hard. Thank you Mom and Dad for everything you are to
me. I love you both very much. I would love one more Christmas morning
hug...........
12-24-12 - Christmas Eve. The
most anticipated night of the entire year for youth and adults alike. For
me, it also means that our Season is closer to being over as well, and that
always makes me a bit sad. With all said and done, we have had a great,
great season. I love the support from all our visitors, the laughter,
smiles, and seeing the wonder in everyone's eyes. Tonight will be more so.
There is some maintenance to do on the display. For some reason, I have had
a lot of blue C6's fail on my window wraps. Problem is, they have all been
on the upper part of the house! I have 3 more strings to replace up there.
On the "Forest" Trees next to the Spiral Tree that everyone loves, there are
several "Super Strings" that need replacing as well. Maybe on Wednesday
after all the festivities, because then I think about pictures to post. Last
night we had a cool visit from a guy in Monroe who puts lights on his entire
CAR. That was impressive I must say. I still have my Christmas Cards/letter
to get out in the mail. They have never gone out this late, but it is what
it is, as I always say. Everyone will then have some time to really read
that long diatribe I put together. Merry Christmas everyone.
12-22-12 - Our busiest night of
the year is over and what a night it was! We are right at $4K for donations
for SOWA. Not bad at all. A bit behind from last year, but last year was off
the charts with the fantastic weather. We have had a lot of nasty nights
this year, but the one thing that always amazes me, is that there is always
folks watching during the night. Tonight, we had a special treat. Mr. & Mrs
Claus, driving one of the coolest sleds around, stopped in and dazzled our
guests. Pam & Stan Pauley tricked out a 1955 Belair for the Season.
They drive around Woodinville and the area spreading Christmas cheer. This
was amazing timing as I had seen them this week driving around and needless
to say, my mind was spinning around like crazy! They are part of the Home
Town, Woodinville Classic Cruisers Car Club. I hope to be meeting with Stan
to plan on some special night to come in the future. OK feet back on the
ground after that update. Tonight I was starting to come down with some bug,
cause I felt it in my throat. Hopefully I can fight it of through the
Holiday. I have never been sick since I have been doing the display, and
don't want to start now. I FINALLY got a song, that I have had for 3 years
in my display tonight. Fabian Gordon, another Crazy Light Guy in Texas had a
super cool edited version of Go Fish's, "Christmas With a Capital C" I
worked on getting it in for this year, and am sooo glad I did. For the first
live look, it did not look bad. I can probably let it ride as-is for the
rest of the season. Christmas, the big night is now one night away. Tomorrow
I have some shopping to do for our Golden Girls, but after that, I am done.
In case any relatives or friends are reading this, our Christmas
Cards/letter is WAY late and will not go out till Christmas Eve at best. The
latest EVER to get our Cards out. Sorry! Off to bed, I am beat. Wat a great
night!

12-16-12 - We are just over 2
weeks into our Season, and it has not been without challenge. The weather
has been scattered, but has not slowed the crowds down too much, but we are
off a bit from last year. This should have started our busy weekend nights.
Friday was pretty good. Our volunteers had a great time, and told Tracy this
was the best Community Service ever. That made me feel good. Friday was very
steady. Saturday saw the Daisy Troop to sell hot chocolate and cider. About
and hour and 45 into the shift, the power in our area went out! Yikes.
Things went pitch black. We had a stream of cars coming up the hill to see
the display. A few stayed and waited out what was over 90 minute
outage (fortunately), most turned away and a very few came back a bit later.
Over 90 minutes lost in prime time! Oh well, you roll with it. It
could have been longer for sure. So we did salvage some time for visitors.
Tonight the weather again was a mixed bag, and we are expecting winds during
the night. Oh yeah, our generator is on the fritz and needs to be taken in
for service. Hopefully there won't be an outage of any length tonight! The
weekend brought a great visit with my sister and bro-in-law, Marlene & Rich.
We had a great time and visit. She had not been to Seattle in a LONG time,
and needless to say, has never seen the display. Tracy, Marlene and I had a
nice hug and cry during the first playing of Angels Among Us, by Alabama,
the Memorial song for my mom. I think that whole dedication came together
rather nicely and those whom I have told about our year, have truly
appreciated what we have done, and seen the love that we have and want to
share with my mom and our guests. I have still been fighting issues in the
yard and the display, and a bit of maintenance needs to be done before our
super busy weekend next weekend. All told, we have had more issues than
usual, but again, you roll with it and put your best foot forward. Today I
took most of the day off and chilled around the house. I did manage to start
the annual Christmas letter, and will complete it during the early part of
the week if we have power! Thanks to those of you who read these rants. They
have been a bit dry, I admit, as I want to post updates and have not taken
more time to think about what I want to post. Hopefully you give me a bit of
slack :) Peace.
12-11-12 - Once the season
arrives, it is mayhem around me and the display. Especially this year. I am
juggling balls with the display, and at work. Things will start to settle
down in one sense, just to pick up in another. This weekend, I plan that we
will start to get busy at the display. We had our last "dark" night last
night. I am not sure I like that format, and will have to think more on that
approach. The Judy Pancoast concert was great! While we thought Bob Rivers
was going to make it, alas, his schedule too got the best of him. So we hope
to see him this week. We got about 100 visitors to see Judy, slightly down
from what I thought may show up, but it was mid week. I added a new
wireframe to the Sani-Can that I hope to get pictures of soon. It is a Santa
Cresent Moon as you would expect on an Outhouse! Too funny. I have been
fighting gremlins within my DMX Universe. I have been checking and swapping
hardware out, attempting to fix strobes, and troubleshoot stuff. That is
just a by product of a display this size. Of my large Zap Strobes, they both
have been acting up and I have a spare on the way. Hopefully it gets here
tomorrow. I think I have some of the gremlins figured out and will see
tonight when the show kicks off. This week also sees a visit from my Sister
Marlene and Bro-in-law Rich, who will be arriving on Thursday to spend the
weekend with us. Tracy and I are looking forward to spending time with them,
and sharing the Memorial for our Mom. I haven't mentioned that too much in
anticipation of Marlene's trip. I personally have yet to fall into a rhythm
around the season, but it will get there for sure. I am personally behind in
our Christmas Letter and Cards. They will have to wait till next week, which
is cutting it close. I need to get 2012 pictures of the display, and we are
expecting winds tonight and then again later in the week. Hopefully it will
not blow too hard. The weather has been so-so, but again, we live in Seattle
and it is December. Man, where did the year go to.
12-5-12 - Tonight is the big
night with Judy Pancoast. Judy got into the area last night and stopped in
for dinner. We had a very nice relaxing evening. After she left, I was
outside getting the yard stobe light stingers on the lawn! So the display is
tightening up, things are running a bit better every day. We are still not
100% but most will never know it. Tonight for the concert, also marks my
first shift with my WHS volunteers for the Season. I am looking forward to
the help. I am not sure I like the dark nights. I am still trying to get
caught up at work for the end of our business year as well. So I am still
juggling balls with my schedule. On Monday the 10th, I will be dark, and
heading to L.A. again just for a day trip to check on some things down there
and see a buddies display, Mike Ziemkowski of the famed Lights on Display. I
am really looking forward to seeing it live! Our next big event is a visit
by my sister Marlene coming out with her hubby from Georgia to see the
display for the first time! We are looking forward to a great visit with
them for sure. That is about it for now. Keep checking back for updates.
12-3-12 - We are off and
running! Well, to be honest, we are jogging pretty good. Saturday's Light
Up! was a bit nerve wrecking when 5pm came, and there was about 30 people
chomping at the bit for the show to go off, and nothing happened. Due to a
biz trip Thursday and Friday, I had no time to do a dress rehearsal and
Saturday was it. We were about 25 minutes late, and the crowd was very
supportive, but happy when things started to blink and flash. So, dress
rehearsal is just that. You go with everything to work out the final
bugs. The computer "show" that I spent time on to figure out while I was in
San Jose, did not run. I figured it out quickly and had to re-do the show
line up. Then I spent the first 90 minutes chatting with guests, excusing
myself, running into the yard to fix this and that. The most major problem I
had was an 18" length of CAT5e communications cable that was messing up the
DMX on the roof. Once I figured that out, BOOM, the snowflakes on the roof
came alive. I still have some issues with them, that I am working on today
to see what is causing some erratic behavior. Otherwise, things went pretty
well. Sunday I worked on some display punch list stuff, and there are still
some lights not in the yard. I had to help Mrs Clause, Tracy with the inside
of the house to finish it, as we had some special guests Sunday night. Nancy
Foley and her daughter Glenda's family. So, we had a great first 2 day and
tonight I we see how our dark days in the schedule due. Tonight and the
Monday the 10th I am taking off to get other things done and take a break.
These are my slowest nights of the season. Everyone LOVES the Peanuts
Nativity up on the roof, all are complimentary so far on the Memorial for
Mom. It needs a bit of tweaking as any new vignette always does, to make it
stand out. Pete my neighbor is always my conscious on these things and he is
right most of the time. Now we start getting ready for Judy Pancoast on
Wednesday! I hope we have a great turn out for her, right now it looks like
the weather will hold as well. Keep checking back.
11-28-12 - WHEW! I have never
kept track of hours, and this year I ran a total. Since Friday Nov 16th, to
now, I have about 125 hours into the display set up. All that in 13 days!
There is so much that goes into that total. As of today, we are set up and
tested for a Dec 1st Light Up! There is still a good punch list to complete
which will have to be late Friday night and all day Saturday as tomorrow I
jet to San Jose on a biz trip. What a road it has been. Mom Nature saw to
dump, I mean DUMP!, on us during the week of Thanksgiving, which I had off,
then proceed to give me almost 4 full days of dry weather to do my power
grid, communications and interconnect. It started raining tonight again as I
was doing my controller testing. Tonight I was adjusting my Excel
Spreadsheet and updating my sequence template after all the adjustments to
the connections. This was due to controller proximity, hardware
difficulties, etc.... So the show needs to be adjusted, but we will Light
Up! on our planned date of Dec 1st. Plus I had to pull double duty inside
for Tracy as well. Thanksgiving and the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert was
in that 13 days, which gave me some needed time off and breaks. I cannot
thank one of my best friends Tom Lieb, enough. He came up for a visit from
Roseville, CA. Him and his lovely wife Lisa stayed with us for somewhat of a
visit, but Tom helped me to get things done to maintain what schedule I was
holding to. So as of today, the punch list is long that still exists, but
manageable. The important thing is, that we will Light Up! on schedule, Dec
1st. It may be a bit rough, and some things on the punch list can be pushed
out as they are not critical. I head out of town on a biz trip tonight. Once
I get home late Friday night, I will be working down the punch list. Today I
met with some of my volunteers from WHS Key Club and Honor Society. For my
busy nights, I approached them for help, and they were excited to
participate. Today I gave an orientation to them regarding responsibilities.
I am welcoming the help on our busiest of nights. So there will be a lot of
changes to the display function, with just a few added items for features. I
really hope everyone enjoys what we have for them to see, because only a few
are truly aware of the difficulty in my life this year to get here. Come on
Saturday! and Light Up!
11-25-12- Sorry for the length
between updates. Been posting to Facebook a bit more because it is a bit
quicker. We are at the tail end of my vacation from work to get Set Up
complete. As of today, we are finished with the yard layout and are starting
to lay out the power grid. Which is a lot. I have switched and un-switched
circuits that need to be planned and balanced for load. Mom Nature has given
us our warmest Set Up week ever, but alas, probably one of the wettest as
well. We have had a LOT of hard, hard rain fall this past week. While we can
work in it, it certainly slows progress tremendously, not to mention, the
frustration it causes, period. By Friday I was really just looking at the
sky saying "Come on already" :( We have had a nice visit with our good
friends Tom & Lisa visiting from Roseville, and Tom has been awesome with
help, even in the pissing weather. While I am still behind schedule, thanks
to Tom, I am less behind. The yard is juggled up enough to look fresh,
without a lot of overall updates. The Memorial section for my Mom has turned
out great. It will be a nice tribute to her. I finished the song for now, I
have to see it in live action to see what needs to be tweaked. With my
schedule, I head back to work tomorrow, and have to juggle things a lot. It
is going to be a whirlwind for the next week, but I am still hoping to
make the December 1st Light Up! Check back.
11-8-12 - It's my Blog,
Christmas or otherwise, it is my random thoughts, hopefully mostly about the
display and life. This is the only political statement I have made in it
over the years, but here goes. I lean Republican, mostly independent, and
just a little bit to the right side of center. This election was the most
frustrating I have ever remembered. The campaigning notwithstanding, the
country is just changing from when I grew up. From hardworking proud
individuals to those who feel they are entitled and expect the government to
provide. The next 4 years will see radical changes toward a European
mindset, and we see where that is now, along with Socialism, Communism
etc.... What ever happened to Capitalism and free enterprise. OK enough. On
the display, the computer work is still in progress. I am trying to squeeze
in a new song besides the new Memorial song. So 2 new ones. Surprises. Last
weekend saw a lot of work outside, including hauling the majority of stuff
out of hiding and getting ready to put it in the yard. Mom Nature is giving
us an early Fall, the leaves are 97% finished and the gardeners got most of
them up today. This weekend I head to Pullman WA for Fathers weekend with my
stepson Chris at WSU and I am looking forward to it. Although, the HIGH temp
for the weekend is listed at 34 degrees. Man it is going to be cold for the
Cougar Football game Sat night. Early next week, I will get the final mow
done, then the yard can commence. Earlier than Thanksgiving week! At this
time of year it is a juggling game with work, display, and life. My mom's
house that we sold closed today. So an era is finalized. The neighbor couple
who bought it are perfect for the place, and they will love and respect it
along with their 3 yr old son Bodhi. I love that name! My estate work is
still a work in progress, but a significant amount is done, I only have to
worry about taxes and the Family Reunion next year. All said and done, life
could be worse. Check back.
11-1-12 - Just a quick update.
Today we fire up our local radio station. We broadcast 24x7, out entire
Christmas Music Collection between now and New Years. I will listen during
the day while working from home, and when outside in the yard or garage, I
will be tuned in as well. So if you are in the area, tune to 101.9 FM and
listen to our broadcast. NO commercials or irritating DJ's or announcements.
Our computer work is progressing nicely. We are DONE with the major updates
to the existing songs/bits/jokes from our show. Now I add 2 new jokes, and
introduction to our Memorial song for Mom, I need to sequence the new song,
with a little help from a friend Kevin Thomas. Thanksgiving is early this
year, and that will play into our Set Up! plans a bit. Slowly but surely we
are moving toward Light Up! on December 1st. Here are some pictures of
Command Central and our radio set up. The laptop literally runs everything
for our show and radio station. The FM transmitter is tuned to output on
101.9 FM. This time of year I use the little "pencil" whip antenna you see
attached on the left. Then I have shots of the screens. The laptop shows you
the Zara Radio software interface, and you can see just how small the FM
Transmitter really is, but this is a phenomenal unit.

10-28-12 - Friday, there was a
Memorial for Bill Foley. Most won't know who Bill is that read this.
However, Bill and his wife Nancy have become Golden Nuggets in my life. Bill
was a mentor of mine when I started to grow Woodinville Wonderland, and over
the past 7 years, have become great friends. Bill is one of those
individuals that make everyone around him a better person, for having been
associated with him. Bill sadly lost his second battle with prostrate cancer
recently. We held our annual NW Christmas meetings at their house. I will
miss Bill greatly, and he is another part of the rough year I personally
have been having. OK, too many downers this year in this Blog. Moving on. A
productive weekend. We had rain on Saturday, and a nice day today. So while
Mother Nature rained on our parade, literally, I worked on the ground. Got 3
of 5 hedges trimmed out, porch CC posts installed, porch bushes trimmed out,
and put together the Spiral and Tree w/in a Tree frames getting ready to
sting those lights. Now that may not sound like much, but there were a lot
of light strings to be tested before putting them in place. Today since
there was no rain, I had to finish the new Peanuts Gang raise to the roof,
put Mr. & Mrs. Santa Harley (Mrs. Harley is new this year) up there as well.
Now that does not seem like much, but there was a lot of parachute cord, &
240 lbs of sand, to be put in place to secure everything before the nasty
weather hit. We are getting dumped with rain tonight, and it hit right about
dinner time. Tracy and our next door neighbor Pete, have been behind and
supporting the Peanuts Gang request for raises. As with everything we do
here at WW, anytime we have to dole out more compensation, change takes
time. So the accommodations took more than I anticipated. I am not sure that
I like the new circumstances, but Tracy and Pete are 100% behind the raise
and think it looks great. Out numbered again! No pictures till the Season
starts, so you will have to come by and see the changes ahead of time if you
are interested. I am almost done with my current sequence updates. Which
means that I can start on the new jokes (2 new), Mom Memorial introduction,
and finish her Memorial song. My partner in crime, Kevin Thomas (Wirekat)
has offered to get me a start on the Memorial song. I mucho appreciate that!
So while a lot of technical updates fell off the plate this season, I am
feeling pretty good about Set Up! and where we stand to date. 5 pretty good
days of work so far. Again, that is me by myself.
10-21-12- We went from t-shirt
and shorts the first few days of Set Up! to long pants and at times, long
sleeve shirt. What a difference a week makes. Last weekend we took off
because Tracy and I were in L.A. We met my nephew Michael to spend some of
the last moments in the house that I grew up in. We signed a contract with
neighbors who are buying it, loaded up a mini van with the last of the stuff
I needed to get out, and drove home to Seattle. Leaving this time, marked
the end of a huge book in my life. The house will now be fumigated, have an
Estate Sale and be transferred to our neighbors who are buying it. We should
close in late November. It was a sad moment getting pictures with Meg and
Paul, long time neighbors for my Mom. However, there was some Christmas
involved. I took home some Christmas decorations that have been in the
family for decades. Then, Tracy and I met Mike Ziemkowski, of the famed
"Z-Tree", in Sherman Oaks on our way out of town. We saw some of his
new additions for 2012, We got the chance to admire and hold his famous Emmy
from last year. Then we had a wonderful lunch with him and his Mom.
Tracy and I stayed that Sunday night with our friends Tom & Lisa in their
new home in Roseville, WA. Then we trekked it home, braving torrential rains
as we got into Oregon. Yup, Fall is definitely here. This weekend was spent
getting the Peanuts Gang a new spot in the yard, well actually on the house.
The roof to be more specific. Tracy has been wanting them there since she
first saw them at Kyle and Megan Carlson's display 4 years ago. They finally
made it. It was no easy feat getting them up there and making sure they
would be secure enough through the weather. I think we got it though. There
is still a few things to go up on the roof, and if the weather allows, that
will be next weekend. We have a long way to go outside for sure, and having
Thanksgiving early this year is going to help. We got the porch completed
and next we will finish the roof, then start on bushes and wraps. Evenings
during the week, are now allocated to updating sequences and getting one new
song added. Time is ticking away, and we will see after next weekend how we
stand. Keep checking back for update.
10-8-12 - One full week of
October behind us. One week closer to Light Up! and the season, one week
closer the end of the year, and hopefully a better 2013. Bare with me a
second, I don't mean to be a downer, but I lost my mom, could still
potentially lose Tracy's mom, had 2 very special people in my life, one came
back from a "near death experience", one is battling prostrate cancer and is
in CCU himself, plus Tracy still has issues and complications with her
wrist, that may require surgery to fix (i.e, re-break, set, cast), we find
out today as a matter of fact. Last Sunday would have been my Mom's 86th
Birthday, and it was the first in 52 years, that I could not wish her a
Happy B-Day. You need to put things in perspective I guess, but how? I have
always been a strong person internally, and I guess I now know why I have
that trait. So, yes, the display is moving forward, slowly. It may not be
what I want it to be, but right now, it is a welcome distraction if that
makes sense at all. You may be thinking, where are your priorities man.
Well, one of those priorities is to ensure I have a balance at all times.
Right now, focusing on the display is my balance point, otherwise, then I
would be going nutso. Soooo, we have had 3 glorious days to focus on the
display. I mean shorts and t-shirt hot weather. We are having an Indian
Summer here in the PacNW and almost no rain in almost 3 months. Icicles are
up, Bethlehem Star, red roof outline, House C9 outline, Roof Snowflake fall
brackets are in place. During the week, I actually started serious computer
work (in between hospital visits). I am glad I got a jump on things, as I
will lose this next weekend on account that I have another trip to L.A. to
visit mom's house, get the last of the items I want, and to drive back. I
connected with WHS and the Key Club, so it looks like I will have volunteer
help this year with our busy nights. Check that off the list. 4000 candy
canes are ordered and on their way. I really need to get my checklist down
for all the minute details that need to be dealt with. The roof will get an
overhaul and that is partially what I was working on this weekend as well. I
can't give away all the details as you will need to visit and see or wait
for me to post pictures during the season. I had a very nice visit wtih
Roger DeBolt of Boise. He was in Seattle for the weekend, and we spent 3
hours or so Sunday afternoon talking lights and life. Thanks Roger for a
very welcome diversion and some great ideas! Well, we are moving, sort of
limping along, and we see where the next 7 weeks takes us. Thanks for taking
the time to stop in and read my rants. I really like it when someone
mentions things in casual conversation and then I realize it came from this
page.
9-29-12 - Today was very
productive. I decided that in fact tomorrow we will commence with Set Up! So
today I started getting ready by pulling some totes out of the shed, and
placing them into the protected area along side the shed. One of the big
reasons I covered that area is to put totes there and protect them from the
weather. By pulling some totes out of the shed, it allows me room in the
loft where the Christmas stuff is stored to work, move things to get at
totes I need etc.... You kind of get a feel in the pics below. I did get a
new Donation Box for this year. Once I took delivery of it, I then realized
that the entrance would need an overhaul, as the post was shorter that old
box. It is also a bigger box, which causes some mods to get it to work. The
old box allowed me to put the display flyer and sign on it. I modified the
post and receiver today, and while doing so, found .11 cents dropped in the
rocks. So we have a start for our SOWA donations for the year! Afterward, I mocked up
Box to take the pics below. Now I am
redoing the mistletoe setup, by making another (taller) Candy Cane pole,
with a light, hang the mistletoe and Display Flyer box/sign on it. At least
you can see what the new Donation box looks like. The new mistletoe/flyer
Candy Cane post is being worked on, and not yet completed. The Donation box
is larger overall, 2 piece so the box bolts to the post. and it now has a
door to pull. Having it in 2 pieces is definitely more convenient. The
advantage of the shorter post, is that kids can now reach it without being
lifted by their parents. Next year I will put a mod on it, so that when you
pull the door open, a light or something will turn on. Mr. Snowman got his
final touch ups today and is done as seen below as well. Mrs. Snowman
will go as-is this year, but will need some attention most likely next year.
I also mocked up the memorial vignette I will have for my Mom this year. I
had Tracy review it, and she gave a fabulous idea to help make it stand out.
No pics or clues as it will be the surprise addition for the year. Last
night I tested a firefly laser in the trees. I need to design weatherproof
enclosures, and 4 or 5 of them will get used this year buzzing the trees and
a bush. Lastly, I pulled out the Icicle lights, pulled off 25 strings,
tested them and we are ready for the roof tomorrow. Below you can see how I
store them. Those 25 strings represent my single largest electricity draws
in the display. I have babied these strings over the years, as most of them
are almost, if not, as old as our house at 15 years. Hanging them like I do
keeps them straight can causes less wear and tear on the sockets. Alas, as
the clock strikes midnight tonight, it would have been Mom's 86 Birthday
tomorrow. Happy Birthday Mom. I love and miss you.



9-23-12 - Well, I got some
things done this weekend. Finished all the Mini/Chase Trees. 32 done. Whew.
Glad that one is behind me. The concentric EMT rings were mounted for the
Tree w/in a Tree base. Some of the paint needed touching up. Check that one
off the list. Next I started the Snow Family fix. Mr. Snowman, of Yellow
Snow vignette fame, needed a bit more fixing than anticipated. As you can
see from the pics below, he needed almost the entire left side build ups
replaced. Putting him away last year, I noted only the left glove. The Snow
Family, as written in the past, are one of my first home made items for our
display. Mister is probably 14 years old. They all have had numerous paint
jobs and touch ups. This is the first major overhaul. I checked his scarf
and I thought about leaving it for the season, but it really needed
replacing as well. The parts were spongy and once removed, the wood was very
damp, so the moisture was sealed in and the wood was deteriorating. Based on
these characters, I did a
Build Up How - To a few years ago. However, I am re-thinking some of the
decisions in that document. Like, on the 3D parts. I am going to use solid
wood instead of hardwood plywood. Those pieces tend to be small, very
detailed and the intersections need to be primed, and possibly caulked
before final paint. I kept the plans on these for just occasions like this.
Mrs. Snowman needs some work as well. Maybe during the week I can split time
with garage and computer. Set Up is supposed to commence next Sunday, the
30th. I have moved this to Around Oct 1st and working only on weekends. So
there will only be fixing things just to make them show ready. I still have
computer work to do. Dec 1st is Light Up! The icicles are always the first
to go up. My, my, my, this year has really snuck up on me.

9-22-12 - Almost a month since
my last update. I just got back from a 6 day business trip to Boston. While
there, it was told that I would not be going to China this year. I really do
like that trip, but doing it around Halloween was always a cramp in the
schedule. It was better when we moved it to May. Anyway, I may have to go
sometime in Q1 of next year. I have 30 of 32 Chase/Mini Trees done. I have
gotten a new piece delivered that will be merged with these tree's to make
the memorial for my mom this season. I think it should turn out very nice. I
won' give more details till later. The Chinese vendor I am working with on
the roof outline upgrade has put me in a bind. I paid for stuff 3 weeks ago
and it is still not yet here. A lot of us use a guy named Ray Wu for pixels
and other items. For some reason he has not shipped it, but I was told it
would go out on Tuesday. Which means another 8 day delay :( I am not at all
happy. I am really coming into this season very lackadaisical. So starting
today, there has to be a concerted effort to get things moving. I am not
changing or adding too much, but I have programming that needs to be
started. Once the last 2 Trees are wrapped with lights, I start the fixit
list from my notes at the end of last season. Next week, on the 29th, I
start the process of Set Up. It's hard to fathom that the season is coming
quickly and we are just over 2 months from Light Up. Yikes!
8-29-12- I was so proud of my
second concentric EMT circle base for the Tree Within a Tree frame that I
wrote up a new How-To. This one on the finer points of precision EMT
bending. I have never seen anything on the forums on this topic, so it would
be good to get it out there for all to see and use. A bit detailed to cover
all the nuances, but I think it turned out great. Check it out:
Precision EMT Bending
8-27-12 - Tonight I finished my
newly recreated Master
Spreadsheet. I go more into this document with a new addition to the
"Behind the Scenes"
section on the "How-To" page. Also to date, I have
completed 16 of 32 new Chase Trees. Half way done. My hands and fingers are
REALLY tired even though I use a zip tie gun. I can get a couple done a
night, and still have time to work on the computer. My 2012 Sequence
Template has been updated with the new changes so far, and I am just about
ready to start my computer work. I may make one more change/addition as
mentioned previously, the replacement of the roof outline C9's with RGB
pixels. If they make it, they will be "dumb" pixels and not "intelligent". I
started to work with a Chinese vendor for the pixel and lenses. More on that
in another update to the "How-To", at a later time.
I had a good buddy, Pete Peters, give me a lesson in electrical conduit
bending yesterday. I need to do this periodically. Currently, I am making 4
new concentric circles out of metal 3/4" conduit. These will go on the "Tree
Within a Tree" frame. What I used before was the PVC conduit version. So
there is a 3', 4', 5' and 6' circle I make. Each circle allows me to attach
lights to for a particular color. I am mainly doing this to get some
experience doing it for the RGB Tree next year, and it will improve the Tree
Within a Tree frame. I have a bending station that I made up to assist with
this. I will get a picture. I have also started to look at my To-Do List to
get an idea of what needs to be fixed before "Set Up" commences. Thanks for
looking in on our progress.
8-20-12 -
I was
looking over the webpage and realized some pages needed a bit of an update,
and there had not been a Blog entry for almost 3 weeks. So I sat down to
freshen things up. First I adjusted the Blog Font type to make it easier to
read this stuff. My eyes are getting older for sure, and this is easier for
me to read! When I keyed in the date, I realized it has been exactly a month
since my Mom passed away. I was in L.A. for a week after she passed away,
and I will be heading back down Labor Day Weekend, to meet my Brother and
Sister, spend some time together, go through her house, and make some
decisions on the estate. It has taken a while to get back in the swing of
things. Emotionally I am OK. I am more happy for Mom than anything else.
While I will miss her terribly, she is now not in pain, and where she wanted
to be with my Dad. So we will be dedicating this season to her. The biggest
issue for me, and I am sure it is somewhat depression related, is that I
was/am physically drained from everything. I am still recouping from that. I
also got a virus of some sort, and had to go to the Doc to get some
antibiotics. We also had a Wedding Celebration Party for Tracy's oldest son
Cameron, new wife Heidi, along with new grandson Jake. Then we had to get
Chris, the youngest back to WSU for his senior year. So with everything
going on, I JUST got around to picking up activity
on the Display yesterday. So if you look down at the entry dated 6/23, you
see a picture of the new Mini Chase Trees. Of the 32 I am adding, 12 are
done. As of last week, I made the decision to postpone the new RGB Tree
addition. This for 2 reasons. First the logistics did not work out. With the
time I had to spend managing Mom, I lost a lot of ground working to get
hardware secured. I was going to settle on a plug and play option here, a
bit more spendy, but with the time I lost, it would of helped get it done
faster. Well, that decision came back to bite me. Had I of gone down a Do It
Yourself hardware path, I might have had some chance. My vendor is not ready
with product I wanted, (and was told would be ready last month). Then there
is the pure programming aspect. Coming this late into a major addition, the
sequences would have been so-so. The Mega Tree that the RGB Tree is
replacing is a major component in the Display. The RGB Tree will be a HUGE
addition for sure, but if the implementation this year was shoddy, I would
not have been comfortable with that. So instead, what I may try to pull off
is a RGB roof outline. I have red LED C9 bulbs that profile the roof tiers.
If I just replace those, I could upgrade the display a bit. We will see.
I did manage to upgrade the Donation Box. The old one did a great job and
has found a new home at West Seattle Lights. I went back to Fort Knox
Mailbox and had them customize one for me. I got it bigger, so that on the
busy nights, I won't have to make a drop during the middle of the show. I
was never really comfortable when I had to do that. The new box needs some
tweaking to work, and in 2013 I hope to have it interactive somehow, so that
when you open the door, it switches a light or sign of some sort. I will
post pics after I get it modified. Tonight I sit down and start to go
through logistics. I have to update my display spreadsheet with the new
controllers for the Chase Trees, the replacement hedge planted in 2009, on
the west side of the house is only now ready to have lights put back on it.
So I need to figure lights, a channel, and add it back into all the
sequences. Once the spread sheet is ready, I can program my new 2012
Sequence Template. This becomes the baseline for the new feature additions.
THEN I can sit down and start to update the sequences (the computer
work/programming). The goal now is to add one new song. I want to revamp
some of the announcements, certainly the Opening and Closing remarks, and
see if I can freshen up the jokes and bantering bits. THEN I have to start
the fix-it list from the issues noted at the end of last year. Ahhhhh...........
we are behind for sure. Lots to do in the next few months. Keep checking
back for our progress.
8-1-12 - In our lives we get occasional reminders that
life is fragile, and needs to be lived to the fullest extent we can. We got
one of those reminders on July 20th when one of the main Lights in our life
passed from this world into Heaven. Sadly Mark's mom passed away after a
pretty short, quick decline following an accidental fall. Our life has been
consumed in the past 3 months with adversity here and in L.A. As sad as we
are to lose Mom, we understand that life goes on. Difficult as it may be,
those who survive a passing, need to turn to each other and those around us
for support, and continue to live life. We will do that. I find myself lost
at times on what to do next. There is so much to do to put life back
together, that it requires a focus to determine our course of action. There
is still healing to do, an estate to settle, a home life to embrace, work
and yes our Display. It is hard to think about Christmas, festivities and
celebrations when we are still grieving. Today, I need to really make a
concerted effort to put a short plan together to manage things moving
forward. Please keep my Mom and family in your prayers in the coming months
as we put our lives back together and move forward.
7-10-12 - As the saying goes, "when it rains, it
pours". The day after my post below, my lovely wife Tracy became an
invalid. She was playing badminton, went to retrieve a birdie, rolled her
ankle, badly spraining it, but the big blow was as she fell, she broke her
left wrist. This is a woman, lucky enough to not have ever broken a bone in
her life, till now. Now a double whammy with the ankle. If that was not
enough, I got word the very next day, that my Mom was heading back into the
hospital. So I was torn with duty. I am certainly being challenged and
tested for something. What, I am not quite sure. Tracy is going to get
better eventually, Chris is home from college, and the neighbors can help,
but Mom was failing. So I had to head off to L.A. earlier than usual. My,
my, my. We got mom over her health hurdle and back home. I then came back to
Seattle. Tracy and I were supposed to head to Reno to visit our friends, Tom
& Lisa Lieb for the 4th of July and my Birthday. Well, Tracy has been in a
lot of pain and discomfort with her wrist. So we canceled Reno for now. OK
so I had a week off, because Cadence was closed for the 4th, so what to do
beside playing housemaid and nurse. Well, so this all sounds like the lyrics
to a bad country western song of late, but not all is bad news. Tracy's
oldest son Cameron during the week off, married his fiancé, Heidi. So we
have a new daughter & grandson-in-law in the family. This was the bright
point of the week for sure. Tracy has been planning a engagement/marriage
party at our house for a few weeks, and has a list of Honey-Do's to get the
yard ready. One of them is the planter beds badly needed composting. They
look marvelous once that is done, but there is a lot of sweat that goes into
tossing about 13-14 yards of compost. So instead of hiring it out, (because
all extra cash has been going into plane tickets to L.A. lately), I did it
myself. As of this writing it is 95% done. 12 yards have been bought, hauled
home, and shoveled into the beds. I still have one yard to get into the
center island planter bed, but that will have to this coming weekend. I did
a trailer load a day for 4 days. My utility trailer holds about 3 yards.
Once down, it has to be watered to have it settle. My birthday was on the
6th, and I spent it tossing compost. So, then Mom goes BACK into the
hospital AGAIN, on my birthday! The fun never stops around here! I was not
going to make another trip down, so I managed things from here as best as
possible. She goes home today again, still with 24x7 home care, but we also
have gotten her on Hospice. That should stop the knee jerk 911, hospital,
transition care, home cycle. Thankfully I have a things set up to care for
her, and have enough confidence that she will be well managed in the time
she has remaining. In the mean time, life goes on. So no work on the display
in almost 10 days. This will be a challenging year to pull something
together in December, but the "Show Will Go On!" Keep my, Tracy and my Mom
in your thoughts and prayers.
6-23-12 - Movement. Finally a project started on the
display. I started to talk about this on the
Facebook page.
There will be 32 new Chase Trees in the yard. These were inspired by my
buddy Kevin Thomas (Wirekat)
who has over 90 trees running up his driveway. A look that I always have
loved. So while I won't have near as many, it should be a great effect for
sure. I have been using more wireframes from
3G Lighting Creations,
and these follow suite. I had to modify my lazy Susan to make this chore
easier, so I welded 2 brackets to hold the tree in place as seen below. I
then string 250 LED lights on the frame, holding them in with zip ties. All
told the process takes a little over an hour per tree, figuring that I have
to strip all the little tags off the light strings, string the lights using
approx 50 zip ties per tree. I have decided after many years of use to
retire my Donation Box and get a new one. I am working with my vendor
Fort Knox Mailbox on a
new larger model. The old one required on busy nights to be emptied during
the night. Something I was always not comfortable with for a few reasons.
We may be able to do some cool things with the new unit, probably not this
year, but next for sure. The old one is going to a good home,
West Seattle Lights.
The other big announcement I made on Facebook is that we have agreed to
another performance here at the display by
Judy Pancoast. Judy sings the song,
The House on Christmas Street that we have used for years. The date will be
Wednesday Dec 5th, which is a bit of a relief for me. Originally there was
discussion around December 1st. I would have had to kick it hard to ensure
things were ready to go if we held that date. We do this performance for our
Charity, Special Olympics
Washington
and the Northshore Wranglers the local SOWA team. This should be a great
event, and I am looking forward to that special night. Alas, however, all is
not peaches and cream in my world. I am keeping an eye on L.A. and my Mom.
She is not doing well, and as I posted earlier, we have a very limited
amount of time left with her. I will be heading down to L.A. this coming
Thursday for a few days to check on things. Please keep her in your prayers.
Sorry to close on that down note, but it is the weekend, and I have projects
to work on. Keep checking back for updates.

6-19-12 - 190 days till Christmas, even less till
Light Up! The clock is ticking again. Tracy and I just got back from the
Lone Star Holidays, Academy. A large, 3 day Christmas Light Enthusiasts
meeting in Houston, Texas put on by our Texas brethren. A great time for
sure. We had 4 other light crazies from the PacNW attend, so quite a nice
representation from WA state. I got a chance to meet a lot of folks I have
not ever met in person, which is one of the great benefits of events like
that. Tracy and I spent a lot of time with great old friends, and met
several new ones, especially Alan Sielbeck of
Lipton Lights
in Franklin TN. Alan didn't know what he was in for when he joined us for
dinner on Thursday evening, but he fit right in with us, and our circle of
Light friends expands even more. Tracy and I also got upgraded to First
Class for the flight home! A great Fathers Day present. I felt bad about
abandoning our good friend Kevin Thomas, but First Class on a 4 hour flight,
I could not say NO! So Kevin got into our exit row seats instead of us.
Anyway, I have a new sense of vigor toward the display and need to really
start moving on things. Between my last post and now, I have really spent no
time on the display at all. Rather I spent almost 3 weeks in L.A. with Mom,
working from there, and tending to her health care and estate management.
The days were long and very tedious getting many things squared away. She is
all set for now, and over the next few months, I will assess what our next
steps are with her. Even though I worked from L.A., I had a lot of catch up
to do once I got home both at the house, and at work. There was one yard
project to complete that I started a few weeks back. I finished cleaning the
river rock on the road. I must be the only guy around who does this. With
the rain and all, dirt, road grime turns to mud, and attracts weeds.
Cleaning it looks a heck of a lot nicer, and reduces the time removing weeds
from that area. I do this about every few years using a screen and 2
wheelbarrels. It is tough to tell from the pictures below but the first one
picture shows the mud toward the bottom edge after it was weeded. I dig up
the top 2-3", screen it off, then wash it before placing it back. Quite an
assembly line to do. You can see the clean rock at the top of both pictures.
A bit hard to tell with the resolution of these but take my word for it, it
makes things look a whole lot nicer.

Then we left for Houston. A whirlwind 5 weeks. With all my time away from
home lately, the Golden Girls are PISSED at me. Boy did I get the cold
shoulder for a day or so when I got back from L.A. They got over it quick
enough but were not happy with me leaving again for Houston. OK, the
display. I think we made a decision on our RGB Tree direction, and it will
be a lot of work to pull it off. Mainly from a programming/sequencing
perspective. From the Academy event, I brought home my 32 new mini
tree frames from 3G Lighting. They make a great frame, and I could do it for
less than they charge, but not by much. Plus they are powder coated.
Shipping was only $20 for all of them because I brought them home as luggage
on Alaska Air which I get 4 free bags when I travel. Tracy had to check her
bag, so 3 of the 4 boxes were free, and I had to pay for one. Bummer. That
was a great idea Michael Gardner of 3G Lighting gave me! These will be Chase
Trees in the yard. I love that affect and it will be a fun addition. I am
looking into adding a few lasers if they make sense in the display. I am
ordering some for tree accents, and one for picture accents. We will see how
they work out. I need to focus on 2 new songs, and new announcements and
bits from Rudy and Elfis. So I will be working with Kevin Dunn the Demented
Elf on those bits. I need to sit down here this week and outline my To-Do
list to start prioritizing items and get moving. It is still early, and I
can catch up. This turned out to be a lengthy update with everything going
on. So keep checking back to see what we are doing.
5-15-11 - What a difference 4 weeks can make in our
lives since my last update. I have been able to complete some house projects
that the Spring always requires, build the Redeux of the Garden Bridge in the
picture below, prep and execute our annual local Christmas Meeting we deemed
NW Regional CLAP
(which was a huge success), finish a set of Cornhole boards for the family
that I have been wanting to make, and, get the yard somewhat tended to as well.
But alas, the dis-heartening news is that my mom fell 2 weeks ago and is in
a Care Facility recovering from a fractured pelvis and broken wrist. My
Brother has been there with her, and my turn is this
weekend. I plan on being in L.A. for 2 weeks. For her, this most likely is
the beginning of a more convalesced life. It is frustrating, for her and our
family, but something that we will persevere through. Some hard decisions
need to be made about her for the long term, and her well being. I will take
a few things down to L.A., so that I can get some display work done in the
evenings, but I suspect I will be pretty busy getting Mom situated. The mock
up of the RGB Tree for CLAP
turned out well. It gave me a flavor of the
logistics and programming of the Tree will work. Now I have to make
decisions on hardware and pixels, but you can see examples below of what
this stuff looks like. The new hook head is shown below. It will accommodate
64 pixel strings. The pixel strings are comprised of wire and a flat ribbon
cable. The trick here is to come up with a way to very uniformly space them
and make them face the right direction. More on that at a later date.
Next is the RGB Pixel controller. While the one pictured may not be what I
use, the idea is the same. Needless to say, I am a bit distracted with life
at the moment, so for now, I can only give Christmas a cursory effort until
things get more stable, so with that, I will close with this update and get
more later.


4-12-11 - As luck has it, I went to L.A. last weekend
to spend some time with Mom for Easter, and while the weather in SoCal was
outstanding, we had just as nice of weather in Seattle. So I lost a weekend
of work on the yard/house. Now that Spring is fully upon us, I have a full
line of projects outside that need to get done. One big project is a lot of
lawn work. I need to thatch and overseed, fill depressed spots (moles) and
get the yard in shape for the summer. I really need to do a renovation, but
that may have to wait till next year. I am now trying to juggle house/yard
with display. Yes we are finally moving on display planning again. Work is in full
swing on the possible RGB Tree addition. I am trying to determine the best
approach for me, so I have been doing a lot of research. Plus, I have been
helping another display buddy, Lowell Fuher, with his RGB additions (Tree
and other things), which helps me too. I have a topper plan from the
Monkhouses's of Louisiana, and trying to decide pixel control and pixel
manufacturer. Some of the frame plan is coming together as well. The
software for programming needs some review. I have a super product called
Madrix, but need to fully get my head into it. The 2 big additions for 2012
will be the RGB Tree and 32 more Chase Trees. I am talking to my vendor to
make the Mini Tree frames, and the lights for them just showed up yesterday.
As I get moving, I will take some pictures and post them here to give you
some perspective. With our local Christmas Gathering,
CLAP, on May 12th,
planning is underway.
I have the RGB session, so that is also forcing me
to get myself immersed into that area to help me with my RGB Tree. Think of
a tree that can be any color, have any pattern, picture or even video
displayed across it. That will be the RGB Tree.
3-19-12 - Home from Mazatlan Mexico late last night.
What a fabulous vacation. I love that time to decompress after the long
marathon of the display Set Up, Season and Tear Down. Mostly we spend time
just relaxing by the pool or on the beach, playing volleyball, or other
activities, eating great food, spending time with family and friends. It
certainly is re-invigorating. I have the long process of getting caught up
around the house and at work after being gone for 8-10 day. Our Golden Girls
were sure glad to see us all. We did have a house/dog sitter who is fabulous
with them, but they do miss us all when we leave like that. So that is the
update for now. Nothing new on the display till I get some things done
around here, like getting our taxes done! and a few other miscellaneous
items. Check back.
3-5-12 - Well, 2011's display is now a distant memory.
Over this past weekend, I was able to get the rest of the display down,
dried, stored in totes and mostly put away. There is still some stuff in the
garage to be organized a bit more, but just about everything is in
hibernation till Fall. So the garage looks a WHOLE lot more spacious. This
was the longest Tear Down I have had to date. With the weather, and other
commitments, it took 2 full months, figuring I shut the display down on Jan
3rd. Funny coincidence, today it snowed yet AGAIN. A dusting compared to the
weekend before last. It started out as hail, then went to a full on huge
flake dump. It went like that for a couple hours to where on top of the hot
tub, it was a solid inch or so worth. Then the clouds parted, and the sun is
now shining as I write this. Casa Zembruski has taken some licks in 2012 for
sure. Besides the weather woe's, we did some renovations and fixes to the
place as I outlined in other posts. Outside of some planned items, things
just seem to be breaking left and right. The washing machine, my Sequoia 4x4
needs brakes and ball joints, my home office chair, the Hot Tub, the
(central vacuum)vacuum cleaner wand and a few others. Normal things
that needs maintenance, but it all seems to be hitting at once. The latest
project was to extend the shed roof to protect items from most of the
weather and foliage, as you can see in the pictures below. I also included a
picture of the loft inside the shed which serves as storage for the display
totes. It's a bit dark, but there is 120 square feet of storage that is just
about all totes and other items. The shed renovation still needs painting,
but that will have to wait till the weather improves. This week we will
hopefully be cruising into our Mazatlan vacation. Fun in the sun and
relaxation is certainly on the docket for 8 glorious days.


2-20-12 - Happy Presidents Day! I was off work today,
sort of. I still put in a couple hours for work throughout the day. Work has
picked up and the last 2 weeks have been quite hectic with long hours. So no
display work during the week. Speaking of the display, I put a solid effort
in over the long weekend, and it is now about 95% down. 3 of 4 window wraps
are still on the downstairs windows, the House C9's, the Road Tree has the
upper branches still strung with lights (I won't get in that tree in bad
weather). Then finally, the last of the extension cords off the lawn. Most
of the cords have been put away, but the is still quite a few hundred feet
worth out there. All told, another solid days worth of effort and that
should do it! A lot of the totes have been put away in the shed. So it is
starting to look like a normal house again! Over the weekend, I picked up
the effort with the Planning Committee to get an update on our Northwest
Christmas Gathering on May 12th. This year, we changed the "name" of our get
together to the PacNW Regional CLAP
(Christmas Light
Addiction Program).
It helps for those of us like me, who have the CLAP.
Christmas Light
Addiction
Problem. I actually started spreading the
CLAP quite a few years ago. I
put it in my signature file for the various forms I participate in. It is
quite contagious, and has spread pretty quickly. If anyone is
interested in attending our CLAP,
send me an email. So, yes, we are a bit crazy to be thinking, talking and
demonstrating Christmas outside of the season. There are gatherings like
this all over the country, and throughout the world actually, with Australia
being the next major active country. We are not a large group, but very
active. Each year, we get approx 40 attendees. I have been talking RGB
lights/pixels with Lowell Furher a good friend in the Tri-Cities. you may
have seen Lowell's creation on MSN this year, he crafted a animated Snoman
called Lester. Lester was a BIG hit for sure. Anyway, this makes me
want to start moving again on my RGB Tree. I will be talking this week to a
gentlemen in Texas about this, to see which direction I may go with this.
Tracy celebrated her Birthday on Thursday. I had to travel to Vancounver, BC
on business that day, so we went out to dinner on Friday to one of her
favorite restaurants, Seastar & Raw Bar. She had her favorite, the Crab
Legs! Nothing more to report, except we are at 19 days to Mazatlan and
counting!
2-14-12 - Happy Valentine's Day! Let's see. Los
Angeles was a nice trip. Good Superbowl game to watch. We had an unexpected
surprise where our friends Tom and Lisa Lieb were traveling through L.A. on
their way to Phoenix and stopped in to catch the game with us. Mom is doing
fine, got her taxes done which was the main reason for the trip, but
visiting was nice as well. This past weekend I finally got some time outside
and in pretty decent weather to work on more display Tear Down. The 3 "big"
trees are down. Mega, Spiral and Tree within a Tree. I got the rest of the
roof red outline down, with the lower tier of icicles still remaining. Rudy
and Elfis's frames, and the Road Arbor. Some miscellaneous cords, and other
items were pulled in as well. There is still quite a bit of lights in the
yard, but not noticeable. So I will spend some time President's Day Weekend
getting more down. There is probably a solid 3 days left to get things out
of the yard and off the house. Put away properly is another thing all
together. I am picking back up some of my quest for an RGB Mega Tree, but
other than that, we are definitely in the slow time of year as the tear down
is boring to talk about. Our Mexico vacation is the next big thing on the
docket in March. Look forward to some fun in the sun!
1-29-12 - I just noticed my last few posts had the
wrong date! The were marked for November. Can't be, the display in not
DOWN from 2011 yet! Pictures of the display for 2011 have been posted to the
website and Facebook. The HDR technique worked pretty well for my first
time. Hopefully I will get more chances to work with that during the year to
get better results next season. The Display tear down has been mostly
halted. Mother Nature bit real hard with all the snow, wind and rain. We had
some landscape damage, a Blooming Cherry Tree out on 236th Ave, and one of
our Cedar Trees right out the back slider were damaged with the weather. We
will see how they survive in the spring. I was out of town on a
business trip this week, and then the house fix it stuff and a new furniture
addition eat into this weekend. Tracy ordered a new entertainment unit for
the upstairs Great Room. I had to get a friend and some relatives to help me
pick it up and get it moved upstairs. This thing is huge. 4 pieces, 2 of
which were close to 250 pounds each. Trying to maneuver it all upstairs was
no easy feat, then we had to get it set up. This thing came packed like you
would not believe. So I had a trailer full of cardboard, styrofoam, and
wood. WAY too much for the garbage. Casey our Handyman also finished the
Laundry Room on Saturday, so there was a bunch of stuff there to get rid of
as well. So I took a load to the dump. Today, I had to get the Laundry Room
sink squared away, get the washer/dryer back in and hooked up, then Tracy
wanted me to make a Costco run. Needless to say the sink had it's problems,
but I finally got it all squared away with no leaks, and, I got some laundry
going as well, since the washer/dryer has been disconnected for almost 2
weeks! So if you have not deduced from all this, no work was done on the
display tear down this weekend. I have a few night this week to get a few
things done, then next weekend, Superbowl weekend, Tracy and I will be in
L.A. visiting my Mom. We leave Thursday. I have to get her taxes stuff done,
and we will just visit with her. Everyone is looking forward to the trip.
Soooo, this year will be a late tear down. Fortunately, we don't go to
Mazatlan for our Winter vacation until the first part of March. There is at
least 5-6 solid days of work to get the rest of the stuff down and put away.
I had to put in an LED light order, and was working on the new RGB Tree
stuff, but all that is temporarily halted since there is a lot going on at
the moment. Oh yeah, we had a very late Thank You note from one of our
visitors. One of the buses that showed up from what I gathered by the
written note. They also included a $50 check toward SOWA! So that brings our
2011 season total to $6060! I just mailed it off to SOWA today. I love
getting those Thank You notes from our visitors. Well that is all for now.
Check back in a few weeks to see what other updates I have for you all.
1-19-12 - WOW! Snowmagedden! The Seattle area is
getting pelted with severe winter weather. Snow, ice, wind, all not good on
their own, let alone TOGETHER! We lost power last night for 5 hours, only to
find out that our generator is non-functional. The engine fires up, but no
AC power. I had a little 2250W backup, but I just loaned it to my stepson
Cameron on
Tuesday in case HE lost power at his new home in Duvall. Well funny how
those things work out. I was not going to drive out there unless I HAD to.
So fortunately, my neighbor had a 2000W camper generator that he let me use
to keep the fridges and a light or 2 powered. We will have more outages
before this is over for sure. We had an ice storm this morning, and wind is
on the docket for Saturday. The temp is staying below freezing, so none of
this is going away soon, or soon enough! I did HAVE to get 2 vignettes from
the display out of the yard that have the potential to be damaged in the
snow, ice and wind. They are now drying in the garage. I need to spend some
time this evening putting some stuff away to clear out the garage a bit.
Tracy in NOT happy that her baby is parked in the driveway getting all
buried in snow. My only concern is the Mega Tree. It is a PVC frame. I was
able to reduce as much weight as possible off the top by removing the
strobes, Mega Star, and Mega Balls. Now I just have to keep the snow off the
top and lights. That helps with any wind we may get. So Tear Down is stalled
for now. I can probably get porch stuff taken down, but have too many other
issues to deal with at the moment. So Mom Nature is making up for that
WONDERFUL December she gave us. I am almost finished with the 2011 picture
edits and they should be posted tonight if I have a chance, and don't lose
power!
1-15-12 - OK so time to take the New Year picture off
the Front Page of the site. I have for the first time had something stolen
from the display. My Christmas Street sign. Along with that, they took a
"This Property is under video surveillance" sign as well. Pretty trivial
overall, but one has a tendency to read more into this, especially with our
one or 2 problem neighbors back behind us. I will let the Junior High and
Grade School kids know (both bus stops are at our house) that there is a
reward if someone can recover the signs and let me know who took them. I
will ensure the right attention gets brought to this matter. I hope this
subtly lets them know that I will not tolerate vandalism or theft. So we got
SNOW! yesterday and today. The Tear Down is in progress, not going fast, and
now with the weather it will be hindered as well. Plus, we are starting to
do a Laundry Room remodel. Which means that I have some things to focus on
with that effort, even though we have Casey doing the actual work, I will
still have to do the trim painting. I almost have my numbers for my LED
light order. It will be mainly only Warm White LEDs to accomodate the new
Chase Trees that will be in the yard next year. I am still looking into RGB
hardware a bit and making some inquiries on Pixel strings, but a lot won't
happen on that until I get the display down and away. One more load to go
under the house and all the stuff that goes there will be put away. The yard
is slowly looking bare.
1-11-12 - This time of year, right after the
Holiday's, it is nice to relax a bit, and I do. Some are hell bent on
getting their displays down. While I do want to get it down, basically from
Oct 1st, it was a 3 month sprint to set up the display, get it updated on
the computer, lit up, executed and then shut off. There is literally almost
not a down moment I get in 90 days. So I take it somewhat easy the first few
days of the New Year. I watch the College Bowl games, I finish up what I
have to on the inside of the house, and I do get kicking a bit on the
outside display. This past weekend, I got a fair amount done. The control,
communications, and theatrical lighting came out of the yard on Saturday
dried and put away. I got the tough half of the roof done Sunday, and the
rest of the controllers and communications that were up there. So far this
week, the blow molds, and wood cutouts came out of the yard, except Sally,
the Peanuts Nativity Angel is still on her pole. She will come down next.
All that has to be put away, then we start the get the next items out of the
yard and into the garage to dry. While it may not sound like it, I have
taken it pretty easy, plus, I am also back at work, and starting to get
things planned and moving there. Planning has already started on the
display for next year. I really, really want to do an RGB Tree. I will
either replace one tree, or add a 4th, I am not sure yet. An RGB Tree takes
the regular mini lights and replaces them with individually programmable
light pixels So think about 1600 individual lights on a tree that I can
control. Something on this scale would allow me to run words or even put
pictures or video on the tree. I have been looking at this technology for 2
years now, and started to get some in this year with the new RGB Balls in
the Spiral and Mega Trees. I realized one of my light vendors moved their
order date UP to Jan 20th this year instead of in February. So that means
that I have to figure out what I need. This accounts for replenishing
spares, to the new display items I want to add. I need to carve out some
time this weekend to see where I am at for this effort. While the timing
sucks, it is the cheapest I can get lights all year so this has to be my big
order for the year. Tracy and I are having a friend of our neighbors, Bob
and Marti across the street, do some handy man stuff around the house. Some
of the local Light Crazy Gang, who plans our Christmas Light get together
wanted to get our date set, and some planning done as well. So we have
finalize that date to be May 12th, and started to rough in a subject matter
agenda. It should be a great meeting, it always is. March 1st marks 15 years
in our house. While the stuff being done, I can do, there is a time factor
that I don't always have. So some window sills on the south side of the
house are being replaced, some interior doors worked on so they close
properly, the front door is being fixed and I will repaint. Then the big
overhaul is the laundry room. Tracy wants to put stone on the floor over the
linoleum we originally put in, a new granite counter top to match, and a
fresh coat of paint on those walls. I will replace and repaint the molding,
and repaint the new sills. Some of the doors upstairs need sanding and
repainting as well. Outside the yard badly needs a renovation, so I am
looking into how best to handle that. The top soil has all compacted, and we
have some very soggy parts of the yard. We could put some drainage in to
assist with that in some areas, but I need to put sand down everywhere Then
there is our family vacation in March I get to look forward to. So, WOW!,
this started out to be a quick update. Looks like a lot to report in the
past week eh? Thanks for checking in. Oh and one more thing. Tracy and I
will be heading to my Mom's in L.A. for Superbowl weekend. We want to spend
some time with her, and I have to get her taxes done for the year. Happy New
Year! We're off and running.
1-4-12 - Well, "Woodinville Wonderland Inside" to coin
a famous phrase, is almost all down. Tracy went at it yesterday. The only
significant remnant is the famous "Inside Tree". Tracy wants to keep that up
a few more days to enjoy it, and it helps with my picture effort outside. I
started to get some pictures last night, but true to form, and the norm for
this time of year, Mom Nature wanted to "rain on my parade". It poured, and
we had some gusty winds to boot. It finally let up about 9pm enough to get
out for about 45 minutes. I got some pictures of our neighbors and our
display. I like the effects of the HDR Photography technique. The software I
have allows me to select pre-defined looks, or I can tweak them myself. So
to continue to get more pictures, I need to fix a few things outside, and
will hope the weather stays clears enough to capture all my pictures
tonight. That means I will be hauling the BIG ladder around to get some good
angles on the display. I also modified my photo sequence to get some
contrasting elements in the pictures as well. Tear Down commences right
after I get the photos done that I need. First up will be to disconnect
power in the yard, remove the temporary "Santa Power", my 80amp sub panel.
Then get the hardware/controllers out of the yard. I stopped by Mclendon's
to get a large box fan for the garage to circulate the air to assist
with drying everything. To manage my display efforts, I have 2 computers
that are used. The large desk side, what is called the Light Master, and the
laptop that is called the Show Master are getting cleaned up, backed up, and
updated as well. During the season, ALL updates get turned off so as to
preserve the "Show" environment. Once things get dialed in for the display
season, I want as little that can go wrong in the picture. So now they are
in need of some attention to keep them humming. It is also part of my end of
year, closing out of 2011 and getting ready for 2012. That's all for now,
keep checking back.
1-1-12 - Closing Night. WOW! 2011 was a fabulous
season, and Closing Night is always one of the most mixed emotion days of
the year. So much goes into 4 weeks of effort. Those 4 weeks are cherished
and exhausting. Mom Nature gave us the most incredible viewing season
we have ever had. Our visitation was way up. The
warmth, support, accolades, expressions of gratitude were just overwhelming
at times, but always appreciated and gives us inspiration. Our donations to
SOWA and the Northshore Wranglers was OUTSTANDING. We can't thanks everyone
enough for supporting that effort. Tonight we were quite busy for the
last night of the display, and to accommodate some new friends, I actually
extended the shut down to almost 9:45pm, but alas, the end always has to
come. I was able to do a walk around to get some notes on what worked well
and what didn't. I had a visit by one of my close buddies and fellow Light
Crazy, Kevin (Wirekat) Thomas, as well as Sharon and Dallas Graham of Garden
D'Lights in Bellevue. There are no real plans for tomorrow except
pictures. I am also back to work as well! I had our New Years Holiday last
week. As much as I always kid myself about video, I think I won't even
attempt to get that this year. Pictures for the website will be sufficient,
as I am going to try to use the HDR photography technique, so we will see
how they turn out. I have ideas and plans swimming around my head for next
year already, and will have to spend some time "penning" them into my notes
and see how they will affect a LED light order that always has to be
submitted by the end of February. Tear Down will start as soon as I feel the
pictures are sufficient, and needless to say, by this coming weekend we will
be fully immersed in getting things down as quickly as we can. Just a quick
update, check back and I will provide some additional thoughts and insights.