Blog
8-31-10 - Tic, tic, tic, sand through the hour glass, what other ways can we describe time slipping away. The display is inching along very slowly. This has been a tough year to get motivated and moving, a LOT has gone on for sure, but we are losing display items at this point. But you know, that is OK. We will have enough new and different, and the yard is getting revamped enough that it will look like a new display. Over the weekend we got Tracy her long sought after dream car. She wanted a convertible. A hardtop convertible. Well she is now the proud owner of one. Needless to say, I have been working on cleaning up the garage so she can GET her new convertible in it. That task required getting one display item checked off my list. Tomorrow, Tracy and I head to Chicago to participate in the Chicagoland Mini put on by Carrie Sansing. Carrie is a classy woman and a hell of a person. I was told by most, this would be the event to go hang out at, and it is shaping up to be just that. We can't wait. I have been polishing and tweaking my DMX material, as I will be presenting that for the event. We are SOOOO looking forward to this. I believe that after this event, my display juices will be flowing again, and we will be re-invigorated to get MOVING! I am looking forward to meeting so many people finally I have known for years now, but only in cyber space and audio space! But alas, Summer is almost officially over, and after Labor Day weekend, in my mind, Fall is here. I have already started thinking about set, but that needs to stay suppressed for a few more weeks to get some things done first. It will start to get busy here very soon.
8-16-10 - Well, life has continued to get in the way of the display, but at times, we certainly have to align our priorities. Tracy for those that do not know is a cancer survivor. She has been in remission for a few months shy of 5 years, the magic break point when they deem that episode done. Anyone that understand cancer, knows that it can come back in different forms. We had such a scare in the past 2 weeks. Tracy required to have several scans on her spine to determine what a spot was. After much worry, and to great relief, we found out it was not cancerous. We still have to understand what is going on, but the anxiety level is much lower at this point. Thanks to all who kept us in their thoughts and prayers the past few weeks. With the summer quickly slipping away, this week I will be spending some time prioritizing some new display items. There is HAVE to do things and then the rest. By the end of August, I have to be in sequencing mode to modify existing songs, and add the one or 2 new ones. So there won't be much new added, but the yard will get shaken up greatly so it will look all brand new.......... I hope!
7-31-10 - Argh, the EMAIL is changing. Modec@gte.net has been around for about 20 years. Now it is finally changing. Modec@frontier.com. It was nice and compact before. Oh well, such is life. Work and family have been tugging at the time of late. For now all the DIY Projects are soldered, I am working on putting them in their respective enclosures. Then I can start on the 4 color scheme for the windows and 9 Tree vignette. The priority list as always, with time slipping away, is getting pared back. No panic yet, but August is going to be a very busy month for the display, work and family life! Check back with us.
7-12-10 - Well after a week of trepidation, today was GREAT news. Deeogee will live to be a happy old Golden Retriever. The vet called today with the report that the tumor was benign. She was truly amazed that this grew that large, and did not burst in the mean time. Deeogee is recovering very well, resting right now, under my feet and desk, one of her favorite spots in the world. Outside of the incision on her belly, she is back to her old self. The yard renovation for now is pretty much complete. There is still some work to do around a couple of the property lines where moles are still a problem, but that will wait for the fall or next year. Mother Nature even cooperated a bit with a little rain overnight to assist with the fertilizer and seed germination. One of the few times I wish for rain in the summer! I will take a break tonight from everything, I need a break after the last week, and get kicking on Christmas tomorrow night. The calendar is quickly moving, and we are behind.
7-6-10 - Well a lot has happened in 3 days. Today is my 50th Birthday. No biggie in my book, however, a big day for the family. Deeogee one of our 2 Golden Girls (Golden Retrievers), Deeogee, has not been herself since last week. She started to perk up yesterday, but I wanted to get her into the vet. Timing is everything. She had a tumor growing in her abdomen, a BIG tumor. After an ultrasound and emergency surgery today, the vet removed a 9lb, basketball sized tumor. This is a dog that only weighs 70lbs! Now, the tumor, what is it? We have to find that out, but the vet was sure of one thing, we saved her life today. Had that tumor burst, let's not go there. Deeogee is 9 yrs old, and probably the most special animal I have had the privilege of owning. Her sister is no slouch, and WAY more a daddy's girl, they both are daddy's girls for sure, but Deeogee was EVERYONE's favorite. She has an angelic face and eyes, and that is not an owner talking, I've owned a lot of dogs. She is special. This is also her 4th major event in her short life. We almost lost her at 12 weeks old. Her and her sister, Jazmine lapped up some Miracle Grow that Tracy spayed on the plants. 3 days of ICU, then 2 more in the regular hospital, for a 5 day stay. Jazmine was the worst of the 2 for sure. Then Deeogee had not 1, but 2, TPLO (knee fixes), then this. She is the lover, couch potato, ham and trooper, and she is still alive for now. We have to get through the next 18 hours which are critical. Hopefully the tumor is benign, we are praying it is. Please say a prayer for her tonight. I get to call the vet in another 30 minutes for an update. Our best case is she stays at the regular vet tonight and by tomorrow evening, she can come home. If her vitals are not solid, she stays in ICU tonight, and a longer stay away from the family. It's going to be a long 30 minutes.
7-3-10- Happy July 4th weekend! I start a week off from work, but no rest here, hopefully I will be able to get my lawn renovation done. Starting with another thatching today. A bit misty here in Seattle and as typical, it looks like summer starts on July 5th! As plan, I am going to put down the soldering items on DIY projects. I am debugging some RGB/DMX floods right now and will probably work that more as time allows. Today, I think besides the thatch, I start the window wraps. I think I decided to go wireframe, and used 90 degree light clips. Off to rent a thatcher! Stay safe and sane. My buddy Tom and I will be making a bee line to the reservation today to get our show set for tomorrow night! Enjoy.
6-22-10 - We have been getting boxes delivered on a pretty regular basis! Mostly logistic stuff. Parts, housings etc....I have a lot of the soldering projects behind me. I am waiting on back ordered parts from Mouser to get most done 100%, but most are 99%. Enclosures just showed up, so I can get the new controllers in boxes to put in the yard for the show. By this weekend, I will be in "New Feature" mode. I will start working on the new items for the display, and getting some of the items that need attention from last year fixed. I have about 6-7 weeks to accomplish this before I switch to programming mode on the songs. To do that, I have to finalize my new items to get the updated channel requirements! It is in the fun-fun-fun stage at the moment. Crud, I just noticed my count down banners are not working on the site.
6-9-10 - OK, back to work! literally and figuratively. Last week Cadence had one of our regular company closures. We were off all week. I intended to do a lawn renovation, but Mother Nature saw it another way. It really rained the week before, and even more during my week off. So, we naturally moved things indoors. I started my soldering tasks. There are TONS of Do It Yourself (DIY) projects that I need to assemble, that I have collected over the past 12-14 months. The nice thing about DIY is it brings costs down a lot, but there is the time involved to solder and assemble things together. For instance, one Lynx Express Controller was taking me about 5 hours on average to complete. I managed to get 6 done. Plus there are other DIY projects in various states of progress. I had to order some more components, typically from Mouser Electronics to complete them. DIY is going to play a more significant role for Woodinville Wonderland from now on. There are a lot of really smart people who come up with great ideas and then offer them for sale. Some are bought direct from the individuals, some are offered through co-ops. A co-op is a group of people pooling their collective interests to get cheaper prices on parts and products. The Lynx Express is an example of a co-op DIY project. I shipped my old Yoke Lights to Jeremy Lawton in Iowa. I got word he received them today and very happy with the deal I gave him. The network in the house crapped out. Cameron has been telling me this for a while now. It was glitching up and down for weeks. After troubleshooting it, I ordered a new Cisco Switch to replace the old Intel Hub that I have had in the house for 12 years. It has been the backbone for the house network. Now things are back to normal again. Next project, to replace the Wireless Router. I have it in hand, just won't swap it out for a few days to ensure things are running smoothly with the switch. OK back out to the garage to breath more solder flux fumes! NOT! I ordered a fume extractor to help with that. It arrived yesterday, just in time for me to get more soldering done.
5-19-10 - Wow! It has been a long time for an update for many reasons. Well, I can safely say that nothing much has happened on Christmas except 3 things. Our local Washington State Mini PLUS gathering has come and gone. It was a huge success. Some new faces and a lot of the old gang. It was a great day and as always, thanks to Bill & Nancy Foley, as well as my Christmas Goomba, Kevin Thomas (Wirekat). Kevin and I also had lunch just today to catch up with each other. Next my LED Christmas light order arrived already, while I was in China. More on that later. Lastly, as part of the Mini, I had to start a mock up of some candles I want to make for 2010. The initial try is so-so and will need to be improved upon to complete it, then the 2 other candles to make a 3 candle set. These are fashioned sort of after Ron Lister's candles from Christmas Wonder (on my Links page). I put in an order for 2 more Lynx Express units, and that co-op is closed and paid for. Just waiting arrival. My DMX Primer has been updated once again, and the link on the How-To page is updated along with the file itself. The DMX Primer will get one more overhaul before the Chicagoland Mini that Tracy and I will be flying to Chicago. Carrie Sansing has asked me to present DMX there as well. The yard renovation is still underway, and will be picked back up in a few weekends. I have a week off work at the end of the month, and figure I will get almost all of it done that week. The thatching is done, we have to punch, sand, seed, top dress to level out many sections, then fertilize. Whew, I am tired already. Almost all of my computer issues are behind me. Except, on the old one, I had been using, there were a few files and settings that were not pulled off of it, and loaded onto the new Dell replacement, which is not the main home computer, and, my main Christmas build computer. One item was my website ISP ftp info to upload these Blog updates! So you missed the one below, because it never got posted until tonight :( Also, my annual China business trip normally scheduled in Oct/Nov came and went early this year. I went last week. Then I spent last weekend at Mom's in L.A. working on her roof. So I am trying to get caught up at work, caught up at home, and keep my sanity in all of it!
3-23-10 - Well lets see, 9 days and still with a cold. At least it is almost done. By tomorrow it should be business a usual. I thought I was finished with System Admin stuff, but the new laptop came, dubbed "Show-Master". It arrived yesterday, about 3 days earlier than expected, WOO-HOO! So I have spent some time building it up. Still a few more things to do, but very ready to go now. It is all connected into the home network and file sharing is all set up. No more memory sticks from Light-Master to Show-Master! Usually during the season, I am tweaking song sequences on a very regular basis. Transferring during the show is fine, but a hassle with a jump drive. It will be easier now. I need to focus on our taxes for Uncle Sam soon. I will be in Portland on another biz trip Thur/Fri and the weekend is going to be spent getting my canvas worked on. The lawn needs a pretty good renovation this year as the big outdoor project. Thatch, punch, sand, fill, re-seed, top dress. Should be several weekends worth. I can see that starting next week, I should start focusing on soldering the DIY projects, and getting some final stuff ready for our WA State Mini Plus. Our local Light Gathering. As always at Bill and Nancy Foley's. Kevin, Lowell and I need to pow-wow to see what is still outstanding. So this is the first update from the new Light-Master computer.
3-14-10 - Ah, the spender of vacations. Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun was beautiful. While we love our resort in Mazatlan, this area of Mexico has a lot to offer. We got a chance to see the Mayan Ruins of Chichen Itza, which were spectacular. We managed to get some scuba diving in on Cozumel as well. We had a wonderful time with the Allison's and very much enjoyed the adult only trip. Sitting by the pool, or the sand, soaking up the sun, and plenty of tequila! The only complaint is that it goes by so fast. Both Rick and I had to jump out of town on business trips immediately when we got home. The dogs were happy to see Tracy and I, then pretty upset when I left again first thing Monday morning. I managed to catch a cold on my biz trip, and spent this weekend just taking it easy, and getting the computer situation around the house squared away. I ordered a new HP Laptop to be my show computer, and it will be a good backup machine for video processing when needed. So the Dell replacement I had so much hassles with last year, is now 90% built to be put in place. This blog update will be the last on "Old Faithful" the computer that has been in place since we ran into all the issues with the Dell last year. I upgraded the Dell tower computer to Win7 this weekend, and the new laptop will be the same. Now that the computers are squared away, we can get some video editing done, finalize prep on my DMX material for our local mini, and the Chicagoland Mini. We have a lot of soldering to do to get all my Do It Yourself (DIY) kits from the past 2 years all working and ready to incorporate into the show in 2010.
2-26-10 - Hola Amigos. The long awaited, badly needed vacation has finally arrived! Today we leave for Cancun Mexico to sit by the pool, or on the beach, drink foo-foo drinks with umbrellas, and relax. Normally we go to Mazatlan, but this year, we switched up. The Allison's from Boston that we normally go with, and us, are leaving the kids home for a change and having some adult only time. We normally schedule this vacation at this time of year, I would like to think as a reward for a successful display set up, execute and teardown, but alas, it was scheduled for the traditional mid-winter break from school, so we kept it close to the same time of year. For those of you that read this, and possibly even have a Facebook account, and have me as a friend, (man we whittled down that demographic to zero in a hurry), my current avatar is from Senor Frogs in Mazatlan. We like to have a good time! Anyway, we are on a plane in a few hours. Nothing to report on the display for now. Ian Cullipher, local light crazy from Carnation, WA stopped by last night to borrow my spare LOR, DMX controller. That's about all that has been Christmas for at least a week. When we get back from Margaritaville, more planning and building is in the works. Planning for our local Mini event commences as well. Adios.
2-15-10- The new yoke lights arrived. "Houston, we have a bit of a problem". They are heavier than my last pair, much, but also slightly larger in terms of pan and tilt diameter. Which means that the enclosures I was working on for my old units will either have to be modified, or the entire set up re-designed. I managed to find some 30" acrylic bubbles that I can use, but I am trying to figure out if that is the direction I want to go in. The garage is almost back to usable, and if Tracy wanted to, can park her car in it. I do however, have a table set up in her stall playing and testing the new yokes. They have a lot more features (channels) and options within the channels, so it will be a while to figure out how to sequence them. I also need to get the gobos replaced with Christmas ones. Gobos allow me to display images with the yoke light. Things like angels, stars, Santa, or Merry Christmas across the house. So I have a list of ones I like and will look to order them soon. I have a few items to repair in the next few days, plus I will build the 2 new Leaping Light Arches, just to get some lights out of boxes and then I can store the LLA's away. So off to Home Depot we go. So as of now, Christmas 2009 is done, and we start looking forward to next season.
2-8-10 - Superbowl Sunday has come and gone. Superbowl, probably the second most anticipated day of the year, IMHO, behind my favorite holiday, and we all know what that is! Great game and a lot of fun. I think everyone likes to see the underdog prevail. Over this past weekend, I was able to get everything down off the house, and out of the yard. The only exceptions is extension cords that will start to come in this week. Another day or so is needed, to organize and put everything away. Then get the garage squared away, because Tracy wants her car in the garage again! I was able to get my project at work completed for now, so I can go back to a somewhat regular schedule. Which is to say, I have my evenings back to get house, display and personal stuff done, and there is quite a backlog of things. Coming up is the long weekend, I can start to get caught up. Normally we are thinking of sun and margarita's for Presidents Day. However, we moved our vacation to Mexico to the end of the month. Cancun is only 18 days away! Fun in the sun! Tracy and I started to tan in the fake and bake. This gets us a bit seasoned, so we can enjoy the sun right off once we get to the beach. Lastly, I am planning on heading down to my mom's on the weekend of the 20th to get her taxes done and to visit.
2-2-10 - Well looks like we will be going to Chicago in September. Carrie Sansing has asked if I would present my DMX material at the mini there. It should be fun. With Superbowl this weekend, I will have to really hump on Saturday to get things off the house completely. The house, Mega Tree and extension cords in the yard are all that is left out. Then organizing and putting away. So we are close! LED light order went in on the 29th. Work has had me captive completely until this Friday. Then I can start to have some of my evenings back to work on things around the house and the display for 2010.
1-27-10 - Well for the most part, the Tear Down stalled. Work has capture 110% of my attention with a project that has to get done ASAP. I have been putting in LONG days/nights working solely on that. Very few things have been done otherwise, period. Even this past weekend, only about 4 hours were spent taking things in the display down. I did however manage to make a deal to sell my DMX Yoke lights (moving head spot lights). While great units, they were not powerful enough to cut through the other lights. Doing some research, I found a couple of Martin Mac 250 Entours. They were ordered and in shipment. I now need to REALLY uses these babies in the display in 2010. No dinking around. I have a couple of ideas to maximize them. Bought some El Wire to play with. El Wire is thin phosphorescent wire that lights up. Very cool looking. I have an idea to use it as flames for a some candles I am designing. My LED light order has to be in on Friday. I have most of my workup done. I just now have to finalize it tomorrow, then call it in to Paul Sessel at CDI. Which in turn means that the plan for 2010 is at least on paper for now. There will be changes over the course of the year for sure. After work lets up, the display HAS to be finished taking down and put away. I will do a lot this weekend. Once the display is DONE, I then have a lot to do, early on, more that in years past. I have a slew of DIY hardware to solder up. I need to work on possibly changing my sequencing software, which will mean a completely new controller hookup scheme/plan. Plus I have some items to start making. I will post my to-do list later. I am starting to look forward to our Mexico vacation. We go to Cancun in late Feb for a week. More later, I need to get to bed, these have been exhausting days of late. Oh yeah, I started thinking about heading to Chicago over Labor day weekend for a Christmas get together there. We will see. And, oh yeah, somewhere in here, I NEED to get a computer back online to attempt some video editing too!
1-13-10 - Got a few more things down today at lunch, and need to put my first wave in storage to make room for the next batch. It has been raining a fair amount since we closed, so allowing things to dry is key to prevent mold and mildew growing all over things. Kevin Thomas and I are already starting to plan the Mini PLUS in April. This is the local get together that stands for Mini Planet Christmas Light Up Symposium. A mouthful, but as light crazies, we spend a day with workshops to help us all out. I am testing some LED lights that I will most likely use for wireframes in the future. These are the latest design that are replaceable and you can mix colors on strings. These are very cool, as it alleviates the majority of issues with stringing LED Lights on wireframes. Lastly I started ordering a few things already for next year. Mostly just building back up inventory items that were depleted in Set Up. Additionally I found out that my LED light order has to be in by Jan 29th! So at some point soon, I really have to look at my notes to get some idea of what my LED requirement will be for next season.
1-10-10 - Well we finished on a great note. I had some of the local gang over to close the display, and had a wonderful visit. Thanks to those that came by. Then, I got a chance by myself, (as has been tradition), to watch the last show before everything was disabled. That is always a bit emotional. So much planning and effort, goes into the display, we enjoy it for about 5 weeks and then we close it down. Really each year, the display develops it's own personality if you can describe it like that, so I try to capture that in my mind during that last show, take notes and reminisce on the Season. I enjoy that time a lot. Today, Tracy and I, along with Pete Peters made the trek to Alan and Valerie Thompson's house. They do a Christmas display like none other I have seen. I met them at our Mini last April. Now mind you, we all have to have a screw slightly loose to do what we do. I understand that. Alan and Valerie make me look sane. They do a Department 56 display inside their home that is breathtaking. Alan is attempting to do what we do outside on a miniature scale. 2 1/2 rooms of their home is dedicated to this display that takes them a solid month to get squared away. Just incredible. The knowledge that Alan brings to bare is un-fathomable. Pete Peters joined us, we met up with Kevin Thomas and his boys, and had a phenomenal couple hours looking at this marvel. I feel privileged to have seen it, and also in one sense, I now feel slightly more centered as well :) Tear down started yesterday and will proceed over the next few weekends. During the week, in the evenings, I will pull more in, and attempt to fix things that need it before they get put away for the season. We had great weather this weekend to start tear down. I have to thank my neighbors Marti and Bob across the street. If you have been by the display, you have seen where they do a lot to make the entrance to the street more eye appealing. They do a great job decorating their house and continue to add a bit more each year. Then they have to put up with me and my display. I tinker with things to try not to intrude on their lives and that of their daughter and son-in-law who live with them. It is not always easy living across the street from Clark W. Griswold. Well they are outstanding neighbors, and knew how close we were to $5K for our philanthropy effort for Special Olympics - WA. They then kicked in the funds to ensure we did that. They are great friends and neighbors, plus I have to give kudos to the Martensen's and our new neighbors, the Heslinga's. I am blessed with great neighbors first, and then the support they provide for the display is outstanding. I could not ask for a better situation. I just gotta make sure I can stay on the "Good Neighbor List"!
1-8-10 - Closing Night. Always the saddest night of the season. You would think it would be a relief, having the show end, and tear down commence. However, I love seeing it every night. Always have. I don't get tired of seeing it time and again. It's my passion and baby. It will be cool, because some of the other Light Crazies in our crowd will be on hand to visit, see the display, laugh, and start talking about next year already. Over the past 2 nights, I have gotten 95% of my video captured, and need to do a small amount before the gang shows up. Neighbors and visitors have come back to capture some pictures and photos as well. If anyone reads this, and has links they want to provide, let me know. I shared with my network the photos on the website, and the initial feedback is that the display looked great. Coming from peers, that is great feedback. Tomorrow starts the push to break it all down. Looking back, this was a phenomenal success in 2009. Some years things just gel very well. 2009 was one of those. Our philanthropy effort for Special Olympics - Washington has yielded our best year to date. We are just under $5,000. Outstanding! They will be quite surprised. Lastly, I need to capture notes today to start the planning for next year. I have ideas in my head, but need to put them on paper, or in my case OneNote. A light order needs to be submitted by the end of January for any LEDs I want to use in 2010. That means I have to contemplate what some of the changes are. I am noodling a radical yard update, so a major shift in vignettes all around. I need to play with this more. Thank you, THANK you, THANK YOU! for a wonderful season.
1-5-10 - The clock is ticking. Being back to my regular job has me pretty tied up already, so I have been trying to get a few things done for the display. Tonight the pictures FINALLY get posted to the site. Whew! I have 2 more nights to get videos done. Friday is closing night and a few buddies are hopefully going to make it over for a visit. We still have a few folks that are coming by, which is still greatly appreciated. I had a bathroom project upstairs where the tub/toilet room needed attention. What started out being a small project expanded to replacing baseboards, the tub enclosure door, painting the ceiling and baseboard, re-grouting part of the tub and re-caulking. Not a trivial project while everything else was going on! Always something to work on!
1-1-10 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! The first decade of the new millennium is now behind us! It seems like just last year we were immersed in the controversial Y2K. Today is a day of rest and reflection for most of us. Me included (except for the rest part). We really have a lot to be thankful for in our lives. We hope that everyone will enjoy health, happiness and prosperity. While the display has been pretty much on autopilot, I have been working on the upstairs bathroom the past few days, which needed a bit of a renovation.
12-28-09 - What a season!, but alas, it is winding down. Today we made the decision to keep the display open until Friday Jan 8th. There were a few requests to stay open, and I have friends who now will be able to see it. After New Years however, I will reduce the hours each night to 9pm. That way I can get some video of the display and not have to worry about crowds too much. This week I will start to make notes as to what worked and what needs improving next year. This starts my planning process for 2010, and allows me to think about an LED light order that has to be into my vendor by the end of January. The Learning Channel discussions are finished. The network decided to go with a different display. The producer pegged it pretty well. He suspected that I was silently relieved that this decision was made, and he is right. Now I can take my time and not be rushed to meet a film schedule. The support from the visitors has been incredible. The smiles, and laughter and looks on faces are each very precious to me. A great season indeed!
12-25-09 - The Big Day has arrived. Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope all your dreams came true. Anticipation, Sharing, Joy, Laughter and yes, tears. Today is very special. We had a wonderful turn out last night. I had several compliments on Robert's tribute. One visitor told me it was a "very classy touch, for a classy display". I was floored. The accolades are great to hear. It let's me know I hit my mark. A lot of visitors "get it", and actually tell me, "It's all about the smiles, amazing stares, laughing and lit up faces, young and old." Yes it is. Thank you all for what you do for me. Your support is awesome. Now, off to a solid day of relaxing, well, actually, there are 2 things to look at on the display. We head to Tracy's sisters later for dinner. OK, where is that coffee........
12-24-09 - The big night! Not only for every child in the world, but me as well, in many ways. I found a beautiful garland for my manger that compliments Robert's Tribute. A Soldiers Silent Night needs about 30 minutes to finalize, then outside to get some lights fixed for tonight. I shipped Robert copies of my voice over announcement, the song, A Soldiers Silent Night and the Christmas Letter last night and today knowing it was Christmas Eve in the Middle East. All my shopping is done, so it will be in cruise mode the next few days. Steve Wright, from SOWA stopped by last night with his family. It was great to meet him. He wants to extend an invite to me to some of their regular events. I will just have to take him up on his offer. Thanks again Steve! It has been a phenomenal season so far.
12-21-09 - The weather so far has not been a hindrance. We did get some heavy rains last night, but in between, there were plenty of visitors. Thanks to those who braved the wet weather. I know I keep mentioning The Learning Channels - Invasion of the Christmas Lights that I decided to not participate in. Well, we are once again talking to the Producer. This makes the 4th or 5th time we have talked about me being in a show. They may want to leverage me as a display to show the breakdown of a large display. That I can do. So we are in discussions and will have to see where that goes.
12-20-09 - Christmas is just 5 days away. The season has really flown by so far. I wish I could slow time down during this time of year. I am off work now, and will relax a bit. I am working on the Tribute for my nephew and am progressing pretty well. It will be certainly ready for Christmas Eve. I am looking forward to seeing it live, taping it and sending it to Robert, Michelle and the girls. I get a bit choked up every time I hear this, which makes it hard to get my programming done. I love the piece for the message it sends. Last night we hosted Dan and Darcy Miller. The twin sister and bro-in-law of our good friends the Allison's from Boston. We had a wonderful evening, so wonderful in fact, by the time we realized it, it was 11:20pm and the show for the evening was just about to end. So there was very little interaction with the display visitors. That's OK, we don't see Darcy and Dan often as they live in Gig Harbor. Closing the display. A lot want to know exactly how long we will be open. That decision has not yet been made. I planned Jan 2nd being Closing Night. But if we have solid visitorship, I may extend it a week. Decisions, decisions.
12-18-09 - We are in awe with the turn out so far. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Yesterday was one of those days you had to capture somehow. I did, in a journal type entry. I need to figure out how I can share it here on the blog, cause my light brothers were rolling with what I shared with them. It is long, so I may create a link. I have to admit that a good healthy laugh at yourself, when required is necessary. This was one of those days/moments. I got to wear my heritage "Polish" well. Let me get the document uploaded, and if you want a good chuckle at my expense, read on!. I am off work for the most part through the New Year now. There are some display, personal, and work things to accomplish so it will not be 2 weeks of lounging around, (like I EVER do that, NOT!)
12-17-09 - WOW! I was not expecting that much ink in the Seattle Time for sure. What an amazing spread. We will be getting busier I am sure from now on. I had to I send a kind note to the author, Tan Vinh for his work. Last night Darin Miller, another light crazy from the Portland area stopped by. He was up doing some work with Boeing and wanted to see the display live. Hopefully tonight I will get out and see some of my buddies displays, Kyle, Dennis, Doug and Johan before it gets too hectic here.
12-15-09 - AUTOMATION! YES! Smarthome, the company I have used for the static part of my display finally figured out what our issue was with our automation timer software. Since last Friday, I have been able to push a button on the computer to get my outside plugs to turn on. The timer was not operational. They figured out the issues and tonight, the computer completely kicked off the display. YAAAH! One headache out of the way. Mrs Claus for the street entrance showed up today as well and is in place tonight. She looks grand there next to Santa. I am glad I found her to complete the entrance vignette. So 15 days since Light Up and it is all finally coming together as planned. Our donations have been outstanding. I will do a count and it posted on the front page for all to see. Lastly, our family Christmas picture is done. The Christmas Letter is done. The envelopes get printed tonight and tomorrow they will start to get out. I have some to get to Canada for relatives there. Ah, I love it when a plan comes together. What a great SEASON this is!
12-14-09 - As life with an active show goes, the current state of affairs is scramble! Last night I noticed that the sound output going into the FM transmitter was staticy. I checking, my show computer's sound system appears to be the culprit. So that requires a computer switch today before the show turns on. Problem is, the computer it is being moved to was rebuilt itself just last week. So there more to be installed onto the new computer before it is ready to go. A few of our last items for the display are showing up. So vignettes are getting finalized, which means pictures can be taken to update the webpage. Just got word from KOMO that the film crew is coming at the end of the week. (literally came in as I was writing this). I am working on the last of the DMX Universe, the Yoke Lights to get in the show this week sometime. I have finish the enclosures, then take some new measurements for the movement. I may switch Yoke lights next year to a more powerful bulb model, that will be looked at once we really get these into the show. I also decided yesterday to resurrect the old "Tune Radio To" light sign. A lot of people are just not aware that the radio is a major part of the display when they drive up. The LED reader sign has it several times, but visitors don't always read it. I hope this helps as we will start to get busier by the weekend with the Seattle Times article due to hit on Thursday.
12-9-09 - The show lineup is complete. All songs are in the show, and we are breaking it up into 2 shows, hopefully not to confuse people, as we have some common songs in both shows. Those that have stopped by have been raving about the display and what we have accomplished. All these accolades are greatly appreciated. We have a wonderful jump on our SOWA donations as well. Things are all set for the Dec17th Seattle times article. We have been interviewed and photographed. Still waiting on KOMO, but they are running behind due to the tragic events in Pierce County with the police officers. We are completely understanding. Based on some input, I adjusted the front page on the website to get the address higher. That will be important as people start hitting it. We have already gotten some very kind emails sent, thanking us for our hard work. Those are greatly appreciated, along with those that tell us they will be back again and again bringing with them more family and friends. Creating memories, that is what it is all about.
12-5-09 - Opening weekend is coming to a close. I must say, it has been AWESOME to see visitors again. Thank you to all those who came out early. We have been interviewed by the Seattle Times and will be expecting a photographer this week to get the final shots for the Dec 17th article. KOMO's Parade of Lights site is up, and we should be visited by the filming crew if my info is correct. For all the media exposure we should have updates by the end of this week. I mentioned earlier that my buddy Kevin Thomas (Wirekat) started a song for me. The Peanuts Linus and Lucy Theme song. He did an awesome job with a great start for me. I am finalizing that song to get it into the display by early this coming week. A lot of our initial startup problems seem to be behind us. Which is good. There are a few minor things to get done, but all in all, things are smooth so far.
12-3-09 - As the front page states, we have had a very good opening few days so far. Neighbors have been stopping by to say "Thanks" and they are glad they are finally seeing what I have been creating for the past month or so. We were a bit rough the first 2 nights. I had gremlins in the network causing some weird stuff to happen, I had to scrub my channels to make sure they were spot on. Power cords had to be re-routed away from network cables, controllers reset, and some comms units replaced just because. So, just some general "punch list" stuff. As we move into the weekend, the Display Flyer has been updated with the new "Tech Specs" that everyone likes to see. We are still manually plugging cords in and pushing power buttons for the static portion, and waiting on the new system to get here hopefully Saturday. The feedback is that the display outdoes years past and looks great. I appreciate that input. OH! and the big news is that it looks like Woodinville Wonderland will be featured in the Seattle Times this year. I have had conversations with a coordinator, and reporter who will be here tomorrow night to finish an interview and take pictures. I am still debating the "one" show or "two show" approach. I have had show A&B running back to back. For Friday at least I have made one show and will time it to see how long it takes. I suspect close to 45 minutes. Decisions will be made after that. One more thing. I FINALLY found a Mrs Santa blowmold to compliment Santa by our entrance. I wanted this specific version to compliment that vignette. Ebay, a wonderful portal for finding things like that! Keep checking back.
12-2-09 - Last night was very ominous, as the sun set, I was finishing up the part of the "punch list" I needed to get done for the Light Up and the fog came up. Not heavy, just present. Anyway, we were running the shows, that's what matters. We had a fair share of Opening Night visitors too! There is still things to do to get things fully in shape, but a show will be running each night unless we get the 4ft of snow we got last year! Let's hope not. See you soon.
December 1st 2009 - OPENING NIGHT! We are still scrambling, a bit to get the edges smoothed over, but we will be running. I had a major glitch yesterday in my automation. Seems that my system to turn on the static items before the show, and all that off at the end of the show is toast. I have ordered a completely new system, but it I am keeping my fingers crossed that it gets here by this Saturday. So it's manually managing plugs till then! There is a punch list, the Santa Video is not yet functional. Tracy updated the shades in the house, and they interfere with the Santa Screen. So mods happen tomorrow. We will be settled out by the weekend for sure. Keep checking back.
11-30-09 - We are testing! There is the typical "punch list" of items after testing all the circuits. Today will be spent getting the primary items fixed so that we can start testing the songs. It will be a bit of a rough start but we should be settled out by this coming weekend. This is always a major juggle time for me. I am trying to finalize the display, by this time, Tracy is all over me to get the tree on the inside up. That alone takes about 4 hours. She finishes decorating it. There is also a couple inside display items that I need to help get in place (ladder required and awkward). Plus my job is still in the mix! So I am very busy to say the least.
11-28-09 - I hope every one had a great Thanksgiving! The final push is here on the display. Everything is set, the connections and power is being finalized today, with the communications being last. Then tomorrow, I have to get the DMX lighting out in the yard. So I can see that tomorrow night will be a test night! We are very close to being DONE! Check back.
11-22-09 - We are in full blown set up mode. I had 2 extra days to take off work and used them before my companies shutdown week. The yard layout is set and actually almost done. If Mother Nature will stop the ceaseless rain and wind, we could get more progress done. It is supposed to settle down by Tuesday. I have a solid day of roof work that cannot be done till the rain stops. The new additions that neighbors can see are already being talked about. You will just have to wait to see. I am starting to get the infamous question "when you going to be lit up?" I love that question. Means it looks close. The yard will look set, but there is at least 2-3 days of wiring that has to happen! Being Sunday today, I have 8 days to see if we can be Lit Up by next Sunday, the 29th. We will see. One issue for me is NO CHRISTMAS CAROLS yet! Normally I am humming away at Jingle Bells, or White Christmas. With the rain, I can't get the antenna on the roof for the FM transmitter! I may just have to put it on the porch for the time being. The family is happy though, they usually are wore out on Christmas Carols by the end of the season, but me I love them. See The WHY section of the site. The clock is ticking, and ARGH! the rain still falling!
11-12-09 - Well, I truly did not expect over a month to go by since the last update. Here is the nutshell version - Computer issues with DELL continue to plague me. Fortunately I had a my old machine as a backup. My lesson here is that I will build my own computers from now on. I just got the replacement this week, and it is not ready to go because of configuration problems for one, and time is another factor. I have none to work on it. My China trip has come and gone, it was a success and I have also been to North Carolina on business as well. I got home very late last night (or should say really early this morning). So right now my body is screaming at me, because it does not know where in the world (literally) it is at. I am a bit behind with things as expected. My new wireframes were a bit tardy in arriving, so Elfis and the band were worked on last weekend before my North Carolina trip. 3 of 4 were done and one is on the table with a good start and should only take a few hours to finish. Coming back from Shanghai, myself and Marty my Group Director picked up head colds. No fun traveling with that and I am still not fully healthy right now, YUK! Sequencing the songs is progressing. I have one to finish, Elfis's solo, and then all the voiceovers that the Demented Elf completed. They sound awesome! He did a great job with Elfis and then mixing my Rudy voiceovers together. All those have to be sequenced. I may open with a few songs needing to be finished. We will see. Starting tomorrow, we get back to work on the display overall. One wireframe to complete, then outside we go all weekend. Today I got a mow on the lawn. I will determine in the next week or so if that will be it for mowing and start putting stuff in the yard. Tracy informed me tonight that we have Thanksgiving here at the house for the family, and alas, the display should be close, but not complete. I am taking an extra 2 days with the standard company shutdown to get the outside complete. I am now shooting for at least a Dec 1st Light Up. Anything before that is a bonus at this point. Miscellaneous deliveries are still showing up on the door step! Last minute replacement items and nothing too critical at this point. Hopefully I will start having regular updates here until Light Up! CRUNCH TIME!
10-8-09 - In the 2 weeks since the last update A LOT has happened. Computer issues have inundated us. This has deep ramifications as you might figure. In starting my voiceover recording work with Kevin Dunn, the Demented Elf, who will be helping me this year with Elfis, we went from a functional computer, to nothing. Dell is replacing the box. I have been limping along on my old computer ever since. Bob Rivers customized Decorations for us! We have the MP3 in hand. So I made a wireframe of Spike O'Neil so he can have a cameo appearance every night. Spike had to do the recording for the customization. I hope he likes his Mini Me image of himself. Last weekend we started taking things out of hiding, and on Sunday started work on the roof. Icicles and window lights, are up! Earlier than ever. I also found out I am going to China this year again. I was actually planning that this trip would NOT occur, but alas, my Group Director Marty and I are heading back to Shanghai for 8 days. It will be a fun trip, and I will recover as always. With pulling things out. Testing has to occur to see how things fared over the summer. So far no too bad. I am heading to Chelsmford, MA for some internal training. One fun event Marty has asked the team to do is come up with a 10 minute presentation to hone our presentation skills, and to have some fun. So he completely left the subjects up to us. I think you all may know what my topic is going to be. That has prompted me to look at the long standing joke of video of my show. I am actually working on one song, House on Christmas Street by Judy Pancoast. This will do 3 things. Get me a video posted on my site, give my co-workers a look at this hobby, and most importantly, satisfy a promise I made to Judy to get a link to my site, and a video of her song which has been in the show for the past 2 years. We are in full on scramble mode from here till Lite Up. To boot, the computer that is now NOT operational, was specifically selected just for video editing! So more delays there. Oh yeah. That "The Learning Channel" bit we started and finally turned down, well it may be back on, in a second show they are looking into doing this year. If I can pull it off, I may opt to participate. Hold tight, keep checking back for updates. you can't believe the hoops I jumped through to get this post uploaded!
9-22-09 - Well, we are full on sequencing right now. The plan is final, the channels set, templates modified, and right now, I am adjusting the songs from the previous years to have the new features in them. One new song, at the request of Bob Rivers of KZOK here in Seattle. "Decorations", which is a parody off the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" is hopefully getting a personalized touch for us here. I asked Bob if he could make a modification to the song for Tracy and I. He has agreed to help, we are just waiting for the final version so that I can get that song sequenced. Weekends are now spend finalizing display items, checking features to make sure they are working properly. I am planning to pull the stuff out very soon, as I got notice that I would once again be making a trip to Shanghai, China this year. While the trip is always productive and enjoyable, it comes right at the time I want to really START getting set up. So I will be a few weekend days short now, and will have to make up that time on other days. Roof, road and bushes can be started in mid October to get things set up. The lawn has to wait for mid November and the final "mowing" of the season. Hopefully the leaves will fall early this year. I have been working on the new "Cat Tree". In 2009, it gets layered with my 4 colors, R-G-B-W. It is a tree, within a tree effect. White is 6ft, Blue is 8ft, Green 10ft, and Red 12ft. I have the W-B-G done and it looks great. I ordered some Blow molds to enhance the Church Arches. This is a modification, as the Nativity, with the Peanuts Gang is getting a major overhaul for 2009. Needless to say, we are gearing up and already moving toward what hopefully is a Thanksgiving weekend "Light Up".
9-7-09 - As of the end of the long weekend, I have my Snowflake Fall finished, the Peanuts Nativity Pageant is 99% done, all my planning is complete, and my 2009 song template is final. The previous song sequences take about 10 minutes each to update them with the new channels. With all this now done, I can focus on finalizing scripts for Rudy and Elfis. All the newly added channels have to be incorporated into the existing sequences, so there is easily several hours for each song to leverage the new display features. Then work has to start on the new songs to be added for the year. Still a lot of indoor work to do before we start setting up in about 3 weeks! I also finished my How - To that documents how I made my Peanuts Nativity, that gets posted tonight and may get a few minor edits if required.
9-5-09 - I have been on vacation all week. Another Shutdown week for Cadence my employer. This gave me time to get some things DONE on the display. The Peanuts Nativity Pageant is 99% done. Just some final touch ups front and back, the brackets for the back, and Sally the Angel needs to get a set of lights! Should be done today and certainly by the end of the long weekend. I am writing up a How-To make these types of wood cutouts since they are using a build up technique. Tracy says they are gorgeous, I have to agree. I have posted pictures on several of the forums for those to see. I am thinking of modifying the website to include with this Blog, journal pictures of projects. We will see. I am working on a Snowflake Fall, 2 of them with 8 snowflakes apiece. These will fall in rapid fashion for a neat effect that others have done, however, they have one long fall, 14 flakes in all. I broke mine up as did one or 2 that I have seen from last year. One tall one would not really work on our house. 2 look better and is more symmetrical. I sold one of my FM Transmitters to get a new RDS unit. RDS is the technology that allow text scrolling on your radio, so now along with listening to the songs in your car, you will get additional greeting messages streaming to radios that allow this. Today I have to build the unit, as it is a "kit". I sold my older unit from the same company to mostly pay for this one. More cool things to play with. Lastly, by the end of the long weekend, (alas, Summer is coming to a close, that also means that the big push starts), I will have the all of my major pieces done for the display. I am waiting on Elfis and the band to string with lights. However, I also have to complete the additional light channels within my sequence template, my power spreadsheet will be updated and by next week, I will be in sequence mode till set up starts. A lot has come together finally!
8-2-09 - Hot, HOt, HOT! That is what describes the weather here in the Great Northwest. We have been hotter here than Arizona! Last week it registered 107 degrees at our house, AND we had our hardwood floors redone, so the house was completely buttoned up, with NO air conditioning on for 4 solid days. When I was able to get into the house to open it up yesterday, it was over 90 upstairs, and 85 downstairs. WOW! The floors look great, but it took almost 24 hours to get the house to get down to a reasonable temperature. I stayed here in WA and Tracy went to see mom in LA for the week. Good thing, she missed all the scorching weather. We set records for single day temps, and for the longest streak of 90 and over days. I did manage to get some work done on the Peanuts Gang, but not much due to the house and weather situation. I stayed with my buddy Bruce Lobree, and well, he did not have A/C. Our Golden Girls had fun with his dog Trinity, but were not happy about the whole situation, hot weather, being away from home, at least I was there to be hot with them. The Peanuts Gang is 65% done as far as the characters being cut out, highlighted and primed. We then paint. I have decided to use this as a How-To make Intarsia wood cut outs. It will benefit others who want to do this style of cutout. Between the Gang and the house getting put back together, it will be a busy new few weeks for sure. Last week would have been our PLUS conference in Louisville. We were scheduled to fly home Tuesday the 4th. While disappointed that the event did not happen, it was sort of good that I was around here while the work was being done on the house.
7-13-09 - The Candy Canes are all done, and work is commencing on the Peanuts Gang. They are mostly cut out, and the priming, painting and detail are still to be done. We met with the producer for the TLC Christmas special. He came up to Seattle to interview our family, and my buddy, Kevin Thomas's. While it would have been fun to participate, I ultimately made the decision to back out of this effort. There were some interesting requirements, that for most other individuals is not a concern. Due to the time constraints that I already have with work, family and my display, I felt it was best to forego this venture. Tracy surprised me and took me on a golf "stay and play" weekend over the 4th to celebrate my Birthday. We had a great time golfing at Homestead in Lynden WA which in near the Canadian border. The plan for 2009 is starting to finally gel. However, I have to commit to paper, the yard layout, which in turn drives my controller connections. That then allows me to sit down and start sequencing. 2 new songs will be added this year, and then the old ones need updating to reflect the new features. The show will most likely be broken up into 2 performances that will be staggered every other night. More thought has to be put into this effort before it makes the final cut. I am thinking I need a yearly plan page that will outline the ideas I have for each year. I have a running list in Microsoft One Note, but I would like to be able to convey that through the website. Something else for me to consider.
6-12-09 - Candy canes are being worked on and I hope to have the 36 done next week. Over the weekend, Kyle Carlson will be over to do some welding for a mega tree star, but he will also let me leverage his Peanuts Characters so that I can create a similar vignette. Tracy loved that aspect of his display and wanted me to add it to ours for 2009. To go along with that, I will have to sequence the Peanuts Christmas Theme, Linus and Lucy, that we all remember from our childhood. Planning is being finalized to get things moving. I am going to have to look at my time requirements and make some hard decisions from my "to-do" list. I preliminarily met with The Learning Channel to see if I can be on their new 2009 Christmas Special. We will have to see if things will work out. They will require that my display is up by Nov 1st, and for those of you close to the display, you know that I have ran late the past 2 years. Mostly that was due to business trips to China, and it looks like this will not happen. So we could potentially meet this date, which will also play into planning.
6-9-09 - OK, finally, things are to the point where I can start to focus a bit on the display for 2009. Over the weekend, I broke into the LED order from Creative Displays, check and tested them. I owed the neighbors some lights out of the order, so I delivered those. Then I started on some new stuff. Along 236th, there will be some candy canes along the edge of the display to match the color scheme, R-G-B-W. 32 in all, plus 1 spare for each color. These will be made out of 1 1/2" PVC pipe with Long Sweep 90's for the top of the candy cane. Lastly on the display front, I am also focusing on modifying the old "Cat Tree". It will now grow to about 14ft, and will be a Tree within a Tree. 4 of them to be exact, also with my color scheme, R-G-B-W. A producer from TLC is trying to set up an interview. I guess they are doing another special and he found my website. We are trying to schedule some time right now. Hopefully more to follow on this news. Today Tracy's 18yr old Chris, graduates from Woodinville HS. Next year he will be off to college and our household will be very quiet then. This is an exciting day for Chris and all the graduates.
6-1-09 - Well, good news and bad. The bad first. Tracy and I were in Reno over the weekend, visiting her good friends the Willer's for their daughters wedding (not the bad news). While a great time was had, I got the news that PLUS, our bi-annual Christmas Conference was canceled. The economy has put a crimp on everyone, so the decision was best to cancel the event (this is the bad news). However, I have plane tickets that will be a problem to re-work, and figure out what I want to do with them, hotel reservations to cancel, and a visit with family, my niece Michelle, her girls, and other niece Melissa, and possibly sister that will not happen. So there is plenty of fall out from the cancellation. Plus, it will be a bummer to not see some of my Christmas Goomba's. So the good news, is that the prep I was going to have to do for my PLUS class gets relief, and I can start focusing on getting things done around our house, and split time with the display planning. This has been my worse year to date with getting things planned, organized and executed. Both for the display and the house in general. Previous to Reno, I was in LA at Mom's, to get her situated after her remodel work. Her house and life is now back to normal. Work thankfully continues to be very busy. Let's hope that things can hold together there and weather the recession a bit longer till we recover some.
5-11-09 - The yard. My canvas for the display. Well, Mother Nature and our harsh winter took it's toll on our canvas. I have spent the past few weekends in the yard to get it healthy again. Many of our landscaping plants are toast. This is irritating enough as it is, but, the front of our house, outside the living room window and along the west side behind our Mega Tree. Those hedges were completely wiped out We have removed the ones in front already. Those hedges were not only mature, at like 7 years old, but they were also a prominent display feature that allowed me to have lights on them. The fact that they have to be torn out and replaces affects the look of the house, yard and display, plus it affects some of the logistics too. Song sequences are now affected. The yard plan has a significant gap in it now. Tracy and I are not sure what we will do to replace those hedges. We replaced the spiral trees, but they are no where near as tall as what was there. We can only move forward and make the best of what we have. One a different note, Michael Farney of LORSequences.com and I are full steam ahead on our instructional material for PLUS in July. We have met several times to discuss the material, and class content. I think the class material will be great subject matter and highly attended. Now it's off to get the material drafted, demos complete, and everything finalized. We still have a couple months fortunately.
5-1-09 - The website got a bit of an update last night. I finally decided to add a How-To page to share some of my data with those interested. I will grow this list over time, but to date, these are the items I have prepared and shared in one way or another with my other light enthusiasts. For those interested, video is still in a very raw format on my camera and computer. Some day...........
4-30-09 - Wow, 2 months without an update. Not much to report on the display front. I have been VERY busy with work, putting in mostly 10-14 hour days of late. We had our local Pacific NW Mini PLUS gathering at Bill and Nancy Foley's again this year on 4/25. Kevin Thomas (Wirekat) and I managed the meeting, with Bill and Nancy graciously allowing us to use Bill's shop and picking up lunch for our crew. We had about 25 light enthusiasts show up. I did presentations on DMX, Wireframe and Strobe prep/repair. I need to get all my how to's posted for download. I think they turned out pretty good. I have been spending more time looking into what is called Do It Yourself methods of controlling lights. To date I have gotten in on several coops, group buys for equipment. The DIY method drives my cost per channel way down. I will still use my LOR equipment, but DIY for Woodinville Wonderland in the future is going to be how I grow things. I have had to spend some time at my moms helping her with some re-model things. Another trip to Los Angeles will be in the works within a few weeks. We replaced windows, heater, added a/c and now will be doing some drywall work. So painting will be in order. A small amount of work has been done on the Planet Christmas PLUS class I am teaching. My outline is in pretty good shape, so as soon as thing calm down at work, I can pick that up. My planning for the display has stalled, and while I have a lot of ideas, it may be a very busy year, so there may be minimal growth. We will see.
2-26-09 - Hola Amigos. VACATION! Yes! We head to Mazatlan tomorrow for a week of fun in the sun and margarita's! This has become our big family trip for the year. It is nice because the season is not too far behind, all the tear down is recently completed, we have one of our light orders in for the year, and now a very nice break. I am very much looking forward to some down time.
2-15-09 - Slowly things are getting back in shape around the house. The display is down and out of the yard. A few bins need tucking away, and some organization in the garage is still required, but Tracy is able to get her car in there! We completed the tear down last Sunday, fortunately just before another little snow fall happened! On Friday, 2/13, I put in my 2009 LED light order with Creative Displays as usual on the last day of the sale. I am usually one of Paul's last orders! It's now a running joke between us. The Planet Christmas, PLUS convention is scheduled for late July and early August. Tracy and I will once again be going. The Education Committee approached me to teach a class. Light-O-Rama 101. LOR is the light controllers and software I use in the display. This is going to be fun. I am looking forward to the opportunity to teach and networking with other Christmas Light crazies. Lastly, I have been building a new home computer. This will help with another long standing joke, and that is video editing. It is a beefed up Dell with the new i7 processor and a ton of memory. It is Vista 64 bit. All this is to mange what I think will be long rendering times for the display video. I will most likely start on that in a week or so. Planning is well underway. The light order pretty much sets what will be new for next year. Check back for more update, and I will keep you posted on the new ideas for this years display.
1-28-09 - We ended up collecting over $1000 dollars for Special Olympics. A bit disappointing after our bang up year last year. Mostly this is attributed to the tough visiting conditions. I have been breaking things down and putting them away. I have not had a lot of time to focus on this, and certainly have not been busting my butt either, rather taking my time. The weather has been REALLY cold the past week, so I have not wanted to work in the evenings after work. I did mange to get some planning done, and get a How-To written for my flood wash enclosures. I need to post some of my information here on the site and will later. No video work. Part of me has been waiting for the new home computer to get here, to make editing a bit faster. I will work on that after I get the display completely down and away. There is an LED light order that will go in within a week or so, sending back some lights that were not really what I ordered, and taking care of some defects / warranty work on some light strings. We will be heading to my moms for Superbowl and to get some of her end of the year stuff done, get warm, and see some friends. Our reservations are all set for the Planet Christmas PLUS convention in July. We will be heading off to Louisville, KY. Both Tracy and I are looking forward to that. Keep checking back, I will post items when I can.
1-10-09 - Closing Night. This is always a bit of a sad time. 2008's Christmas season, threw at us many challenges, but we ended on a great note for Woodinville Wonderland. We hosted some long time friends for dinner and to see the display. We had a WONDERFUL time. A great way to close, after the difficulties we had. Tomorrow we start to put the displays (inside and out) in hibernation. There is a lot of work as things just do not get put away. Items get checked, and fixed before storage. Final notes and thoughts get recorded to make things better for next year. Video needs to be edited for completion and posting. YES we will have video finally. Hopefully the weather will dry up some to assist with the tear down. Thanks to everyone for stopping by, and keep checking back for progress updates for 2009. More to come.
1-9-09 - The season is almost over. In the past few days, Mother Nature continued to show her might in our area. We are located just a mile from some of the worst flooding WA state has seen. We were blessed this season and had almost no damage. One arbor did suffer as the wind blew it over. Tomorrow we will host a group of friends who have not all been together in MANY years. They decided to get together to come see the display. So we will host dinner and a show! That meant that I extended our season one night. Sunday starts tear down. Looks like Mom Nature will give me a break over the next week to get things down. A blessing for sure. If you are seeing this, today, and have not seen us, please come out if you can.
1-5-09 - Argh! More snow last night. Only 2-3inches thankfully. We have been getting more of our family and friends by to see the display, as we are in our final few days. So for those of you that read this, you will get an un-advertised notice. It looks like the display will remain lit until Jan 10th. I have a group of friends that collectively, we have not gotten together with for a very long time. I am hoping to get a small gathering Saturday night for a private showing and get together.
1-3-09 - One more week to go. I lost my projector New Years Night. So I had to get a replacement in place to keep Santa in the window doing his thing. I will look to find a bulb for the projector, but for now we are operational. Yesterday I spent quite a few hours getting the display in the best shape it can be for the last week of the show. One of my lessons learned for 2009, get video and pictures as early as possible! Waiting till the end of the season has all kinds of issues from display wear and tear, weather, etc.... 2-3 more detail items to work on today, then we kick back for a week. We are getting visitors again which is awesome. I hope the word spreads that we will stay lit for another week.
1-1-09 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, Baby New Year came in quietly, let's hope that is the montra for the year. Today brings anticipation and new hope for the year, let's keep our fingers crossed. Tracy I got a chance to see a few more displays last night, and we came home to spend a quiet New Years Eve by ourselves. Today I fixed a few things that needed some attention, and by tomorrow, we will be ship shape for the last days of the show. I can then focus on getting videos and more pictures to post. With all the frustration of the year, I found myself actually getting excited already about 2009 planning. Tracy has tossed a challenge my way based on Kyle's display. She loved his Peanuts character theme and wants to add it to our display.
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