Dammit! Every year I buy Christmas lights for the house and every year I always end up having to go back to the store for more. This year I decided to play it smart and measure the front of our house. I got out the tape measure and discovered that it is exactly 48.5 feet from one side to the other. When we got to the store I noticed there were two icicle light lengths to choose from. 18 feet and 13 feet. 18+18+13=49. Perfect! Right? Wrong!
This year, it wasn’t the length that screwed me up. After putting up the first 18 feet, I opened the second box only to discover that this package held lights with WHITE wire. The first strand had green wire. The last box also had white wire. For Christ’s sake, DO PEOPLE REALLY HAVE A PREFERENCE?!? And if so, why in the hell do you pretty much have to read the fine print to discover that there is a CHOICE?!? So this year has proven to be no exception. Back to the store for more lights. Merry Freakin’ Christmas.
UPDATE: I’ve gotten several comments and emails about this topic. Most are informing me that the green wire is for your Christmas tree and the white wire is for your house. I don’t believe I have ever seen icicle style lights on a Christmas tree so that pretty much ruins that theory. For a second there, I thought maybe the green wire was for bushes/shrubs, however, there are an entirely different style of lights for bushes/shrubs besides icicle lights. Yeah, I am pretty sure icicle lights are reserved solely for decorating your house, therefore, the mystery remains unsolved…
December 12th, 2005 at 11:17 am
That is nuts. I didn’t know the wire was different colors either. I’m trying to win the decorating contest where I live again this year, but my neighbor puts up more stuff every time I do.. This could be a challenge
- kt
December 12th, 2005 at 8:01 pm
I made 4 trips to Wally World this year. I even laid out all my old lights, tested them, and counted up how many strands I needed to finish the house. I’m apparently a really bad mathamatician…
Your pain is felt.
December 13th, 2005 at 10:33 am
my understanding was green is for the tree b/c the wires tend to blend in and white is for other uses like your house etc.
damn i know waaAAaay too much about xmas lights
December 13th, 2005 at 12:45 pm
i use icicle lights on my tree every year, gives it that natural cascading wilderness feel. by natural, i mean what’s natural about it, there’s a tree in my living room for fuck’s sake! seeing that it is an artificial tree, every little bit helps i suppose. at any rate, i obviously need the green wire.