Renew Your Pastafarian Vows Before Festivus

[ase]

Monday I decided I needed Tuesday off. So I took it. Only three use-or-lose days left! Instead of following my original plan (Smithsonian, yay), I wound up cleaning my messy, messy room and sorting the ten boxes that Dad's Attic Storage (not incorporated)held on to for five years. (Lucky dad has hit retirement age, and is waiting out 1.) the economy, and 2.) Second Wife's 20 years so Casa Closer To West Virginia Than DC can move to Tuscon and environs like yesterday.) Some of these are obvious dumps on the open market (Magic: the Addiction cards, old anthologies), but there's five boxes left after first triage, and that's kind of too many. So I am torn between cutting by nostalgia, cutting by library availability, and being stupid and keeping the lot.

Somewhere in this apartment, there are three strings of Christmas lights. Before the end of the week, they're going to be three strings of lights adding to my electrical bill. And at some point, the sun will be up for ten whole hours at a time, and I will stop trying to turn on every light in every room of every building I spend time in.

Comments

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

FYI - around here, one can get LED strings for about $8. The string uses about as much electricity (4W) as a regular night-light. But you can run other strings a long time before you'll use up $8 worth of electricity.

But they run cool (they don't use any power) so they are no danger to trees or other flammables.

And, although I've heard of some infant mortality (so check them at the store or make sure you can return them), this is the third year I've used them, and I've yet to replace a bulb. The ministrings these replaced needed bulb replacement every couple of nights (and it gets cold around here on Dec. and Jan. nights.)

[ase.livejournal.com]

The LED strings are what I've got, yes. I still miss the proper big burn down the house energy-sucking bulbs. LEDs are so restrained.

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

[grin]

I apologize for bringing coals to Newcastle. (I'd have a tough time thinking of you as my grandmother, so I can't use the suck-eggs one.) They're still catching on around here. But whereas one store just had a few boxes and ran out two years ago, they've got lots, this year. I hope the economy doesn't wind up making the stores eat them. They didn't used to have Energy Star rating - don't know if that has has been fixed, yet. The DOE just started up a program allowing such devices to be submitted this fall. Bleeped bureaucrats. The official electric efficiency utility (yeah, VT has an official one, supported by a rate surcharge) can't give credit for using them until they get the official Energy Star rating, but the utility has been spreading the word.