I hauled something like 15 strings of Christmas lights -- the regular (not LED) kind -- from my garage loft. Every year I throw away one or two strings that stopped working, so theoretically all the ones I unpack should be functional. Two strings just wouldn't light -- checked them for broken or missing bulbs, then chucked them. Then un-chucked them so I could cannibalize the bulbs that might or might not still be good in case I came across any dead bulbs on the good strings. It's hell sometimes to be frugal. Then three strings turned out to be "half-dead" -- I did find a broken bulb or two, but even replacing these didn't get the whole thing working. I know there's something about a fuse, but ... it's far more maddening to have something half-working than totally worthless.
So- eight strings left. I decided to use two strings of whites and three strings of multis on the tree. The two white strings vanished. (I put them in a good place after I tested them out, but where could that good place be?) and since in my compulsive way I have to put the white lights on first, I'm stuck now. I won't go out and spend good money on new lights when I know there are some perfectly good ones hiding somewhere. My grandfather used to talk about a "bottomless pit" where missing objects go. Most times stuff reappears just as mysteriously as it disappeared, but not always. Sometimes my brain seems to be like those faulty strings of lights -- both ends glow but there are gaps in the middle where something has come loose. Unfortunately I don't have the option of purchasing a new string of neurons.
