Trip's House of Cards

**Trip** · 11-18-2008, 10:56 AM

Well I haven't posted here much since I got started back at the beginning of this year. I been hard at work building. I am going to blog about what I have done so far and how my first time experience is at not only DIYC, but christmas lights in general. This is my first year with a house, first year with a wife, first year to put up christmas lights, and first year with DIYC. That's why I am calling it my house of cards, because it could all fall apart at any second. So I give ya'll a brief summary of what I have been through since I stopped posting and started lurking back at the beginning of the year.

Well I decided on the Ren64 xB using the RenT. I bought two Ren64s with 32 SSRs. Enough to grow into, but only built 1 Ren64 for the first year. Didn't really want to push it all that much. I will get more ambitious my second year, thinking maybe mega tree with a couple Ren16s.

Got my Ren64 working back in March

Got an enclosure that was recommended on the board along with my ebay fm transmitter, power supply, and RenT

Finished up the enclosure and got 16 SSRs ready to go for the season

Using a varation of the pod enclosure described on computer christmas to encapsulate my SSRs from the weather

Finally, my new home all ready to decorate, got the red door painted the same as the shutters and grass in the yard now though.

I am going with a blue only minis/white only minis setup. Plan on getting some mini trees and doing some lines on the house itself for this year. Maybe some other elements. It's going to be a real simple design. Already working on sequences for Baby it's cold outside and Louisiana Christmas Day. Hopefully will get more done as the season moves on.

Time for some crawfish once they start coming in good.

I also took full advantage of that deal alert at the beginning of the season and stocked up on the 3 extension cord deal at HD along with buying a ton of blues and whites at 75% off.

**kmc123** · 11-18-2008, 11:08 AM

Looks GREAT Trip!!!

**wbuehler** · 11-18-2008, 11:43 AM

Very nice Trip

Bill

**omzig** · 11-18-2008, 11:53 AM

"Tripping the Light Fantastic!"

**Trip** · 11-18-2008, 11:59 AM

Thanks guys, I owe a lot of ya'll thanks too, cause I had a ton of questions on flash chat in the beginning and all the ideas I stole off this board to be able to get where I am at.

**Dino242** · 11-18-2008, 12:35 PM

Y'all actually eat crawfish that far north?

**Trip** · 11-18-2008, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Dino242

Y'all actually eat crawfish that far north?

I have to have them shipped up, it's costly, but yeah I get em up here. Have to watch out and make sure you don't get a dead batch. I am originally from what use to be Buras, LA.

**tonypgst** · 11-18-2008, 01:11 PM

Love the picture of the boiling pot. Having grown up in Lafayette, LA, I'm all to familiar with boiling crawfish. Heck, I miss the days of cooking up a few hundred pounds at a time for the family get togethers.

**rlilly** · 11-18-2008, 10:24 PM

Trip!

Glad to see you're in the spirit! Don't worry. The cards bond and reinforce themselves to become one entity. Stronger together....

I spent a few years in Lafayette myself. Earls meat market for the barbeque sausage and rib eyes. The Best Stop for smoked boudin. Laissez le bon ton roulez, cher!

Hard to get good tow sacks of crawfish outside that state though. I'm next door and sorely dissappointed....

**Blackbeard** · 11-19-2008, 03:28 AM

Trip,

Here in WV, I can only get frozen crawfish. They're not bad, but nothing like I had down in NO. They apparently freeze them pretty quickly after being caught. WalMart of all places. I really liked what they could do with crawdads(what we call them here) and tomatoes in New Orleans.

And your story about the lights is great also. I'm just a few-days-old newbie to the hobby, but think I'll go with a single Renard 64 for now. Still not sure. So your tale is encouraging for those like me.