Pop

I've spent a rather odd amount of my workday this past couple of weeks throwing strings of Christmas lights.

Not putting them up; throwing them.

It's all part of our city's annual light exchange, you see. As an effort to get people to stop using old-fashioned incandescent Christmas lights and switch to the much more energy-efficient LED version, the City in conjunction with a local retailer and, well, us, has sponsored a program where people can exchange two sets of old lights for a set of new ones. As an added bonus, we pass the old lights off to a recycler to reclaim the copper wiring &c that would otherwise go to the landfill.

Pretty neat idea, really.

Of course, what it means for those of us at the nature centre is hauling cart load after cart load of tangled-up light strings to the giant bin outside the loading dock, and throwing them in. Not dumping, no. If all a person did was dump, pretty soon you'd have a huge pile right at the near side of the bin, and a big open space towards the back. So, we throw. Aim for the far end of the bin as much as possible (which, for me? Let's just say that any softball team I've ever played for can tell you that I'm not exactly a natural tosser thrower. No comment on the tosser bit, ok? I don't want to know if I'm a natural one of those). Aim for the far end, and hope for the pop.

You see, the unexpectedly fun thing about throwing strings of lights is that it's a little like having a miniature firework show, only without the brightness. Bulbs make a fantastic sound when they pop, and then you get a spray of little shards of glass all over the place (except, hopefully, where you happen to be standing. I'm sure the whole thing is a bit of an OH&S nightmare, come to think).

It's also very silly amusement to get to break things on purpose.

Now that the bin's almost overflowing, though, there's an added dimension. A challenge. The bulbs have to contact other bulbs squarely, or they won't pop at all because there's too much of a cushion of other light strings. We've hit the point where the occasional pop is almost cause for celebration.

And?

Well, not for the first time I find myself thinking, "I get paid to do this?"

My job is weird.

But you should see all the lights.



In fact, go to the work blog if you want to see the latest pictures of the full bin. Don't know where the work blog is? E-mail me. Don't have my e-mail? Well, then we have a problem, I guess. You see, I do try to make an effort to keep my personal internet self a little separate from my work internet self, and I just can't go passing these things along in the blather...

But still. Popping lights on purpose? Just way too much fun.





I guess I should go check to see if we have another load of "fun" now then, shouldn't I? Yeah, I should.







I get paid to do this. Seriously.