Santas Helper Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Between zipping 1,000s of wire/zip ties and assemblying 100s of vampire plugs ends (males and females), my dang finger tips hurt like hell.Not to forget the cuts and bruzing from wires and this and that and muscle aches in the hands. Our hands get the bad end of the deal IMO. Setting up and/or building new stuff is brutal in this world of wonderful lights. But the smiles they create sure make the pain go away. Okay, off the milk stool and back to work.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrison0550 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 My hands feel exactly the same way. I couldn't even tell you how many vampire plugs I've put on this week but I do know I've used over 4,000 zip ties cause I'm on my 5th bag right now. I'm so ready to be done and see the blinkity blink come to life.I believe I went a bit overboard for my first year lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Suck it up you two and get back to work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0chte Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Wow, It took 2 days to put up our 1st year of lights, and I just started to get that feeling.. Can't wait for next year.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 harrison0550 wrote: My hands feel exactly the same way. I couldn't even tell you how many vampire plugs I've put on this week but I do know I've used over 4,000 zip ties cause I'm on my 5th bag right now. I'm so ready to be done and see the blinkity blink come to life.I believe I went a bit overboard for my first year lolOnly 4,000? I've already used close to 12,000 (possibly more, I've lost count!) of these things, tying cords together, light strings to trees, garland to light strings, light strings to light strings. And my fingers aren't a bit sore! Because I use a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the zip ties tight! Then cut them with my diagonal cutters to make them flush. Used to have a zip tie gun, but after wearing out 3 of them in one setup, decided it was time to go back to something that worked better for me, needle nose pliers and diagonal cutters, which do the job very well and no sore fingers! Not even from feeding the zip tie into it's locking head.But then again, I used to work in the electronics industry building cables that spanned anywhere from 50 feet to over a 1/4 mile and zip tie them, although when I first started you had to lace them with cord, now that was a pain and was painful!Sure was glad when they finally figured out zip tying was much easier and quciker(even though I tried to convince them of that myself for years!).Could you imagine using lacing cord to tie your lights and other decor up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 harrison0550 wrote: I believe I went a bit overboard for my first year lolno such thing as "overboard" for this "hobby"!!tacky maybe, but not overboard!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph D Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 you guys have fingers left....i'm down to biting things off with my teeth! hands are all bandaged up. its the cracks in the finger tips that are the worst. that's painful as hell.:shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Well I just finished getting all the outside display lights and elements up and ready this morning so I am in a better mood now for a change.Good thing too since the weather is supposed to turn ugly for the next few days as well. Just have to make mods to sequencing for some changes I made in the setup this year and everything is good to go.I have tendonitis, arthritis, bad back, and a blown knee that have made this years setup a nightmare for me. I actually had a couple of bouts of sitting on the lawn in tears over this whole thing with pain and wondering if I was ever (or even) going to be able to get it all ready.Thank God for Morphine (script for the back), Vimovo (for the arthritis), hydrocordone and Tylenol for the rest of those aches and pains!! WooHooAt least there will be blinking lights here this year for the townsfolk to enjoy.Happy Holidays to all.Bill Ellick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testraub Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Gripe, gripe, gripe. You guys are making me sick :X I fell off my roof and dinged my shoulder really bad and you woosies are complaining about your poor, poor fingers.Suck it up! Back to work and stop complaining.Off Soap BoxJust kidding Tom Straub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrison0550 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 You fell off the roof? Im new to this hobby and all but from the avatar pic it looks like your roof is pretty flat. Do you fall out of bed sometimes, or fall going up stairs? This could be a sign of a worse underlieing problem like vertigo or alcoholism. LOL sorry just messing with ya. Joking aside I hope your ok. Alcoholism is not a laughing matter, don't be afraid to ask for help. We are here for you.Crap now that I made fun of you watch me fall off the dam roof this weekend. Karma! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 harrison0550 wrote: You fell off the roof? Im new to this hobby and all but from the avatar pic it looks like your roof is pretty flat. Do you fall out of bed sometimes, or fall going up stairs? This could be a sign of a worse underlieing problem like vertigo or alcoholism. LOL sorry just messing with ya. Joking aside I hope your ok. Alcoholism is not a laughing matter, don't be afraid to ask for help. We are here for you.Crap now that I made fun of you watch me fall off the dam roof this weekend. Karma!Considering that we are all here shows that we all have addiction problems way beyond alcoholism!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKSedg Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 beeiilll wrote: Well I just finished getting all the outside display lights and elements up and ready this morning so I am in a better mood now for a change.Good thing too since the weather is supposed to turn ugly for the next few days as well. Just have to make mods to sequencing for some changes I made in the setup this year and everything is good to go.I have tendonitis, arthritis, bad back, and a blown knee that have made this years setup a nightmare for me. I actually had a couple of bouts of sitting on the lawn in tears over this whole thing with pain and wondering if I was ever (or even) going to be able to get it all ready.Thank God for Morphine (script for the back), Vimovo (for the arthritis), hydrocordone and Tylenol for the rest of those aches and pains!! WooHooAt least there will be blinking lights here this year for the townsfolk to enjoy.Happy Holidays to all.Bill EllickThe arthritis in my hands is KILLING me! I have also put on about 5,000 zip ties. I'm glad my wife helped me, but my hands still hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testraub Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Considering that we are all here shows that we all have addiction problems way beyond alcoholism!!HEY! :X I resemble that remark! Tom Straub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobschm Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 12,000 zip ties?! Can't you use something like this?http://www.tecratools.com/product563.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 He mentioned he did, and wore 3 out.I need to invest in panduit and other ty-rap mfgrs knowing 12K ty-raps is in orville's budget every year. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Having one of those zip-tie tools "for me" is just another tool to keep up with while I'm in the middle of a project. Wire cutters is pretty much it. Man-handle the zip-ties and cut em then move on. I don't want to spend time handling pliers, zip-tie tools ans other stuff while my hands are busy holding wire,wire-ties and wire cutters. Too much tool swapping. :cool:No pain... No gain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 bobschm wrote: 12,000 zip ties?! Can't you use something like this?http://www.tecratools.com/product563.htmlThat's what I wore or broke 3 of. So went back to the old reliable needle nose pliers and diagonal cutters. Doesn't take me but a sec or two to swap off tools to do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 DonFL wrote: He mentioned he did, and wore 3 out.I need to invest in panduit and other ty-rap mfgrs knowing 12K ty-raps is in orville's budget every year. :cool:Don I zip tie everything down and together. Well I don't zip tie my cat5 to any electrical cables, but I do zip tie them together. Yea, I should own stock in a zip tie company!:shock:I get them from a store up the road from me (about a mile, maybe just under 2) that sells them in bundles of 100 at 2/$1.00! Haven't found a better deal anywhere LOCALLY where I can just go and buy what I need and have them immediately! I just purchased another 3,000 Tuesday. I had started with around 20,000 originally and had used them all up between my Halloween display, the Samhain display I had to set up at a friends house and then my Christmas Display. And I'm sure I'll be buying many, many more before the season is up, I use them for everything, everywhere all year long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbirdruss Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 You guys are killing me! I fell out of a tree a few years ago putting up lights. Now I hire a handy man every year for a couple of hours to do the high wire work. I had several light string failures in my mini-trees and ended up re-stringing 6 of 8. I must have cut 1000 zip ties and now have a blister on my middle finger from the scissors. My shoulders hurt from repeatedly wrapping mini lights on mii-trees. My back hurts from lifting containers of lights. My bank account is hurting from having to replace defective LED's (I thought those things would be more reliable). Hopefully I'll have the lighting and controllers installed by Wednesday morning but I still have 1 and 1/2 sequences to finish.Back to the grindstone and lovin' it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrison0550 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Orville wrote:DonFL wrote: Well I don't zip tie my cat5 to any electrical cables, but I do zip tie them together. Well crap let's say some reeree accidentally did zip tie all his cat5 to spt wire. Would I or would he need to go back out there and cut it all lose and move it away from the power wires.Totally hypothetical scenario here cause really who would do such a thing.But do I need to go cut them lose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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