Aunt texted me that the lights I put on her Christmas trees didn’t work and she doesn’t know what’s going on. I rode bike there to check as exercise. While I was slowly riding uphill, one paddle at a time…a lady running passed and said ‘Nice work’ to me, I was caught in surprise for a second then smiled… Ya, Keep going! I shouted back and paddled harder…
I checked the solar panel and pressed the buttons in the back, Power and Mode. The light blinked yet didn’t last. Why? I checked each panel of the four trees, the strange thing was that when my hand was on the panel, light came out but when I moved my hand off, light went off. The good news is that lights are functional but why they only work with my hand over the panel? I read the menu, it didn’t show “special” instruction, neither likely that I could install such a simple item “wrong”. I took one string of light off the tree as aunt suggested to test indoors. The golden lights shine constantly in my hand, why didn’t it on the tree?
I walked back to the trees with aunt, the street light went on as sun came down. Suddenly the light bulb went on…the tree light would turn itself on when it senses darkness…I changed the solar panel face away from the street light, dala, light is on. Earlier it was too “bright” so it wasn’t on and when my hand “touched” (covered) the panel, the sensor was triggered. The past few days the lights didn’t work because the panels were facing the street light and they felt bright day ‘n night. Mystery solved, now we see gold and silver lights dancing up ‘n down or blinking (in various modes) on the four trees. Nice work! I padded myself on the back for my first Christmas tree light project. Even better, aunt gave me some food (see ”燒餅油條 Biscuits Fritter” post for more details) she just got from a Chinese restaurant.
On my ride home, I thought of the running lady. We didn’t know each other yet her two simple words had lighted up my mood from struggling riding uphill and questioning why I did (bought the lights, came to install, and came again to fix) to feel good.
Nice work – Let’s say it more often to ourselves and others~
I rode fast home as I couldn’t wait to enjoy燒餅油條 🙂 Nice work!