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LJIdol Topic 2 - Vampire Load
Oct. 6th, 2026 05:02 pmVampire Load
The word “Vampire” first brings to mind the Vampire Lestat, Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice in 1976. Then it returns me to Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows in 1968…but he had absolutely no appeal for ten-year-old me, while Quentin Collins was sooooo cute. Years later, my smallbear and her pals were drooling over Stephanie Meyer’s modern vampires, attending midnight book releases at Barnes and Noble to purchase the latest volume in the series.
I tried to read Twilight. I tried to like it. I really did. My personal verdict was good plotting, bad editing. I had always made a point to read what my kids were reading, not to block but to be able to discuss. It was a very rare and damaging book that would cause me to tell any young child they could not read that book. There was nothing about the Twilight book that was going to damage my kid or her friends, as proved by her graduating college with honors and going forth to teach high school English. Those vampires did not suck out her brain.
Which brings us to my current efforts to get all the holiday decorations out. We single-handedly keep the local electric company in business from October first to December thirty-first. Somewhere in the middle of February, I always expect to open the mail and find a tearstained note, asking “Where did you go? Why did you leave me? I love you! I miss you!” from Xcel Energy.
Yes. I **am** “that house.” It is me. The house you mock with all the inflatables. The place the party busses charge innocent people to come over and see the lights and take advantage of the photo ops. That place with the short-range radio broadcast. No, the party bus does not share the wealth, but we counted five different bus tours operating during the holiday season last year.
We have enough extension cords and timers and three-way-plugs to keep things lit and exciting. Because we are the people that move stuff every year, my connections change from holiday to holiday and from year to year. If you are going to maintain the same display placement every year, life becomes much easier when you introduce the Vampire Plug. When you use the Vampire Plugs, you can have all of the outlets in the exact spot for your holiday display.
“Slide-on vampire plugs — also known as Gilbert plugs — are the standard connectors for building and extending custom Christmas light runs on SPT wire. The metal teeth pierce the wire insulation and make contact with the copper conductors inside, creating a secure connection without cutting or stripping the wire.“
Which is still not exactly answering the prompt…but all the juice my display is pulling while it is “not lit” certainly proves the existence of the Vampire Load. (As does my electric bill, but we are not gonna go there!!)
The word “Vampire” first brings to mind the Vampire Lestat, Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice in 1976. Then it returns me to Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows in 1968…but he had absolutely no appeal for ten-year-old me, while Quentin Collins was sooooo cute. Years later, my smallbear and her pals were drooling over Stephanie Meyer’s modern vampires, attending midnight book releases at Barnes and Noble to purchase the latest volume in the series.
I tried to read Twilight. I tried to like it. I really did. My personal verdict was good plotting, bad editing. I had always made a point to read what my kids were reading, not to block but to be able to discuss. It was a very rare and damaging book that would cause me to tell any young child they could not read that book. There was nothing about the Twilight book that was going to damage my kid or her friends, as proved by her graduating college with honors and going forth to teach high school English. Those vampires did not suck out her brain.
Which brings us to my current efforts to get all the holiday decorations out. We single-handedly keep the local electric company in business from October first to December thirty-first. Somewhere in the middle of February, I always expect to open the mail and find a tearstained note, asking “Where did you go? Why did you leave me? I love you! I miss you!” from Xcel Energy.
Yes. I **am** “that house.” It is me. The house you mock with all the inflatables. The place the party busses charge innocent people to come over and see the lights and take advantage of the photo ops. That place with the short-range radio broadcast. No, the party bus does not share the wealth, but we counted five different bus tours operating during the holiday season last year.
We have enough extension cords and timers and three-way-plugs to keep things lit and exciting. Because we are the people that move stuff every year, my connections change from holiday to holiday and from year to year. If you are going to maintain the same display placement every year, life becomes much easier when you introduce the Vampire Plug. When you use the Vampire Plugs, you can have all of the outlets in the exact spot for your holiday display.
“Slide-on vampire plugs — also known as Gilbert plugs — are the standard connectors for building and extending custom Christmas light runs on SPT wire. The metal teeth pierce the wire insulation and make contact with the copper conductors inside, creating a secure connection without cutting or stripping the wire.“
Which is still not exactly answering the prompt…but all the juice my display is pulling while it is “not lit” certainly proves the existence of the Vampire Load. (As does my electric bill, but we are not gonna go there!!)
