- Joined
- Dec 2, 2025
- Messages
- 2
Hey everyone! I’m Brian, checking in from Lake Havasu City, Arizona — otherwise known as “the hottest place in the U.S. where people voluntarily live.” Our summers casually hit 50°C, with my personal backyard high-score coming in at 55°. We’re also the only lake on the western side of the country with no speed limit, so… yes, whatever you’re picturing, it’s probably accurate. If you’ve ever watched Daytona Beach on TV during Spring Break — the boats, the beer, the bikinis — that’s basically us from March to September. Then from September to March, we switch to Snowbird Season, where the population doubles because apparently 60°F counts as “too cold” for some folks.
Work-wise, I’ve been in IT for 35 years, and for the last 20, I’ve lived in the world of HPC and supercomputer storage. I’m a Linux/Unix command-line dinosaur who uses gigantic fonts and keeps the mouse around mostly for decoration.
I’m also the volunteer IT Director at my church, and a couple years ago we (read: not me, but somehow still me?) decided to put on a Christmas light show. It went well enough that now I’ve decided I want one at home too. So I’ve got Kulp controllers, power supplies, xConnect 12v bullets, and props all headed my way this week. I installed xLights and… well… “fumbling through it” is probably the nicest way to describe what I’m doing.
Now, important detail: I’m legally blind. With contacts I can read the big E; without them the chart looks like modern art. So I rely on great hearing, terrible balance, no ladders, and the slowest reading speed known to mankind. Tutorial videos are basically a blur of pixels and confusion, so… yeah, xLights and I are negotiating our relationship right now.
I don’t have any questions yet, but trust me, they’re coming. And when they do, I’m apologizing in advance because I might ask things you all answered back in 2018. Reading every post on this forum would take me about a year, and I’m hoping to have a display running in, oh… a week or so. So please forgive the repeat questions.
And who knows — I may even resort to bribery and beg someone to build my first-year xLights show for me. No shame.
Looking forward to the adventure, and hope everyone’s doing great!
— brian
Work-wise, I’ve been in IT for 35 years, and for the last 20, I’ve lived in the world of HPC and supercomputer storage. I’m a Linux/Unix command-line dinosaur who uses gigantic fonts and keeps the mouse around mostly for decoration.
I’m also the volunteer IT Director at my church, and a couple years ago we (read: not me, but somehow still me?) decided to put on a Christmas light show. It went well enough that now I’ve decided I want one at home too. So I’ve got Kulp controllers, power supplies, xConnect 12v bullets, and props all headed my way this week. I installed xLights and… well… “fumbling through it” is probably the nicest way to describe what I’m doing.
Now, important detail: I’m legally blind. With contacts I can read the big E; without them the chart looks like modern art. So I rely on great hearing, terrible balance, no ladders, and the slowest reading speed known to mankind. Tutorial videos are basically a blur of pixels and confusion, so… yeah, xLights and I are negotiating our relationship right now.
I don’t have any questions yet, but trust me, they’re coming. And when they do, I’m apologizing in advance because I might ask things you all answered back in 2018. Reading every post on this forum would take me about a year, and I’m hoping to have a display running in, oh… a week or so. So please forgive the repeat questions.
And who knows — I may even resort to bribery and beg someone to build my first-year xLights show for me. No shame.
Looking forward to the adventure, and hope everyone’s doing great!
— brian
