OK, I’ll admit it, I nearly “dropped the ball” on Saturday and ruined Christmas for the entire crew here at The Evening Sun. How did I manage to put myself in such a predicament, you ask? I didn’t actually, but that’s what my trusted co-workers and esteemed editor would have you believe. In actuality, I saved our company float (kind of), primarily due to my inherent tendency to always have a back-up plan (well, almost always).

This isn’t to say I didn’t come awfully close to complete and utter damnation in the eyes of my fellow float-builders, however, because I did.

When plans for our (almost) annual Parade of Lights float first began to take shape, I’ll admit I was excited. I don’t think I’ve been a part of any parade, whatsoever, in at least 15 to 20 years, not since my marching band days. So when the question was tossed about as to who would provide a gas-powered generator for said float, I jumped on it. I mean really, I must know dozens of people who have one kicking around in their garage, right? As it turns out, that wasn’t the case – not at all.

However, after numerous phone calls to friends, relatives, friends of relatives and relatives of friends (not to mention complete strangers), I’d tracked down a small, supposedly efficient and relatively new generator. The problem? No one had bothered to find out if the thing even worked in years.