Hello all, I have just set my pre-lit up. Bought 2 years ago at Lowes, 7 feet (I think), beautiful fluffy tips, they really have a nice selection there. Not cheap, but mine was the last one of that kind and they gave me 50% off. PLUS the added advantage of not having to set it up that first time. So now my problem... the tree comes in 3 parts -> all the power sources (extension plugs) are on the middle part. The top part had one male plug dangling, so that was easily plugged in, and it's working. But the bottom part has 3 plugs. 2 are the male/female connect-thru plugs, the kind to piggy-back. I plugged them in and those 2 strands work. But the one remaining plug is a female end-plug. Where am I supposed to plug that to? Makes me wonder if there is a male plug out there somewhere with power on it, which is impossible. I must be missing something, but can't figure out what. Suggestions, anyone? I'm baffled.

Do you mean for a real tree, or are you getting a faux tree? IF getting a faux, the tree stand is usually included. Good luck!

froghopper, OP asked about inexpensive software that would allow him to play around with floorplans. He asked for something that would allow him to do basic stuff that he could learn quickly and that would not be too expensive. You commented on the Punch 3000 Architectural program and I have to point out that I did not and would NOT have recommended Punch 3000 to someone looking for something inexpensive and easy to learn. I have even personally recommended against starting out with the Punch top-of-the-line products because they have way too many bells and whistles to be easy to learn. Plus, IMHO their top of the line stuff is too expensive for someone who just wants to play around with floorplans before taking their ideas to an architect. As a TOTAL NOVICE at CAD programs, I found Punch 5-in-1 to be extremely easy to learn and perfectly suited to doing what I wanted to do at that time... which was to play around with floor plans and look at them in 3D so I could get a better idea of what I wanted. I have never used AutoSketch or TurboCad or any other CAD program but if they are really easier for a true novice to use than Punch 5-in-1, then they would pretty much have had to be able to read my mind and draw images without me having to figure out how to input anything at all. LOL! Seriously, 5-in-1 took me less time to learn to use than powerpoint or excel and it was a whole lot more fun. After learning on Punch 5-in-1 and eventually becoming frustrated at my inability to use it to design COMPLEX elements like dormer windows and a very complex roof line, I upgraded to Punch 3000 Architectural. It probably took me several days to figure out how to use most of its features and some I never did bother with - like the "animator" that lets you make 3D video clips touring your design or "estimator" that is supposed to allow you to estimate the cost of a project. I also know that if DH had given me Punch 3000 instead of 5-in-1 to begin with, I probably would have given up in frustration. Punch 3000 was much too complex for me to have learned all at once but having mastered 5-in-1, 3000 was no longer overwhelming. Thus, I was able to use Punch 3000 to design my entire 2 story 3200 sf house... which is definitely not a simple rectangular box! It is a sprawling Victorian home with unexpected nooks and cranies, bay windows, dormer windows, a porch with shed roof that wraps around three sides, a screened side-porch with a deck above it that attaches the house to the garage, two additional upper decks/balconies and a very complex roof. Using Punch, I was able to show the fireplace, all the kitchen cabinetry and bookcases, interior doors with transoms above them, all the plumbing (including floor drains) and even indicate where ceiling fans, lights, switches and electrical outlets would be. I confess to ignoring the HV/AC tab entirely - except to keep in mind that duct chases would be necessary - but it is available if someone wants to use it. I also ignored the landscaping feature as we are trying very hard to leave the native vegetation alone as much as possible and will figure out our landscaping once the house if built. Finally, when it came time to deal with final details like gingerbread for the eaves of the house, I gave up although, supposedly, I could have designed the gingerbread using the 3D custom workshop tool. Frankly, that is one tool that I never did completely master - mostly because it scales everything in feet and when you're designing detail stuff, you usually want to do it in inches. I got tired of constantly having to pull up a calculator and convert inches to feet! I did use 3D workshop at one point to create a colonial porch column and a built-in breakfast nook that I used when trying to show DH - who has zero ability to visualize from a floorplan - what the porch and the breakfast nook would like like once built! When I took my Punch 3000 drawings to an architect to vet, he was amazed at the level of detail I was able to accomplish and ended making only a couple of very minor changes. I have no idea what program he used to create the blueprints but as far as I can see, those have almost no details that were not evident in my original Punch 3000 drawings. I'm not trying to claim that Punch 3000 is better than any of the professional autocad programs or that any professional would even want to use it. I am saying that Punch 5-in-1 is a great and inexpensive program for a non-professional with zero previous CAD experience to use and that a non-professional who starts with 5-in-1 and eventually finds it too limiting is likely to find the top of the line Punch programs will do everything a non-professional could want. All in all, I'll stand by my recommendation - and for $10 to $15 for a used program, I think it would be hard for OP to go wrong.

Did you find a good light? If so, please share what you learned as I am in need of the same thing!