Definitions: Testing and Testy

I think we all know the definition of the word “Testing.”  That’s what the sound technician says loudly before every mass:  “Testing!  Testing!  Coincidently, that’s also the word the choir leader says a few minutes later:  Testing!  Testing!   And I know it’s just an amazing coincidence, but as soon as the organist sits down at the keyboard, she immediately says:  Testing!  Testing!  Some Sundays it goes on so often I think they may be confused, thinking that is part of the liturgy of the mass, and those are some sacred words which must be said before the priest processes up the aisle.

So, knowing the what the word “testing” means to me, (and how it makes me feel) why in the world would I ever want to DO testing?  Why would I ever want to be reminded of it?  And why would I expect that when the same thing is done by me, I might feel different results?

I said I would put up Christmas lights on the outside of my house this year, and today was a nice day, with temperatures in the fifties.  So I went into the basement, found all the lights from years ago, and then, of all the silly things to do, I went about Testing! them.  The above picture is the results of said testing, and its aftermath.  (The boxes on the right are the new bulbs I went out and bought at Meijer’s.  The boxes are open because I tested them in the store before buying them.)  Two strands lit up, and the rest didn’t.

I saw my neighbor out front and offered all the old lights to her so her kids could have some fun trying to figure out which bulbs were really burned out; “It will keep the busy for hours,” I said jovially.

She looked at me like I was nuts.

Oh well, it was only a couple hours later when I finished hanging the lights from the gutters and porch posts, and plugged them all in to see the joyous holiday results.  I wasn’t thinking.  I was Testing! again.  Oh no!  A half of one of the strands near the end did of the garage did not light up.  “Arrggghhhh,” I moaned aloud; perhaps really loud.  And then I checked over to see if my neighbor was still out front raking leaves and had heard me.

Whew!  She had gone into the house.  It’s one thing for the neighbors to think I’m nuts, but it’s another for them to know.

I glanced back at the twenty or so unlit mini-lights hanging from the gutter.  I was done testing.

Oh, and the definition of “Testy?”  Well, having read this, I think you can figure out my definition of that word also.

(You know, I truthfully say that most of my posts here are thoughts which arise while I am in the church or chapel, but obviously this one wasn’t.  Can you tell the difference?)