THE ROONEY BIN: 'Tis the season for holiday lighting battles Jackie Rooney Putting up decorations an exercise in frustration — but worth every minute “I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.” — Maya Angelou “No-o-o-o-o! No-o-o-o-o!” my dismayed spouse the Binmeister shouted when he went outside on Thanksgiving eve and saw our neighbor's house and trees ablaze with holiday lights. Once again, they beat us in the annual unofficial lighting competition. Binmeister had repainted the centerpiece of our traditional display, two white wooden deer; one with a bright red nose. Spurred by the thought of being the first on the street to put lights up, he was all set to spend Thanksgiving Day whistling Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer while untangling strings of lights and roasting the turkey in his Big Green Egg.