Yes, this has been the worst year I can remember for in-show maintenance. Battling wind and constant rains here in FL. I usually use copious amounts of dielectric grease on every connection, strobe socket, as I assemble a vampire plug, etc. but I skipped it this year during setup and I'm paying the price. The grease does get pretty messy at setup and teardown time, but it really works to keep out water.
Many nights this year I have only been able to keep the Aethers and lights on the house running, while the trees and front line arches, megatree, etc all trip the GFIs from so much rain. Any hope for Christmas Eve luminaries were a total wash (pun intended) last night as well.
Despite all of my personal grief over "whats going wrong this year", the people in the cars didn't care and continued to stop by well past midnight....and sitting through the entire song loop.
Merry Christmas Everyone !
Mike E.