Today was First of Advent, when Lutherans commemorate that the three magi ("wise men", but more accurately "Zoroastrian clergy") started their trip west to Bethlehem to meet the newborn prophet. Or something like that. It's been a while since I graduated Sunday School. An excellent day to build a neon glow lamp advent candelabrum! It's a 2 MHz Colpitts oscillator powered by a 9 V alkaline PP3 battery with a 7-stage Greinacher voltage multiplier to reach the breakdown voltage. The neon glow lamps are of type IN-3, made in the Soviet Union.