How long should a light bulb last?
That how I started my search online because it seems like every time I walk into a room in my house and turn on a light, another bulb burns out. How many Cavaliers does it take to change a light bulb? Zero, apparently, because pretty soon neither of us will be capable of simultaneously staying upright on a ladder, unscrewing a light cover, and changing a bulb, all without falling and breaking arms, legs, and bulbs. There’s got a to be a better way.
So what is the answer to my Google search? Apparently it depends mostly on the type of bulb. Seems like I’ll need to go buy some LED bulbs because they supposedly last decades. That should be long enough that we’ll be long gone from this world before we ever need to unscrew a light cover again. (Or maybe we don’t need ones that last that long? See the end of this post for details on that!)
We also have this one weird light situation in this house.
There are three lights in the kitchen ceiling, all in a row. One switch turns them all on, but here’s the kicker. Sometimes, they all come on simultaneously. Other times, flipping the switch will cause one light to come on, then a few seconds go by, and another light comes on, and then it may take 5 or 10 MINUTES before the 3rd light comes on. The timing is random too, so it’s not like it’s always a few seconds and then a few minutes. It may be 10 seconds before the second light comes on and 30 seconds for the 3rd, or any random amount of time. What’s up with that?
Then yesterday, all 3 of those lights flickered at the same time, then stopped flickering, a minute or two went by, and then the flickering happened again. More seconds went by, one more flicker, and then it was done. Lights were fine again and they haven’t flickered since.
Of course, I searched for advice on that too. According to this article on reasons why lights flicker, I’m guessing I need to get an electrician to look for a faulty circuit or a loose wire. They mention I should do this ASAP, so I guess that will be my next Google search to find a local person to check that out. I don’t remember who set it up to begin with, but then again, if that person did it wrong, I’m not sure I should trust him again.
Someone make solar a ubiquitous thing.
While I was on that site, I noticed they install solar panels. Don’t even get me started on solar. That’s one of those things I’ve always been intrigued by, and I would love to live in a solar off-grid house, but the cost for that wouldn’t make any financial sense for me personally. I guess we’re not to that point yet where solar is ubiquitous enough to bring the price down to our class level which I’ll call, “just making ends meet”. Still, I dream occasionally of having a solar-powered home. But that wouldn’t solve my light bulb problem. I’d still have that issue.
Lights out for good?
Of course, none of this will matter if that asteroid, which is named Asteroid 2002 PZ39, hits the earth like many websites are saying might happen at about 6:05 am tomorrow, February 15, 2020. Hey, at least it let us snuggle with our loved ones on Valentine’s Day, right? (Happy Valentine’s Day, Gail!)
Anyway, if this massive asteroid hits us tomorrow, it will be a planet killer, just like all those doomsday movies we’ve all seen in the past. Now, it’s not really going to happen, so don’t go jump into your underground bunkers just yet. NASA assures us it will miss us by about 3 million miles, but that hasn’t stopped all the tinfoil-hat-wearing websites out there from warning everyone that we’re all about to die. Of course, if it did hit us, it would be very similar to my light bulb problem, I would think. One big flicker, and then lights out forever. Or something like that.
So if we all wake up on Sunday morning, I’ll be looking for an electrician and some LED bulbs. If it’s really lights out tomorrow at 6:05am EST, then, sayonara, adios, aloha, and buh-bye y’all.
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