If you remember, I bought two new fluorescent bulbs last week and replaced the ones over my washer and dryer. I put the two bad ones out in the garage with my stash of bad bulbs. Now, why (you might ask) do I have a stash of old fluorescent bulbs? Because I used to know, but now can't remember, how to get the gas out so you can break them without having them explode. I seem to remember there is (or was) a dimple on one end you could tap a nail through to relieve the gas. But, I'm not sure so I called a friend in maintenance on Friday and asked him. He said he had no idea what I was talking about; he just throws them in a dumpster.
So, Monday morning I stopped next to the dumpster at work before parking my car and threw away eight used fluorescent bulbs.
[Sidebar: this is the kind of real-life drama you just don't read about in most blogs!]
After work and after changing, I took off the old mower blade and compared it to the new blades I also bought last week. As I feared, the new ones are too short (by about two inches). So, I'll have to take them back, dammit!
For dinner, I warmed up some of the pasta alla Carbonara, topped it with a little salt and Parmigiano-Reggiano and ate that, watching some TV.
I was tired and discouraged (the whole stupid stock market thing) so I went to bed at 10:00 PM, letting "Boston Legal" record instead of watching it.
Are we being energy efficient and using a T8 or a T5 bulb with electronic Ballast ?
ReplyDeleteWell, I must admit, three of my four are the old T12, but the last one I bought was a T8!
ReplyDeleteHey, and thanks for the offline tip about recycling these bulbs to reclaim the mercury. I didn't know that!