The Candy Bar Fairy Tale
Monthly Archive for January, 2010
Page 4 of 7
I’m trying to do my part to save the environment – when it’s easy and convenient. But I’m not nuts about the new CFL light bulbs.
I like when you first turn them on they are dim, but then as they warm up, they get brighter.
I’m a lot like that.
As the old incandescent bulbs in Villa DeWoof burn out, I am replacing them with CFL bulbs. As you probably have experienced, I have replaced some CFL bulbs already also, despite the promise they would last until the end of the decade.
If they can make a light bulb that is still burning after 109 years, why can’t the new CFL bulbs do the same?
World's Oldest Light Bulb
…a 109-year-old light at Fire Station 6 in Livermore, California. Not only has Chailet’s design survived several moves and a multitude of earthquakes, it’s also survived going up in voltage from 110 to 120 volts. It’s indestructible!
My dad used to buy light bulbs by the case for the mill. The sales guy offered a ten-year guarantee. Silly rabbit. Dad had me go around and replace all the perfectly good bulbs with the new ten-year-guaranteed ones. BUT: he had me write the date on the bulb with an indelible grease pencil.
Yes, when the bulbs eventually burned out, he would have me remove the bulb, put it in the original case to save to return for new bulbs when the sales rep came around. I’m pretty sure the sales guy returned once and after swapping out new bulbs for burned out bulbs, probably scratched that stop off his list.
I remember we did have one bulb that Dad said not to replace because it was an original.
It looked a lot like the one above. It was a single bulb hanging from a wire from the ceiling in a central part of the building away from drastic changes in heat and vibrations. The light was never turned off.
No reason to think that bulb couldn’t still be burning today.
BTW: did you see the unbreakable phone get broken at the Consumer Electronic Show? The reaction of the company guy was perfect! He cracked up… just like the phone. (Zip ahead to :50 to see the action)
I’ve been doing water aerobics, but have reached the max in the thirty minute session. I’m able to easily do the numbers for the maximum workout. (Yay, me!)
I’m now going to embrace my inner dolphin and start swimming laps.
This will be me in March. (Thanks to Couch Potato to Ironman for finding the video.)
I grew up swimming and we had a pool while the kids were growing up. The last time I was in a pool to do laps was at least two decades ago. This should be good!
I’m hoping I will be able to complete one lap before rolling over on my back like a hump-belly whale.
This was my original blog theme design – K2 with a custom header.
Kirk changes his blog theme as often as he changes his underwear. Monthly I think.
I like the theme this one replaced, but felt guilty everytime I visited The Other Fellow. It’s a public domain free WordPress theme called Aspire, so it’s not like it was stolen or anything, but he had it first, and I don’t see it many other places.
I may return to it.
Or not.
Please stand by.
Catch Her in the Wry has lived in and owned almost every house in her small burg. She is chronicling her life from birth to her Sixty birthday. Our lives are kinda in a parallel universe.
Some of the things we have in common:
- we have two girls – both smarter than their peers
- she played in the band
- she was co-editor of the high school paper, and the co-editor got in big trouble over nothing (except in my case, it was I who caught hell.)
- vacations were in un-airconditioned sedans (weren’t they all for people ‘of our age?’)
etc. etc. A lot of the similarities were because we both were growing up in small midwest communities.
Catch Her eventually grew up to become a successful real estate tycoon, merchandising mogul, and money watcher.
Her latest post included a picture of one of vast real estate holdings that she occupied:
It’s almost identical to a house we owned that I never lived in and Nancy only lived in for 30 days.
Prior to the house like this one, we had lived in a brand-new, 3 bedroom, split foyer home in a new subdivision.
For some reason which escapes me, we decided that we needed to live in this gigantic fixer-upper. We sold our modern house and bought the historic one.
Done and done.
Huge place! High ceilings, magnificent staircase, fireplaces upstairs and down, hardwood floors, and the cupola!
Nancy was 7 months pregnant and corralling a 4-year-old precocious toddler.
The day before we were planning to move, My bosses boss (the owner of the company) asked me if I could meet with them.
Can’t say no to the bosses boss, so I picked up the U-Haul truck and drove it to the office and parked in the street. Bosses Boss (BB) was overly interested in why I had U-Haul.
“We’re moving” I said matter-of-factly.
But he had this look.
Within the hour, BB had offered me a promotion to a new job in a new town hundreds of miles away. I was replacing a guy that was yet to be fired. They wanted me to start the following week,
BB was shocked because he thought I knew about the offer.
By now it’s mid-morning when I head to the house to consult with Nancy about the offer.
“We’re moving” I said as she greeted me, hands-on-hips with “the look.”
“Well, no shit! Let’s get to it.”
Did I mention we had already sold our existing house and had to give possession that Monday? Not moving wasn’t an option, it was just a question of whether we move across town or cross-country.
We decided to accept the offer and move from Boonville, MO to Monmouth, IL.
Boonville to Monmouth
I moved Nancy and Amy into the “cupola” house, stacked all the boxes on the first floor, set up the beds and left to start a new job, in a new town, replacing a boss that had gotten fired the day before my arrival.
Thirty days later, Nancy marshaled a moving company, loaded Bulbous and the new puppy (which just had a hysterectomy) into the Datsun station wagon and followed.
Boonville has lots of fond memories, as does Monmouth. The house I never lived in was quickly, but not easily, forgotten.
