October 21, 2004
Dear Everyone:
Last Saturday morning, just a little before
The computer and printer kept right on working, of course, as they were (and still are) plugged into a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) battery. So I finished printing the message, logged out of AOL, and shut the computer down properly. Then I called the power company, using my cell phone, found out there was no known outage in my area, and reported that yes, there was indeed, an outage in my area. (I was using the cell phone because the cordless phone doesn’t work during a power outage. This is why you should always have at least one “land line”, a phone that actually plugs into the jack in the wall.)
About an hour later, the power company’s computer called me back (on the upstairs land line) to report that the outage was expected to be over within the next two hours. So I took a leisurely bath (power outages have little affect on gas hot water heaters). Just as I was finishing, the lights came back on. End of adventure.
When we were kids, the lights used to go out so often that it was not considered an adequate excuse for not having your homework completed. We always had candles and hurricane lamps. In this case, candles weren’t necessary as it was daylight outside.
With the “inconvenience” over, I did some shopping. There are certain things that should be replaced at the beginning of each quarter:
Toothbrushes
Baking soda in the refrigerator and freezer
Filter in the furnace/air conditioner
So I went to the
Back in the kitchen, I took down all the light covers. There are six of them, light plastic squares. As long as I had them down, I decided to clean them. This turned out to be fairly easy. Lay one flat on the counter, rub a soapy sponge over it, turn it partly over the sink and use a measuring cup to pour water onto it and then let the water run off into the sink.
Replacing the light tubes was a little more of a chore. They’re four feet long and you almost have to be at each end at the same time to make sure the prongs are going into the holder correctly. Nevertheless, an hour later, I had all the lights replaced (and working!) and the covers back in place. The next day “Jeannie” commented on how bright the kitchen was.
The thing of it is, these lights fade so slowly and gradually that you don’t realize how dim they’ve become until you replace them. Another thing is, if you’re going to replace one, you might as well go ahead and replace them all at the same time. And according to the manufacturer, I shouldn’t have to do that again for four years.
Then, this morning, when I went into the bathroom,
I noticed that one of the globes over the mirror has burned out.
So it looks like another trip to the
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |