Select Page

… this was really easy…

The Legal Genealogist is really on a grump this week.

Today’s “my-family” post is going to reflect that.

You have been warned.

So here’s my rant.

Do you remember when buying lightbulbs was easy?

I mean, really easy?

You knew you wanted 25 watts or 40 watts or 60 watts or 100 watts, right?

Then you figured out if you needed a regular base (for just about every light fixture anywhere) or — fancy dancy — a candelabra base if you had one of those fancy light fixtures.

Later, if things were really high-falutin’, you might have to make one more decision: dimmable or not.

And that was it.

You bought the light bulbs.

So… this week, I needed light bulbs. I have ceiling fans with four-bulb light fixtures in four rooms, and so I figured I’d order enough to replace all the bulbs.

And for cryin’ out loud… it ain’t easy any more.

light bulbs

First off, there are at least three different kinds of lightbulbs you can buy: incandescent (the ones we all grew up with), but not if you live in several states; CFL (the ones that look like twisted pretzels that were supposed to last longer and be environmentally friendlier, except they didn’t and weren’t); and the newest LED (ditto on the last forever and be environmentally friendlier, and who knows, maybe they will …).

So… I’ll go with the newest, the LEDs.

Now… how to figure out what to replace a 60-watt bulb with? A conversion website tells me that what used to be 60 watts is now somewhere from 6-8 watts. Another site disagrees with the first. And I’m looking at a set of what the box says should be 60-watt-equivalent bulbs and they’re listed as 9 watts.

Okay, whatever.

And then I need to know the base. Nope, not regular-or-candelabra. Now it’s a whole entire set of options with a combination of letters and numbers. What’s an E26 anyway? And how is it different from an E27? (Answer? They’re interchangeable, except when they’re not.)

Figure that out and there’s a whole ‘nother set of size indicators. You want an A or a B or a C or…? Then you need to know: A19 or A21?

Okay, whatever.

Then I need to decide on color.

Yeah, color. Soft white, warm white, bright white, day white, day white extra, super bright? Or just go with color temperature?!?

Add in filaments, lumens, frosting, dimmable, indoor-outdoor and more, and I swear to high heaven it took me half an hour just to figure out what would even work in the fixtures I have.

Sigh…

Grump, grump.

No, my family history for today isn’t going to include going back to candles or oil lamps.

But it is going to record a general frustration with incomprehensible technology changes.

I mean, really

Damn kids …

Get off my lawn.


Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Remembering when…,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 22 Jan 2022).

Print Friendly, PDF & Email