Last night I was sitting on our bed reading while Len watched the subtitled and too-tense-for-me Danish thriller 'Below The Surface'. (streams on PBS) I was reading about how the War of 1812 affected Green Bay and Prairie du Chien. (see ** at the end of this crazy post)
So yes, we are nerds even when no one’s looking.
The lamp on Len’s bedside table started aggressively flickering while quietly popping. Then the light ceased. I didn’t think too much about it, since yeah, lightbulbs burn out. It seemed curious that a small amount of light still glowed through the lamp shade.
I kept reading.
Suddenly I smelled an acrid smell. HOLY COW, a tendril of smoke was wafting from the top of the lampshade and the room smelled like burning plastic and the air was HAZY!
Len came upstairs fast. I’d already unplugged the lamp and he took it outside. He brought a ladder back upstairs and we checked all the lamps plus all our ceiling lights to replaced old CFL’s with LED’s.
That bulb was a Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb. It’s easy to tell a CFL because they are almost always spirals or tubes. They are also almost completely off the market now as LEDs have become cheaper and last longer.
If you have CFL’s in your home they are probably fairly old and you should replace them with LED’s.
I surfed the internet after the main excitement was over. Yes, this is not an common way for CFL’s to bite the dust; they can flicker, pop, and then burn out through the base of the bulb. Experts say it’s not a huge problem because it doesn’t happen often and even when it does, there isn’t enough material in the bulb base to start a big fire.
Really? This is not a big problem? One of the materials in a CFL is mercury!
When you replace them, don’t just toss the CFL’s. They are hazardous. Your community likely has a toxic waste receiving day. Look that up. Some Best Buy and most Batteries and Bulbs stores will take used CFL’s.
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Please note -- Len has been updating this website and is about to move the whole shebang from one server to another. It will take several days. (But it's done now)
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**In the 18th to early 19th centuries, the British encouraged some Indian nations to attack and kill French and American settlers. This is a huge factor in why Americans decided Indians were dangerous savages why it would be okay to trash their land. Think of Iran and Russia plying their aggression against the European Union, NATO, and the US via support of hatred and war in the Middle East. There is never one thing that causes hate, but to understand ongoing intolerance, look for who is benefiting.
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