It's a blog that reflects what's going on in my little corner of fly-over land, which we quite purposefully sought out in order to secure our futures and to provide for those we love as best we can should worse come to worst.
I hope that those who stumble across this blog find something to enjoy and perhaps occasionally something to think about, be it a new recipe, old book, or story about Rocky.
With that said, please read this letter to President Obama from George Washington. It begins:
Dear Mr. President:~~
Although it is two hundred years, and more, since I laid down the cares of an eventful temporal existence and took up residence in my long home, Our Gracious Lord has seen fit to bestow upon my spirit the gift of perpetual cognition, and He has granted the further boon of permitting me, for a few moments, to assume sufficient corporeality to pen this letter, which I place before Your Excellency as the cri de coeur of a patriot whose efforts on behalf of his country have been deemed by its citizens to possess no little significance.
I have watched, frequently with pride and joy, occasionally with grave misgivings and sadness, the arc of our country’s history over two centuries, since those of my generation first established that Orchard of Liberty on the North American continent that would become the envy of the world. Over many seasons that Orchard has borne good fruit, and has flourished in the golden light of our Sacred Constitution. In evil times, this Arboreal Garden has been watered with the blood of heroes, which sustenance has served to make it even hardier and more prolific.
Imagine my consternation then, Sir, when I look upon our Orchard today, and see the fruit withering on the branch, the crowns blighted, and the whole cloaked in the gauzy shrouds of assiduously destructive bagworms. How slothful and inattentive have become the arborists who constitute what my friend Thomas Jefferson referred to as our natural aristoi! ...
h/t Bookworm Room who linked to Doug Ross who presents the "Fabulous 50 Blog Award Winners," naming the Letter the best post of the year-- for good reason.
If you want 100 watt light bulbs, email me at sue@varietylighting.com - that's who I am in my "other" life.
ReplyDeleteWe still have some. Only a few 120 volt, but still a good supply of 130 volt, which will last quite a bit longer - although they are effectively only about 92 watts light output when burned at 120 volts, which most of us are.
We still have some 150watts as well - but they're physically larger than the 100s.
Unless we win the congress definitively (meaning both houses) and maybe the White House, you're going to see the 75 watt bulbs go out in 2013 (I think - I'll have to check) and the 60 and 40 watts in about 2015 or 6.
T12 fluorescents - the standard 40 watt ones (even if they're presently 34 watts) and the standard 8 ft ones will be no longer manufactured after June or July of 2012. Bulbs are measured in eighths of inches, so a T12 is any tubular bulb that is 1.5 inches in diameter. The replacement bulbs are 1 inch in diameter - T8s. You can't use T8 bulbs with a T12 ballast. They use different technologies. T12 bulbs are ballasted by magnetic ballasts, T8s use electronic ballasts. Magnetic ballasts will last 15-20 years, electronic ballasts...5-10? It seems to us that the life is _much_ shorter. So much for all the energy savings.
More info upon request...!
I forgot - it appears that 100 watt rough service bulbs will still be available. They cost a bit more, but not much. Still around a dollar each. They have a heavy duty filament so that they can tolerate more vibration than a standard bulb can.
ReplyDeleteYou could check with your local suppliers to see if they order from American De Rosa - or ADL as they're now called - and see if they can order some for you.
Wow. Thanks for the info. I knew not all 100 watts were gone-- but clearly you are The Expert!
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I prefer 60 watts.
And what's this about florescents? Good Lord.
What is sad to me-- beyond the obvious business of being too stupid to make my own choices-- is this.
Our "town" has a population of about 2500, but of course draws from all over the county of about 10,000. The first store, Family Dollar, really only had one 4-pack left (which I didn't buy). Family Dollar is brand new. It could very well be the case that they are just out of them because the price was good and what with the grand opening etc. ...
The second, SuperValue, is a local grocery store chain and it had bunches at an even better price. But here's the thing, we have two grocery stores (not counting FD and Dollar General which both sell limited groceries). SuperValue is less expensive than the Piglet-- and for good reason. There are clear differences in cleanliness, selection, etc. At SuperValue you need to check all expiration dates. Given this, the two stores have different clienteles-- not exclusively, but let's just say there are some "educated" snobby types who wouldn't be caught dead in SuperValue. (Yes, there are snobs in rural Mississippi which I find hysterically funny.)
So here I am with my 100 100W light bulbs in my cart holding up the line for a number of reasons. And everyone is looking at me. I couldn't care less but the look on their faces was priceless. What sort of nut case buys a cart full of light bulbs on New Years Eve?
It got me thinking, what are *they* going to do when they can't get bulbs for their shops and garages and modular houses?
On the one hand, I have very little sympathy for people who don't pay attention and are caught unprepared. But on the other, I am sympathetic. Almost without exception, these are friendly, hard working people who would give the shirt off their backs to a stranger.
If I had turned to address them and tell them that soon light bulbs will be illegal, they'd have thought I was nuttier than they already thought. The very idea that they need to be vigilant, lest ordinary light bulbs become illegal, is unfathomable. They turn lights off because it saves money-- and they have precious little. What are they going to do now?
The problem is that the EPA is putting into effect regulations that will force the closing of about 10-12% of the power plants in the country. The environmentalists already are preventing the building of any new plants, and nuclear? You know that's not going to happen. So - whatever the power we have now is all the power we're going to get - and in fact, over the next 6 months or so, we'll have existing power reduced by a further 10 percent.
ReplyDeleteThat means we all have to do with less. That's why the big push on compact fluorescents. Next in line is LEDs. For some purposes, they're terrific - for others, not so much. And whatever the purpose, they cost an arm and a leg. They do have a long life, but who's going to honor a guarantee if they're guaranteed for 10 years and go out in 5? We have one supplier who is offering a three year guarantee - but at this point, I don't know what that means...replacement? pro-rated replacement? I don't know.
And they have other problems - fluorescents have ballasts, LEDs have drivers. Drivers are just a very small transformer by a different name, I think. I can't honestly say I understand the electrical requirements. The thing is, your LED chip may last for 25 years - but the driver? And those solar driven things - they have batteries - so they can work at night. Your chip may be in great shape, but your battery can be toast after two years. If you can replace the battery, great. If not? Oh well. Your loss.
By the way...if you do use compact fluorescents - and they do have their strong points - there are two factors to watch out for: actual wattage, and the Kelvin temperature. They often exaggerate the equivalence - they call a 13w CF 60 watts. It isn't. Using a multiplier of 4, the 13w CF is equivalent to 52 watts - but they round up to the size that is familiar. The Kelvin temperature measure how bright white they are - warm white is 2700Kelvin, cool white is 4100Kelvin, and "full spectrum" is 5000Kelvin. Cool white is the color used in most offices. Warm white is supposed to be most like incandescents. 5K is bright. I usually recommend 65K for kitchens and garages - but I don't like them in living areas. It's really a matter of taste though. Some people can't stand the bright white ones. Usually the base will have some indication of color, but it's not always easy to decipher. Tubular bulbs normally have the color indicated by the lettering describing the bulb.
Generally speaking - use compact fluorescents where you're going to leave the lights on for long periods of time, and where the lighting isn't doing a specific task. Use incandescents where you have short but frequent turn on periods.
ReplyDeleteCFs don't like short turn on periods. The facetious remark about them is that they have a life of 10,000 or 2500 turn ons - whichever comes first. They also do not respond well to dimming. You can dim them - but you'll cause them to have a very short life. They make fluorescents designed to dim, but so far, they're _very_ expensive and most we've seen have been off the market within a year or two.