Welcome to the Real World

How it took me 3 hours to change a light bulb

I recently purchased a nice townhouse, and the other day, one of the bulbs in my kitchen track light burned out. It was really annoying because it was the one right over the stove, and it was hard to cook without being able to see there. So anyways, being the semi technically-inclined person that I am, I figured this would be no big deal for me. Keep in mind, this was something the previous homeowners had installed, and I really didnt know anything about it.

So I needed to take the existing bulb out to figure out what it was, it appeared to be some custom halogen type. I ended up taking that side of the fixture apart, to get the bulb out (it wouldn't pull or twist out), only to find out that the small bulb had no identifying markings on it at all. I scoured the internet for similar track lights, and eventually ran across some similar looking lights, and found that they took GU10 type bulb. I found a picture of GU10 and it looked similar enough to mine, so I decided to go to the store. Not only did no local hardware store carry them, or home depot, and I ended up at Menards in Bolingbrook, where the girl working in the lighting section gave me a blank stare and pointed at a rack of bulbs, telling me they were probably over there. Luckily they did have this type, and it cost $10 a bulb for a 50W ($8 for a 35W), I picked up a 50W.

Then I got home and started reading the instructions on the package, which told me never to hold this bulb with my bare hands, or it might shatter when I first turn it on. Odd. I got out a small cloth piece, and proceded to put the light back together. Once everything was back in place, I turned the light on, half expecting the bulb to explode or not work. It seems to be working okay.

Sometimes its not a question of how many people it takes to change a light bulb, but how backwards the company who designed the light fixture could engineer it.