A Decade-Old Bulb...

You know the feeling, that sensation when you go to click on a light and it doesn't light. It usually happens when the power is out--I hate doing that, hitting the light switch when you know the power's out.

Then, there are those times when you hit the switch and you see a flash and hear a "pop." It's at those times you know the bulb's finished--it's time has come and it will soon go the way of all the earth. That situation happened to me last week. We lost a bulb. 

Losing a bulb is not a big deal--it happens all the time. Or does it? When we built our house 13 years ago we bought those big lights and put them in every light socket. As the years have passed, those big lights have died and been replaced, mostly by small bulbs. As I took the burned bulb out last week, I realized it was one of the originals. The darn thing was over a decade old.

Over time our whole house will be replaced until one day, either man or nature will tear it down. I know there are new bulbs that are supposed to last a lot longer, so maybe in the future a lightbulb lasting thirteen years will be a dud. But it's cool to know that something in the house has survived for so long.