I just learned that incandescent bulbs will be banned in the US when the lights go out on December 31, 2013. All we will have then is those annoying florescent bulbs that start out dim when you turn them on, and then take a minute to warm up to slightly brighter than dim. Poor old Thomas Edison is spinning in his grave. He’s spinning so fast he looks like one of those silly twirly florescent bulbs.
About a month ago, I became so annoyed at the dim light cast by a twirly bulb in a table lamp, that I unscrewed the dumb thing and threw it in the trash and replaced it with a 60 watt incandescent bulb. I have rejoiced every day since then when I’ve turned on the light and had instant bright light flood the room. I have even felt smarter and more alive and happier as a result of the brightness.
After January 1, 2014, the cartoon of a guy with an incandescent light bulb over his head will undoubtedly be used to suggest that the guy is old and stuck in his ways, not that he just had a stroke of brilliance. On the other hand, the 2014 cartoon of a guy with a twirly florescent bulb over his head will not convey brilliance, but, rather, confusion. Terminal confusion. I think confusion is what occurred in Congress when they passed this silly law. I can picture the Senators and Congressmen all with twirly bulbs over their heads on the day that they passed this legislation into law, congratulating one another for saving the planet from Edison’s invention. And things are getting dimmer and dimmer by the day back there in Washington DC.
Back in the 70s, Jimmy Carter saved the planet with a nationwide 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. We had to suffer with this annoying law for 20 years. Will we have to suffer with twirly bulbs for 20 years before someone decides that enough is enough? *sigh*
I wonder if stock-piling soon-to-be contraband incandescent bulbs will be punishable by law? What about buying or selling them on the black market? No worries: No punishment could be worse than living with twirly bulbs!
I wonder how many incandescent bulbs I will need to stockpile to keep me feeling smarter, more alive, and happier for the next twenty years….
