I was just at the friendly neighborhood Walmart and figured that I had better start stocking up on those evil incandescent light bulbs. Earlier in the year I had hope that common sense might prevail and that the idiots in congress would reverse or delay their schemes to make everyone use flourescent bulbs by the year 2011. You know, those bulbs that contain mercury but that's not an issue just as long that 2011-restriction-bill gets passed, just as long as you consider a broken bulb hazardous and clear the building. You know, those bulbs that are getting cheaper but will suddenly have a disposal tax attached by the Obama administration to ensure proper disposal of all that hazardous mercury. At the very least I figure the gracious members of congress will allow us to purchase incandescent light bulbs as long as we pay some kind of carbon tax to offset all the damage we are surely doing to the environment. At least I hope so because at the moment there isn't anyone making those little 40W decorative bulbs that we use in the hallway or the dining room or the girls bedroom.
However 40W is no longer 40W. When I went to stock up on some 97cent boxes of incandescent bulbs I found that good ol' Walmart was making sure I was doing the right thing. So was GE. 40W bulbs, which are already pretty dim, are now 34W. 60W bulbs are 52W. 75W bulbs are 67W and 100W bulbs are 90W. The 50-100-150 are still (for the time being, 50-100-150).
I thought the point of using a light bulb was to (steady now) have light. If I wanted to have less than a 60W brightness I'd go and use a 40W. Now if I want 60W I have to (gasp) "waste" more electricity and use a 67W bulb. Which is exactly what I'm doing.
It's called the Law of Unintended Consequences and it affects just about everything government does. They intend to force us use less electricity but the end result will be us (or at least me) using MORE! I'd give more examples but right now I've got to go flip on every light in the house. Heck, I might even rip off the end of an extension chord and plug one end into the wall and leave the other on the ground so those electrons can just spill freely all over the place. After all, it's America and it's supposed to be my choice of what I do with the money that I have earned.
However 40W is no longer 40W. When I went to stock up on some 97cent boxes of incandescent bulbs I found that good ol' Walmart was making sure I was doing the right thing. So was GE. 40W bulbs, which are already pretty dim, are now 34W. 60W bulbs are 52W. 75W bulbs are 67W and 100W bulbs are 90W. The 50-100-150 are still (for the time being, 50-100-150).
I thought the point of using a light bulb was to (steady now) have light. If I wanted to have less than a 60W brightness I'd go and use a 40W. Now if I want 60W I have to (gasp) "waste" more electricity and use a 67W bulb. Which is exactly what I'm doing.
It's called the Law of Unintended Consequences and it affects just about everything government does. They intend to force us use less electricity but the end result will be us (or at least me) using MORE! I'd give more examples but right now I've got to go flip on every light in the house. Heck, I might even rip off the end of an extension chord and plug one end into the wall and leave the other on the ground so those electrons can just spill freely all over the place. After all, it's America and it's supposed to be my choice of what I do with the money that I have earned.
For a bit of added levity, here's a scan of some toilet paper I picked up at the same place. Yep, I'm just FLUSHING money down the drain. Be sure to tip your waitress!
The look on her face says "THIS BABY JUST SCREAMED FOR FOUR STRAIGHT HOURS. GO AHEAD... MAKE MY DAY."
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