Check your lamps and the supply closet. The government has pulled the plug on 75 watt light bulbs. The packs that are left on store shelves are it. While the 75 watt bulbs may now be gone – the feds aren’t stopping there! A quick trip to your local Home Depot or Target can overwhelm you with a giant selection of light bulbs. In fact, you may not even realize that the old school 75 watt incandescent bulbs are gone. But, if you have a lamp that calls for one – you soon realize, you will have to change. The incandescent light bulb can trace its start back to 1802, when British inventor Sir Humphry Davy passed a current through a thin strip of metal to light the first bulb. The light that was given off was very low and lasted only a few seconds. Over the next few decades, he and other inventors would try to refine the product. An incandescent bulb causes light by heating a filament wire to a high temperature by passing an electric current through it. The filament is protected by a glass dome. The bulb is screwed into a lamp or socket by lining up the metal grooves at the bottom. A total of at least 22 inventors have been listed as helping to perfect the modern incandescent bulb. In 1841, British inventor Frederick de Moleyns received the first official patent. In 1878, American inventor Thomas Edison would begin work on a more practical model that would be more affordable, brighter, and last longer. On October 22, 1879, he would create a bulb that would last for 13 ½ hours. He later discovered a bulb that could burn over 1200 hours by using a bamboo filament. It wasn’t until 1880, that another British inventor Joseph...

“A guy don’t walk on the lot lest he wants to buy.” Glengarry Glen Ross That quote is from one of my favorite plays written by one of my favorite writers. It concerns the lack of production a certain sales force is facing and is a poke to motivate them. I’ve always appreciated the quote from the other side, you know, the guy on the fucking lot looking to buy. In the internet age, if that’s what this is, it is easier to window shop than ever before. It’s also easier to buy over the web for less money than the physical store. Most of this is due to online retailers like Amazon not collecting and paying sales taxes due to some legal loopholes. Thanks dickheads. I think of you every time an LAUSD student graduates without the ability to read because our high schools are underfunded. But, that’s not the point of this article. I have a question and I don’t know the answer. Maybe you do. And if you do, please leave it in the comments section. Why does customer service suck? I’m trying not to name names here, but I make no promises. Like me, you’ve probably needed to actually buy something in the past six months. My typical experience goes something like this. I walk into a store where I’m not greeted. (Yes, this even happened at a Wal*Mart in Paso Robles where they supposedly employ seniors with a second career in greeting. I won’t go into them not having the camera battery charger I needed, although they did have it online.) After walking into the store and not being greeted, I look for the merchandise I intend to buy. More often than not the store has been “rearranged” in...