Looking A Little Dim

Today I had a realization as to why most people do not choose to go into the library science field. It dawned on me only after spending three hours poring through a Bulb Direct catalog, searching for exactly the right bulbs for our antiquated overhead projectors. I'll be straight with you pimps, this was not the way I planned on spending my days. I'm down with teachers asking for a bulb replacement here and there. Hell, I'll even go get it myself in the AV room and change it for you. But to actually sit and read through the exciting world of J Lamps and Osram bulbs... well that may just be bordering the ridiculous.

On the scale of horribelocity, things quickly escalated. I needed to figure out base size and shape, the base code, the diameter of the bulb, the lens color, the type of machine it would be used for... oh, the list goes on, people. Soon my forehead started to break out in a cold sweat, the droplets falling onto the pages of my catalog, blurring the tiny columns of numbers and codes. The cheap catalog paper permanently shriveled and turned pulpy. MoFo, was that an Edison screw? Or a recessed contact? Did I decide on a mogul socket with a 4 mm base, or MR16 Holder with 3 mm base? I was feeling woozy. Would this torture never end? I quickly broke out my #2 pencil and jotted down some numbers I seemed to remember on the order sheet and pushed it aside, my labored breathing slowly returning to normal.



In the end, I think my bulb-related purchases totaled somewhere in the vicinity of $680. They may not actually fit into any of our machines, but hey, I'm just grateful to have that ish off my desk.