In Japan there is a "Labor Day" type of Thanksgiving Day but not the family style, eat a feast, thank God for blessings type of Thanksgiving. The day went by without too much acknowledgement in the Watanabe house. This evening Tetsu and I will join some friends for small Thanksgiving dinner... just the four of us.
Yesterday Tetsu and I were on a recycle shop quest for a new ceiling light for our living room. Last week in a spurt of cleaning energy I removed the ceiling light and vacuumed up all the dead bugs and dust in the light bowl. I replaced the bowl (plastic) and that was that. But Friday, as I quietly sat knitting, the bowl came crashing down and broke up into pieces. It is light and not dangerous but still, it meant I had a fluorescent light fixture in the center of my living room. Rats. I should have left the dead bugs.
So yesterday Tetsu and I went to three recycle shops and a furniture store and an electronics shop. We priced and asked about just replacing the bowl or going for LED lighting, we compared fancy attachments and room sizes etc.
"Too bad we can't just replace that bowl... It was only a few years old and it has a nice remote controller (that we never use). "
But we hadn't had the foresight to jot down the serial numbers and the electronics shop thought the price of the bowl would be about half of a new ceiling light anyway.
Tetsu and I finally settled on a light at recycle shop at a very minimal price. And we made sure the light worked. BUT...
Once we got home and Tetsu had installed it, one of the florescent bulbs didn't light. RATS again! So Tetsu called the shop; they told us to bring in the light and they would replace the bulb. Is it worth another trip? We could just buy a bulb. Or return the whole thing and buy one at the electronics shop. Or...
"I wonder if that light bowl will fit the old light fixture?"
"No, it won't Tanya, it is a different company entirely."
"We could TRY..."
Tetsu grudgingly put the old light fixture back up and tried attaching the bowl to the ceiling. And it fit! Tetsu has mixed feelings. He is happy he doesn't have to go through the rigamarole of taking the ceiling light back or buying an expensive new light, but he doesn't like to be proven wrong.
There is a strange sticker on the ceiling light that I don't like.
"Let's take that off... We don't need a sticker telling us how to replace the light."
"No. That is necessary. The people who owned the light before never took it off. Leave it as is."
is it safe to use a kerosine heater in the house or do you have to have a window part way open for venting? I know you have showed it before and wondered. Glad you ended up with a light working
ReplyDeleteIn truth I would just leave the sticker on. How much time do you spend looking up at a ceiling light anyway? And you're right, it might break again if you fiddle with it, and I'll bet Tetsu would be reminding you often that you should have left the sticker on. The light looks very nice and the sticker is hardly noticeable. But it's your light to do with as you will.
ReplyDeleteThat is one great story " How we got a new light!!", Tanya, your wall hanging, on the rear wall, is that a lady dancing? Looks fascinating. Good work Tetsu, well done. Cheers from Jean
ReplyDeleteThose glass globes can be quite tricky. Ours has five separate globes and I only clean them when I have to take them down to change a bulb. Glancing up now, I see two that might enjoy a bit of attention.
ReplyDeleteI'd leave well alone, you'll soon forget it's there. I like the runner on your piano, perhaps you could show it in closer detail?
ReplyDeleteYour beautiful hardwood floor catches me eye. And the wood trim around the room.
ReplyDeleteYour living room is so beautifully decorated. Your artwork is everywhere. :) The light? Well, gee, I don't like labels, either. But, I guess it is a small gesture to leave it there to make Tetsu happy. I do little things like that all the time and it makes for a much smoother and happier life here. If it was something bigger and I really did object, I would make my point, but I do pick my battles.
ReplyDeleteWe had light problems here this weekend, too. Four of the eight grand kids are here for the entire Thanksgiving weekend. One of them turned off the light on a ceiling fan on the third floor and the chain came off from inside the fixture. We are now trying to get our construction guy to come over someday soon to fix/replace it. It's always something, isn't it....
Hugs,
Lois
It looks nice as a whole and who really looks at a ceiling light anyway! Enjoy the light! Your house always amazes me - how clean it is!!
ReplyDeleteBTW, Happy Belated Thanksgiving and....thanks for doggy bagging for Hugh!!
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ReplyDeleteBefore Thanksgiving last year I removed the glass bowl covering the overhead light in my office/library so I could remove the bugs and put in a new bulb. About 10 minutes after I'd put the light back together the bowl came crashing down and broke into about a billion sharp pieces. They were everywhere! Several weeks later in our local Habitat ReStore I came across a light cover in a similar shape to the one that had broken. I bought it, but was afraid to put it up. I enlisted my daughter to do it when she came for Thanksgiving. It fit! I hope another bulb doesn't burn out!
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