a light bulb or two

No Cats / Lee Rocker










I am tired. Again. Or perhaps it is still. This season makes me weary. I dislike it from the day after Thanksgiving until March. I hate the holidays. I hate the winter. I hate the cold. It makes me grumpy and weary.



Today I am not simply weary though, I am truly tired. Yesterday was a long one. It started with a quest to put new lightbulbs in the low beams of my car.


For a while now I had noticed that my passenger’s side low beams were out. I recognized this was not ideal, but I could live with it. I have an appointment in a few weeks to bring the car in on a recall notice. So I thought – I’d have it all done at the same time. Silly me.


Then last week I was stopped for a speeding ticket. I am sure that the officer pulled me over because of my one head light. Of course, I was kind of speeding too, but still.


Then the day before yesterday as I left work, I thought: ‘gee this seems dark.’ Of course the sun is long down before I left so there was no question of need. I got 100 yards from the drive way and thought, “Yes, this is definitely dark.” Pulling off the road I investigated. Sure enough both headlights were now out. I was very annoyed.


Going back into work I called home, very upset.


“Did you try the high beams?” M. asked.


Noooo. Did that even enter my mind? Of course not. So, out I went, across the parking lot, into the car. Sure enough, the high beams work. So, back into the cold, across the parking lot, back into the building to call home and report the news. Five minutes later I was doing it all again.


“Be prepared, people are not going to be happy with you.” M. warned.


Not happy was an understatement! So, muttering “I know. I’m sorry.” I made it home.


But that meant that yesterday, I really had to do something. The internet claimed the parts store opened at 8 and had stock. They were wrong. They were close, but wrong. The store opened at 8:15. I had been sitting in their lot since 7:45. They had one bulb, but I needed two. The clerk pointed me around the corner to another store.


That store opened at 7. Didn’t that figure. They had two bulbs. Next I went to the garage. The one that I had called at 7:30 that morning inquiring, “… can you change a light bulb? In a car I mean…” So after sitting for another 20 minutes and assuring the garage manager that I was certain the lights had not gone out at the same time and this 2008 car was not having electrical problems, I was on my way.


That would have probably been okay. I made it to work on time around 9:30 even. Then I worked my full day. THEN I went to this holiday gathering… That was the fatal part. I didn’t get home til 10 pm. Consequently, today I am tired.