Monday, September 10, 2007

Oh yeah, I forgot...

It's darker now. We have to use the lights in the house for mobility in the dark. And like most houses in the North, our house is fitted with those "energy efficient" Halogen death lights. I forgot about those lights, even though they were occasionally used for various reasons during the light season. But now it's dark, and I remember. I remember the suffering and torment they caused me last year. I had almost washed it from my memory. For anyone in the south who might not understand the sheer torture these lights cause, imagine walking into dark room, flicking on the lights, waiting....waiting, flicker, waiting, flicker....and when I have already done what I went in there to do, the lights come on! Not to mention they make me want to have a seizure and I hate the colour they cast. It's a very depressing glow, a much cooler shade then your average tungsten light bulb.

Prime Minister Harper is getting rid of the precious Tungstun, sure they say they are less efficient, but they make me happy. Their warm glow on my face is like a hug, much unlike the cooler slap in the face from a Halogen. I think one of my main frustrations is that they are most definitely NOT energy efficient! They so do not last longer then my cherished Tungsten! All I can say is what a CROCK of #$%^, some halogen corporation is making big money on this! I can't tell you how many time we have had to replace halogen bulb after bulb, and they all seem to go at the same time. I have never had to replace 10 bulbs a once when living in a tungsten house hold down south. Not to mention my tungsten bulbs having been chugging their little lifespans along, a lot longer then their halogen brothers!

I guess I wouldn't be as upset if they didn't take what seems like 10 years to turn on. I feel like I am in one of my nightmares where I keep trying and trying to turn on a light, but it doesn't matter what switch I flick on, nothing happens!

8 comments:

Jackie S. Quire said...

Oh.
my
god.
I can't handle your new blog header.
I think I died a little bit from its beauty.

Is that two photos photoshopped together? Or just one disgustingly beautiful picture?

ps, you make my blog look digusting and ugly.

*jealousy

towniebastard said...

That picture reminds me that I need to go out and grab some of the northern lights before it gets too cold. Standing outside in -10 or colder with a digital camera on a tripod trying to get a shot of the northern lights is good for neither me nor the camera. It's both dark enough and warm enough right now to get a shot.

Something to do this weekend, perhaps. Oh, and that is quite the nice picture...

Aleks said...

I understand there is newer technology bulbs that don't present the same activation latency or flicker issues.

I understand there are also varying spectral distributions, or light temperatures that you can get.

That said, these bulbs are so much more expensive than the incandescent ones, that the economics still doesn't quite make sense. They are also so much more toxic (because of the mercury) are people really being "greener" by switching?

jen said...

Offsite AKA smeleks,
Please show me the way to the range of spectral bulbs that fit in our fixtures, I have only ever seen one colour (the white depression shade)!

Townie Bastard,
I took that picture last year, but the exact same time, September. It seems to be a good month to get out and do this. I say don't wait for the weekend, go on the next clear night! Its going to cloud over and start snowing soon.
I shot on a tri-pod & did a 20 second exposure. I also set the shutter on timer, instead of manually pushing the shutter button, less camera shake. I hope I can get out and take some more soon, but as I look out the window, storms a brewing!

Jackie,
Thanks! It's a multiple layer image done in photoshop. Background, NL image, Simpsons PNG and of course text layer. The new blog layout has made it possible for me and many others to add an image as your header. Check it out, it's super easy! (just make sure to size the picture down, so it doesn't take up your entire page!)

Jackie S. Quire said...

I really have to get my hands on a good image editor.

I never considered doing an auto-timer to reduce shake. What a great tip!

Ok, this is probably me being ultra naive... but does it really seriously start snowing in September?? I hope I get a chance to see the northern lights... I won't be up until the 24th or 25th!!

Jackie S. Quire said...

I feel like I will be able to die happy upon seeing the Northern Lights.

Are they normally green?? I've seen that color quite often in pictures.

And I can't imagine snow in September... at least that tells me what to pack in my suitcase, and what to leave to the movers!

towniebastard said...

Jen, I have a remote that goes along with my camera. So I'll likely set a long exposure and use the remote for the shutter. The weather is supposed to be nice up here the weekend, so I'll probably stick to that plan (then again, Environment Canada sucks so who knows.)

And Jackie, my wife taught in Rankin back in 04/05. Not to scare you, but she had a 5 day blizzard that started Oct. 5. So yeah, there will likely be snow there when you arrive.

You'll see plenty of northern lights and green does seem to be the most common colour at this latitude. The colour seems to vary depending how far north you are.

jen said...

I may come off sounding stupid, but here I go anyways.

There is this circle "mathingy", (have no idea what it's called, tried looking it up too) it is centered around the very north and a little more west then Baffin. The reason we get just green while say Yellowknife, who gets blasted with a rainbow of colour, even though they are about the same latitude as Iqaluit, is because they are inside this "Nothern lights circle" while we are outside.

Towns inside the "Circle" get affected more by the sun storms(those cause the northern lights)then those outside. Iqaluit is outside, Rankin (being farther west) is closer to or inside this "circle". So Jaskie, you might see more colours and a higher intensity!

You can really tell I am not a scientist or an English major!