One of the major hurdles to the modern internet-based location-agnostic lifestyle is that we're
actual physical beings stuck in a loose sack of skin that costs money and energy to get from one place to another (and no, smart-asses, we're not merely balls). Fortunately, at the moment, someone else is paying to transport my pale flappy organpod across the Atlantic fairly frequently, so I can take slightly greater advantage of this internet reach (and also be used as a leather jacket/PSP game/Nike sneaker mule).
For example, I'm getting
lamps delivered as part of a batch of stuff that didn't sink off the Cornwall Coast last week (thanks,
Jonky Cat, for
attempting to convince me otherwise). They're UK voltage lamps (240v) not entirely dissimilar to
these, which are not only not too ugly, but also would work well in my tiny New York apartment. The voltage ain't a problem, coz there's no conversion or regulator so just shoving a 120v bulb in rather than a 240v one would work just fine (the other way around and I might just worry that the cable might melt, but only if it was a crappy cheap light and I was being totally paranoid).
So my options are:
- A converter to take a bayonet bulb and convert it to a screw-bulb, giving me a full choice of bulbs to use.
- A bayonet bulb at 120v.
A wee bit of research and...
- It's amazing what Wikipedia can teach you about bulbs and bulb fittings. Why, did you know screw-bulbs were labelled ES, and the E stands for 'Edison', and even the US has gone metric on the fitting measurements even though they remain imperial on the glass measurements?
- I can find that a small shop on Tottenham Court Road in London has 7 appropriate adapters in stock (which US stores don't seem to have at all). It's a mere 3 minutes walk from my offices over there, and I don't have to buy 10 bulbs from Bulbman (couldn't find any in the hardware store near here, though there must be some in Manhattan).
- Chuck Norris flew the rescue helicopter that saved the crew of that stricken container ship off Cornwall. Scroll down. It's true. Is there nothing he can't do?
- I evidently have a surfeit of time on my hands, in my pockets, and spilling onto the floor.
