Thursday, May 13, 2010

Enlightening Adventures in Retail

I'm a sucker for new technology, and the bug bit again yesterday.

USA Today on Tuesday did a story on Home Depot's new LED light bulb.  It throws out 40 watts worth of light, but uses only nine watts of electricity.  I stopped by Wednesday morning to buy one.  That's an actual picture on the left.

I've tried LED bulbs before.  I've found they beam more than the glow, and they're just not bright enough.

The Home Depot EcoSmart bulb seems to have solved some of those problems.  It acts like a 40 watt bulb, and the light is a bit warmer than other LED's, maybe even to the point of being too yellow.  Right now, it's in my computer desk lamp, probably the light I use the most.  Not bad so far.  It throws no heat, making it a nice summer bulb.

On the down side, it wasn't cheap, which means I'll be dead before the LED bulb pays for itself.  It's supposed to last 50,000 hours.  I hope my heirs get good use from it.  While the bulb saves energy, the big plastic cube it comes in is simply excessive packaging.  The color takes a bit getting used to.  The last bulb I had in that lamp, a CFL, had more of a daylight feel.

I've managed to become fond of CFL's, so I'll likely stick with those until the price of LED's comes down, and the brightness goes up.  40 watts is barely acceptible for my desk lamp.  I like it bright.

There have been a few posts about McDonald's in this space in recent months, and that kicked off a craving.  I surrendered to it last week.  Other than an occasional Egg McMuffin, I haven't had a McDonald's burger in quite a while.  I walked into a restaurant in Lackawanna County, and ordered a Big Mac and fries.  The fries had more salt than a PennDOT shed in January, almost rendering them inedible, but the Big Mac was rather bland and tastless.  The food was hot and fresh.  The service was fine, and the restaurant was clean.  Ketchup saved the fries.

My craving was satisfied, and I did not catch "fast food fever."  Nothing against McDonald's, but I won't be back for a while.