random bits

[cellio]

Recently (to investigate something), I added a third-party tracker to some of my posts in order to see where the hits are coming from. This was meant to be temporary, but I've found it interesting to see just how big the internet community is, so I've continued to use it at times. So, I don't know who any of y'all are (and publishing on the internet means I might never know, and that's cool), but I'd like to say hello to my regular readers in Italy, Moldova, Switzerland, and Cambodia (!).

We are having weird modem luck. I thought all DSL modems were basically the same, but apparently not. Our old (bought in 1999) modem has started dropping signal -- it's eratic, but when it happens it lasts for a few hours. My DSL provider mailed me a new one (a level of service I did not expect) and it's reliable but universally slow. So our current mode of operation is to use the old one until it drops and then switch to the new one for a few hours. Weird. So I think we need to buy a new modem that is both reliable and fast, but since I thought they were all the same I now don't know what to look for. (We have basic DSL. Someday I hope they well run FIOS to our neighborhood and we'll switch.)

Recent conversation:
Dani: We're out of (book)shelf space in the library again.
Me: Maybe we should assemble that last bookcase we bought.
Dani: We're out of shelf space in the library again.
Me: You built it and filled it already? So we need to buy more?
Dani: We're out of wall space to put bookcases...

(I assert that he is incorrect on that last point, but it hinges on a dispute between practicality and purity. Or something like that.)

We bought some CFLs (in two different color-tones) to try again, and installed some in the ceiling fixture in the living room (the packaging contained no dire warnings about that, unlike the last one). Freaky white and bright, so some tuning is called for, but there might be a bigger problem: flicker. The switch is a dimmer, but we know CFLs don't dim so the switch is at max. (Truth to tell, we don't dim regular bulbs in that fixture, either.) Does the mere presence of a dimmer switch doom CFLs? That would be annoying.

A couple links:

A few nights ago I made these lamb chops, which I've made before and which are amazingly good.

The ten plagues, done in peeps (from someone on my subscription list, but I've lost track of who). Twisted! Funny!

Comments

[cellio]

Yikes. Thanks for the warning. It would have been nice if they had mentioned that anywhere on the package. Grr.

I am certainly not dedicated enough to the CFL cause to spend four times an already-high price to get light that is (so far) inferior to that of incandescents. I'll keep trying in fixtures where the light color doesn't matter as much and (now I learn) that have the right kinds of switches. We've got a few of those.

[dsrtao]

There are some CFLs called 'full spectrum' or 'sunlight'; they aren't, but they do produce a pleasant light to read by. I have one by my bed as the reading lamp.

CFLs are significantly superior to incandescents for bedtime reading in summer -- they don't heat up the room!

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

I heartily endorse the full spectrum' or 'sunlight' CFLs. They do not bother me at all and I hate regular fluorescents more than anyone else I know (except possibly sodyera). We've installed them in every possible fixture in the house (including the one in the userpic.

[hlinspjalda.livejournal.com]

We've been using these in virtually every location in our house for several years now and haven't had to replace any yet. It's a pain getting the right kind to use in the ceiling fan fixtures, though: not all of them are equally vibration-proof, not to mention the size problem.

[cellio]

I hadn't considered the vibration factor for ceiling fans. Thanks for the tip!

(Currently, we have 21 light bulbs that are behind dimmer or 3-way switches, one behind a timer (on Shabbat), and now 8 in ceiling fans. This isn't leaving a lot of "just plain bulbs" in the house... whee. Long-term we might replace some of the dimmer switches, but certainly not two of them (bedroom and dining room -- but I wasn't going to put ugly bulbs in the chandelier anyway).)

[hlinspjalda.livejournal.com]

Our 97-year-old house is still very inadequately wired, especially when it comes to lighting. Accordingly, a lot of our light comes from floor lamps. We only have one dimmer in the whole house, and Mr. Fixer installed that one just a few years ago when we got the ceiling fan for the dining room.

[cellio]

My previous house was like that. I was surprised to find that every room in this house has ceiling fixtures (well, except one bathroom that has sconces instead). We do use some floor lamps -- a couple halogen ones, and I have two lamps that I've tuned reasonably carefully, the reading lamp in the living room and a lamp in my office. The only switch-controlled outlets are in the living room.

Some previous owner or resident was apparently into dimmers; we have them in the living room, dining room, two bedrooms (one of which is Dani's office), and the hall. (To add to the fun, the hall light in question is on a three-way, with one dimmer and one regular switch.) The halls and living room were my primary targets for early CFL trials (and I think Dani was thinking of his office), so that's not going to work without some electrical work. (Replacing a switch isn't hard, but it's another chore to get around to.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Most of the builtin (can) lighting fixtures in my new place have dimmer switches on them. We have not yet decided whether to purchase dimmable CFL replacements. (My thinking is - the energy of disposal and manufacture and the cost of purchase outweigh replacing a working bulb. I'll replace on failure.)

Do experiment with different colors and manufacturers. For example, the CFLs I purchased from IKEA, despite being "pretty", stink. They light slowly, with a slow ramp-up to full light, which is very yellowish. I replaced those with daylight-quality bulbs purchased at CostCo, with major improvement.

[jducoeur]

Most of the builtin (can) lighting fixtures in my new place have dimmer switches on them.

Oy. Y'know, until you mentioned it here, it hadn't occurred to me that this is true of a fair bit of our house as a well. This is going to be a long-run nuisance...