Let there be light, unless the bulbs are burned out. This happened to the light fixture in my girls room yesterday. Not a big deal usually, right? Unless this beautiful 2 piece frosted glass fixture has the 2 t9 circular fluorescent bulbs in it. Then you have 2 bulbs, each about $10 plus a ballast, another $20, that may or may not work.

Not wanting to spend 20-40 dollars on this fixture, especially since I have been converting to L.E.D bulbs everywhere else,  I needed a new idea. I ended up taking the fixture down and tossing the old fluorescent parts. Then I wired in 2 socket pigtails ($3.27 each from Home Depot Model # R60-00055-000) through the fixture and into the house power. Once there, it was easy to screw in 2 L.E.D. Bulbs. Using the 40 watt equivalent bulbs that costco was selling for 3 for $10.  

Replaced the covers and there you have it. More light, less energy, and maintenance friendly.

So if you have a favorite light fixture, that currently runs on fluorescent tubes, or rings, consider changing the sockets out for some L.E.D bulbs. Most use only 10% of the power of Fluorescent.

Todays tasks involved the beginning of project, Garage Cleaning and reorganizing. To be fair, this is always a task that I never look forward to, and put off till events lead to there being no choice but to begin. The “event” this time, is a week of rain that is coming my way.

I have 2 saws that have been out under tarps that I wanted to get into the garage. The process to make that happen included the following, (not necessarily in this order):

Move Jolene out of the garage and onto the street. (She likes the looks she gets there, but I get paranoid everytime a car slows down to look at her).

Move cart with big red’s old motor and transmission out of the garage and to back patio. (Needs to be gone through, but that is another project) Make room on Patio for cart, then cover with tarp.

Move Boxes of books (I can never get rid of books), out to driveway. (Will move back into garage till they can be gone through.

Empty wall cabinet. (or set up table in garage and move stuff from cabinet to table) Remove wall cabinet from wall. (lots of measuring now) Resinstall Wall cabinet 2′ higher. Clean off table by placing things back in the cabinet, another shelf or trash can as needed.

Go outside to RV slab and begin moving stuff so I can even get to saws. Move shelving material to either inside shed (have to post how we built that) or along house under eve.

Move both saws to garage and place under shelving.

Begin the archaeological dig at my workbench.

Activate the time machine.

My bench has been cluttered and covered, oh……. since the last time I cleaned it off. What makes it a time machine? As I go through the “stuff” I find things that take me back in time. Most all memories are happy, as they usually remind me of a someone I deeply care about. Some are bitter sweet, as the person that comes to mind has moved on from this life.

Tonight I tossed items from cars I no longer have:

Bmw parts, (some broken, why? just why?)

Ford Excursion Center caps (attempted ebay sales, never sold)

Ford Falcon pieces (Really? my last falcon was sold in like 1989)

Boat parts from projects that have come and gone.

Receipts ( man do I have the market cornered on those. Happy memories of hwy 1 and hwy 101 travels.)

And then tools.

Tools from my dad, that I have recently acquired. Some items that I have seen since I was a young boy in his garage, they now reside in mine. Some even have Kline etched into them, others came as Kleins, Ill keep them both.

Tools I forgot I even had. I started today with no hammers and no tape measures. I now have a drawer full of hammers and 6 tape measures. Crazy.

Then there are the old tools. These bring me to a stop. Time stops. These tools have a different name and a different story. The black carpenter square I hold almost reverently in my hands. The name “Sinner” etched into it by my grandfather. I can see it hanging in his garage still. The hub puller, still in its originally box, that is only used to pull the rear drums off of  big red. The small 4 drawer box that sits in the center of my bench. Made by grandpa, and still has the nails in it that he used for his many wood projects. (Bird houses, bird feeders, dog houses, and other items).  I can see him opening the drawers, grabbing a handful of nails and hammering them into the shingles of the doghouse. I miss my grandfather, but his presence is all around me in the garage. (Down to the 6′ long metal 6 volt battery sign that used to hang outside of the garage and gas station his father and uncle owned.) There is even pieces of wood up in my rafters that I moved when they cleaned out their house. I have a Keg of nails, I believe that he had hauled on his semi.

Then the phone buzzes, and I am brought back to the present. Two trash cans full later, the garage is beginning to come together. Jolene is back tucked in for the night, and progress has been made.  It will take many more nights and weekends to get the garage in shape for me to clutter it up again. I look forward to the memories it reawakens.