I have a new game for you all. It's called "Choosing Clothing by Flashlight." The winner is the one who is able to best dress herself despite being unable to see most of her clothing choices in the dark.
First you need a walk-in clothing closet, which has no windows. Rules allow for lights and/or skylights in the adjacent room. You get extra points for dressing correctly on an overcast day, and more points if you dress before the sun comes up. You loose points if you end up mixing navy blue and black.
The light bulbs in my closet have been flickering and failing to light for weeks. Every couple of days, I talk with Dear Husband about the difficulty of choosing clothes in the dark. My youngest sister, bless her heart, came to his aid and suggested I take a flashlight into the closet with me. (sigh)
We've been in the house 17 years. It's more than possible we just need to change the light bulbs. My friend, Midnight, tells me that it could also be as simple as a starter needing to be replaced. He described it for me, and I'll try to see if that could be the problem. Failing that, the ballast has gone out. DH tells me we have a spare ballast ......somewhere.....
Midnight has been counseling me to do the repair on my own, coaching me on what to look for, and telling me how easy it is to replace. I think he's planning to become a marriage counselor in another life. Personally, I think this is a GUY thing.....one of the few indoor things that shouldn't be my responsibility!
Sign up for the game in the comments, and I'll get back to you on a start time.
Comments (7)
I can dress in the dark! I'll never win a contest for dressing though. lol
Posted by janet | October 12, 2007 11:50 PM
Posted on October 12, 2007 23:50
I am confused - since when do light sockets or light switches have starters and ballast? Either the lightbulb is loose or the switch is wearing out (had that happen before). Possibly the bulb is trying to die, but usually they don't take their time about it.
I choose my clothes in the dark a lot in the morning. WS is usually still in bed so I jsut reach in and grab a pair of pants and a blouse. Of course I have a very simple style so it's easy for me.
Posted by bogie | October 14, 2007 6:12 AM
Posted on October 14, 2007 06:12
All things mechanical, electrical (including ballast thingies), heavy objects, or chores that require a ladder are male assignments by default.
Navy blue and black clothing including shoes, purses, gloves, and umbrellas, are a problem - period. An easy solution is to hang a lighter blue ribbon on the section of the shoe rack holding the navy blue shoes, and the same color ribbon on the clothes rack indicating where the navy clothes are hanging, and assigning separate drawers or sections to the assessories (is that a word or just questionable spelling?)or you can join the younger crowd and decry the 'matchy matchy' thing that some of us prefer. The downside to matching is that the above suggestions require the owner of the navy blue and black things to always hang them or place them in the assigned places.
Posted by Magga | October 14, 2007 9:15 AM
Posted on October 14, 2007 09:15
Janet, on days when I can stay home, and those days when I'm working in the garden, I tend to look like a bum! I grab comfy clothing that doesn't necessarily match, and hope that no one will come to my door, or catch me weeding. BUT, there are days when I would like to look more put together, and I'd rather not choose brand new pants for gardening, when I've saved SO many pairs that are worn or have spots from bleach. I suppose I need to start segregating them, or better yet.....THROW SOME AWAY! GASP!
Posted by buffy | October 14, 2007 9:46 AM
Posted on October 14, 2007 09:46
Bogie, I should have said that this is a fluorescent fixture. We'll start today by checking the bulbs. Given that they are 17 years old, it could just be that they need to be replaced. I hadn't even thought about the possibility that it was the switch that might be going.
Dear Husband lays his clothes out the night before so as not to disturb me before 5:00 in the morning. It would take an atom bomb to wake me then, but his concern is lovely. Since he is the first person out of bed 95% of the time, I usually don't have to choose my clothing early.
Like you, my style is very simple, but that doesn't mean that I don't look for a certain shirt, or a specific pair of pants on any given day.
Posted by buffy | October 14, 2007 9:54 AM
Posted on October 14, 2007 09:54
Magga, how nice to see you post!! Thanks for reinforcing my thoughts about "Men's Jobs," even though I know that bogie and her mother, Cop Car, might disagree! *G* After all, Cop Car is an engineer, and her daughter seems to be a jack of all trades.
I suspect that you know me well enough to undertand that I have my anal retentive days. Periodically, I blizt the closet and hang everything up in color groupings, with short sleeves first, followed by 3/4 and long sleeves.
This is the problem with the pants: they all look alike in the dark! I have been collecting these soft, casual pants over the last four or five years, so there are five different styles (at least two of which I should throw out!). There are the sans-a-belt, pocketless, soft black pants. There are the tightly gathered elastic waisted pants with pockets (and all but one pair is black). There are the soft pants with an elastic waistband that looks smooth. I have two pairs which have been shortened and two new pairs which need to be shortened, and there are three pairs of black twill pants. One of those pairs is pocketless. AND, one pair of blue jeans.
I need to cull, to toss, to clear out and cut back, and I NEED A LIGHT IN THE CLOSET!!!
You'll be happy to know that my sock drawer is organized by color. I bet the next time you come to visit, you'll be checking the closet to see if its organized! *G*
Posted by buffy | October 14, 2007 10:07 AM
Posted on October 14, 2007 10:07
Frequently, because the lighting in my closet differs from natural lighting and from the lighting in most offices and because I am just a smidgeon away from being a bit color-blind, I find myself somewhat un-color-coordinated. Usually, it doesn't matter too much. I do feel a bit embarrassed when I find myself wearing one gold earring and one silver. (Why should that bother me more than the color differences in my clothes?!) In my 20s, I concentrated on black clothing. Now, standing next door to 70, I find myself back with black--at least, for pants and shells. Any shirt that I throw over the shell will do, then.
Oh, well. Glad that your Dear Husband got the ballast replaced. Truly, ballast is shorter-lived than fluorescent bulbs, in my experience.
Posted by Cop Car | October 21, 2007 11:59 PM
Posted on October 21, 2007 23:59