In Edit July 16th: Some very funny comments have been added. Click the link at the bottom of this post to read them.
Posted July 14, 2011....Time for a just-for-fun break. With all the things that are going on in the world of finance including the debt ceiling debate, this is will provide a lighter few moments:
FrankJ and I are editor and publisher of "The Bulb and Bag Timer." Birdbrain is our publicity man, in charge of promotion, advertising and reeling in the shark...err, I mean signing up new subscribers.
FrankJ has put together the very first issue which focuses on when Bulb buying-opportunities are scheduled to end:
Bulb Timer
The first of a series of irregular submissions to keep you up to date on the upcoming ban on incandescent light bulbs and how it affects you.
First order of business: this is about LIGHT BULBS, not tulip bulbs, or any other kind of bulbs you put in the ground.
Bulb Timer is a web-based enterprise, brought to you by Honeybee, Birdbrain and FrankJ. Like all great organizations, we have a Vision Statement. Our Vision Statement reads as follows:
“Bifocals, vision corrected to 20/20,
plastic frames, no lens coating, no tint,
$145, after co-pay.”
Now we have been getting a lot of inquiries from Bulb Timer fans, on just how the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will affect their ability to buy light bulbs. We want the first installment of Bulb Timer to start on an upbeat note, so let’s use the Frequently Asked Questions format to explain what types of bulbs the federal government will still allow you to have…
– Signed, Off The Grid.
A. You will. “Plant” lights are excluded from the legislation, so you won’t have to worry about the Bulb Police, just the Police Police. Good luck to you.
--Signed – Old Hippie.
A. You’re in luck, Bub, black light bulbs will still be available, so rock on, and maybe you and “Off the Grid” should get together!
Q. I love government regulations, as long as they don’t affect me. But will I still be able to buy Left-hand threaded bulbs?
Signed – A Leftist.
A. You’re in luck, may you live in interesting times, Leftie.
Signed – Itching.
A. It would have been most unfortunate if they were banned, but lucky for you, they were not.
Q. Are there certain lamps or bulbs, I WON’T need to hoard?
A. Yes, this is a list of incandescent lamps that are excluded from the law: (for now)
· Appliance lamps,
· black light lamps,
· bug lamps,
· colored lamps,
· infrared lamps,
· left-hand thread lamps, (who knew?)
· marine lamps,
· mine lamps,
· plant lamps,
· reflector lamps,
· rough service lamps,
· shatter resistant lamps,
· sign service lamps,
· silver bowl lamps,
· showcase lamps,
· 3 way incandescent lamps,
· traffic signal lamps,
· vibration service lamps (like would go in a bathroom ceiling fan fixture).
Honey here: For your own special free issues of this exciting new newsletter, please contact FrankJ or FrankJ. I hear there are two of them also..... :)
On another subject: It was recently stated on this blog that our own Fluffy Bunny (AKA: TFB) has personally met with Barack Obama. Some of you may have had your doubts, so I want you to know that I always tell the truth as this picture clearly shows. I understand that the Fluffy Bunny wore his best glasses for this special occasion:
17 comments:
By far the most frequent question I
hear from potential subscribers is:
Who, along with Honey, is the publisher? Is it frankj, frankj jr,
or frankj jr's wife franj?
LOL! Do you tell them that it doesn't matter, it all goes into the family pot for the "young sprouts?"
That is, all except what we use to live in the style to which we have become accustomed and a our trips to the golf course, ski slopes and Las Vegas. :)
.
I guess not too many are interested in the bulbs so far, but I am.
I was listening to Jim Bohannen and his guest from the Natural Resources Defense Council a couple of nights ago. One way the guest sought to allay our fears about the ban was to inform us about the new high-efficiency incandescent (HEI) bulbs that will still be legal because the ban is not on incandescence, but rather on inefficiency.
Bulbs have to be about 30% more efficient. The HEI
bulbs meet this and are supposed to get even better over time. Yippee! JimBo seemed happy to hear about this, too.
I was surprised I had not heard of these miraculous things, so .... I googled 'em. Turns out they are just halogen bulbs. The Phillips halogena bulbs barely meet the minimum light output to qualify as a 100 W equivalent at 1490 lumens or so and use the maximum 72 watts allowed by the new law. Note that 1490 is quite a bit lower than the good old standard ge bulbs at 1710, so the 30% savings is really less than 20%.
In 2007, GE announced plans to develop HEI that would be 50%, heck, even 75%, more efficient. Apparently Ecomagination crashed into cold, hard physical reality, and they gave up in 2008. They said that they were going to work on LED's instead. I hope they are successful. If not they can just pay the politicians to force us to buy them.
So HEI are not all the NRDC cracks them up to be. I don't think I will be happy with the lower output in a couple of rooms where I have only one socket and always use 100 W bulbs.
I like higher efficiency bulbs and use the compact fluorescents where I can. Where the fixture does not vent well, I found that the 100 watt CFL's burn out after only a few months. If the fixture has multiple sockets, I can get enough light by using several lower wattage ones, and they seem to last reasonably well.
I wish our masters in DC would let us decide how to spend our own money. How come nobody seems to remember the Demoncats took control of both houses of congress in 2007? I think that's when the bulb ban went in. It's also when the economy started heading south. Bush should have done more vetoin'.
Not THAT Robert J.
The shocked look on my face in the photo is simply because back then Barack was unfamiliar with microphones and kept grabbing himself behind the neck and pulled his head down till his lips touched the microphone every time he spoke.
tfb
To Anonymous:
Thanks for the post. You have given credibility to the fledgling newsletter.
You are correct, the "ban" is not so much a ban, but a diktat on efficiency, that defines the traditional bulbs inefficient, and therefore no longer available. Traditional bulbs expend too much of their energy in heat.
The legislation is about "lumens," light emmission vs. watts, which is a measure of energy. The 100 watt bulb will go away on Jan 1, 2012.
Here is what the legislation says will be available by year:
Lumens: 1490-2600: Max wattage 72 on Jan 1, 2012. Meaning if you want this level of light (lumens) you can buy it in a bulb that uses 72 watts.
On Jan 1, 2013: 1050-1489 lumens will be available in a max of 53 watts.
On Jan 1, 2014: 750-1049 lumens will be available in a max wattage bulb of 43 watts.
On Jan 1, 2015: 310-749 lumens/max wattage 29.
In our house, we use a bunch of 65 watt, flood lights in track and recessed cans. These 65 watt bulbs are rated 755 lumens. Presumably, there will be a 43 watt max bulb that produces the same light level and quality, we'll see.
Consider this the 2nd installment in the BulbTimer newsletter series.
Thank you, to Honeybee, the publisher.
Birdbrain, we know you're out there. How's the marketing effort going? Any deep pockets yet? Buffet? (that would be Warren, not Jimmy), Gates? Trump? Brinker?
And what would a newsletter be without prognostication? I predict BB will have a guest in the third hour and the discussion will be about the debt limit. There.
Frankj
isn't the fluff bunny that guy in the picture with the chocolate face?
Not-THAT-RobertJ said: "I wish our masters in DC would let us decide how to spend our own money. How come nobody seems to remember the Demoncats took control of both houses of congress in 2007? I think that's when the bulb ban went in. It's also when the economy started heading south. Bush should have done more vetoin'."
Thanks for all of your comments -- very interesting...And I had forgotten that it was a Democrat congress that passed this. As you said, Bush should have found his veto pen (IMO, for many things).
As you probably know, the House recently voted to NOT overturn this bill. I am sickened by this vote. Guess who has the majority now and several Republicans voted no.
Even though we have made this kind of a light-hearted subject, it is really very serious.
The mercury-filled light bulbs that they are planning to force us to use whether we want to or not, are extremely dangerous to clean up if they break.
House fails to overturn light bulb ban
.
TFB,
Awwwww......That explains your expression.
I wondered if he was pulling your tail. LOL!!!!
Anon, most probably the wimpy one, says:
The tavelling sister and john show
What's a tavelling?
Is English your primary language, or are you drunk already this morning?
What color is the top of your head since yesterday? (((ROAR)))
Wimpy, impy Anon whimers, with big gay tears streaming down HEr cheeks, Never fear however. I am leaving this message board on my own accord.
It wouldn't have anything to do with being TOTALLY ignored by several dozen people, would it? Did anybody at all acknowledge your pitiful existence?
NOOPE.............NOONE can make this stuff up!
Yesterday the House passed a spending bill that included an amendment to push out the ban on 100 watt bulbs for one year.
From the Bloomberg website "...100 watt, which has become a pear-shaped symbol of personal freedom."
(Being pear-shaped, myself I empathize with the 100 watt bulb).
10 Democrats joined in with 209 Republicans in support of delaying the ban, and the 196 votes against the measure included 21 Republicans.
-- Frankj
Honey
We know San Diego proposed a cat tax. California is thinking about taxing bee keepers. Could Obama be using the fluffy bunny to sell a bunny tax. He is probably saying that 80% of bunnies favor it.
Jeff,
Oh my goodness. Are you suggesting that our TFB may soon find himself taxed just for beeing a bunny?
What's next? Human baby tax?
.
What's next? Human baby tax?
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
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