Tethys blows out a candle
Wednesday, at 7:20am, at about 45th and Burnet, my Dodge turned over the 100,000 milestone. When I pulled over to take a picture of the moment, I realized that one of my headlights were out. Fortunately, the sun was rising, and I didn't have to drive a winking car for long.
After work, I stopped by the local parts store and picked up a pair of replacement bulbs. The clerk was super nice and showed me on my car how to remove and replace the bulbs. He even described how to remove some of the engine parts to gain better access to the driver's side bulb.
I went home, grabbed my tools, and got to work replacing the headlight lamps. I had feared that removing the air cleaner lid and snorkel seemed would be much more of a chore than it turned out to be, so I ended up doing that side first. The bulb came out like expected, was changed and reinstalled in a minute. Everything even got put back together without any loss of parts.
By comparison, the passenger side bulb had seemed like a cakewalk. The bulb popped out nice and tidy, new bulb went right in... but it wouldn't lock back down. It's a simple twist lock, like on a food processor bowl. Put object in place, twist firmly, done. Only it wasn't twisting. I fooled with it for ten minutes before Antares tried for another five. I struggled with a bit more before my genius wife suggested I return to the parts store asking if one of them knew how to replace the bulb.
It seemed like a good idea. The first clerk came out and fooled with it for a few minutes before another clerk came out. This second one was the one who originally sold me the bulbs and showed me how to relock that very lock.
I told him, "I tried really hard. My hands were black: it sure looked like I had been working on it." I was pretty sure I was missing something obvious, and I hoped he would be kind when he showed me what I did wrong.
The second clerk started calmly, but within minutes was cursing. He took everything apart and tried to just do the bulb or just do the twist lock -- all good there. Put them together and nothing worked.
I mentioned that it was starting to seem to me that there was something wrong with the bulb, as we had tried everything else. Without discussion, the first clerk ran back into the store to fetch a new bulb while the other continued the futile effort.
I told the clerk, "You know, it kinda makes me glad to see how much trouble this is giving you guys. Now I don't have to feel like so much of an idiot." The clerk looked at me for a moment, then laughed: "That's the best thing I've heard all day!"
The first clerk returned with a replacement bulb. It snapped into place with little effort. "That's it?" I asked with surprise.
"Sometimes, maybe just one in a thousand, you get a flawed bulb. It just happens," the second clerk relayed as they both went back into the store.
After work, I stopped by the local parts store and picked up a pair of replacement bulbs. The clerk was super nice and showed me on my car how to remove and replace the bulbs. He even described how to remove some of the engine parts to gain better access to the driver's side bulb.
I went home, grabbed my tools, and got to work replacing the headlight lamps. I had feared that removing the air cleaner lid and snorkel seemed would be much more of a chore than it turned out to be, so I ended up doing that side first. The bulb came out like expected, was changed and reinstalled in a minute. Everything even got put back together without any loss of parts.
By comparison, the passenger side bulb had seemed like a cakewalk. The bulb popped out nice and tidy, new bulb went right in... but it wouldn't lock back down. It's a simple twist lock, like on a food processor bowl. Put object in place, twist firmly, done. Only it wasn't twisting. I fooled with it for ten minutes before Antares tried for another five. I struggled with a bit more before my genius wife suggested I return to the parts store asking if one of them knew how to replace the bulb.
It seemed like a good idea. The first clerk came out and fooled with it for a few minutes before another clerk came out. This second one was the one who originally sold me the bulbs and showed me how to relock that very lock.
I told him, "I tried really hard. My hands were black: it sure looked like I had been working on it." I was pretty sure I was missing something obvious, and I hoped he would be kind when he showed me what I did wrong.
The second clerk started calmly, but within minutes was cursing. He took everything apart and tried to just do the bulb or just do the twist lock -- all good there. Put them together and nothing worked.
I mentioned that it was starting to seem to me that there was something wrong with the bulb, as we had tried everything else. Without discussion, the first clerk ran back into the store to fetch a new bulb while the other continued the futile effort.
I told the clerk, "You know, it kinda makes me glad to see how much trouble this is giving you guys. Now I don't have to feel like so much of an idiot." The clerk looked at me for a moment, then laughed: "That's the best thing I've heard all day!"
The first clerk returned with a replacement bulb. It snapped into place with little effort. "That's it?" I asked with surprise.
"Sometimes, maybe just one in a thousand, you get a flawed bulb. It just happens," the second clerk relayed as they both went back into the store.