Cam I Am

Well, here it is..   the end of September..

The last couple of months have really gone by fast.  Tomorrow is my last day working in Abbotsford, then it’s back to Vancouver.  I’ve got mixed feelings about returning to my usual routine at VTOC..  I’ve enjoyed working out in the valley (not to mention the easier commute and the cheaper gas!)..  But all good things must come to an end..

A couple weeks ago, I hosted a “thank-you” BBQ for all our friends that helped us out over the last year or so..  I’m glad to say that everyone made it, and we all had a good time.   We made chicken and steak shish-kabobs, grilled salmon, and grilled caesar salad.

Grilled caesar salad?  Yup..  When I throw a BBQ, I throw everything on the grill..  even the lettuce for the salad! 

The Thanksgiving weekend is coming up in a couple weeks, and we’ll be making our annual trip up to the in-laws place for the weekend.   It’ll be nice to go away for a weekend with the kids and my wife, especially since we didn’t get a chance to this past summer.. 

That’s about all!  Well..  aside from the Sasquatch Research that is!   On my way home from work today, I passed by a green jeep in Mission, with a sign on the side that simply read “Sasquatch Research” and a local phone number..  I found this amusing (which I’m sure that Mark is the only other person who will also see the humour in me pointing it out!).  Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to get a shot of it..  Oh well..  I’ll be on the lookout for it again..    It’s not as amusing as “Ho-mart”, but still funny.. 

Over the past few years, I’ve been making sure that we switched most of our light bulbs over to compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs.  We’ve done this partially for environmental reasons, but mainly to save a little money on our electricity bill..

In the past, we rented, so when we moved, we brought all the bulbs with us..  When we bought our current home about 18 months, ago, I put in all the bulbs, with the exception of our kitchen that uses floodlamps, and our bathrooms that have “globe-style” bulbs.  My intention was that as these ones burn out, I’d replace them with their compact fluorescent equivalents..  Up to this point, I’ve been very happy with the performance of the ones I’ve bought so far.

So.. In the last few months, all three of the incandescent floodlamps in the kitchen and a several of the bathroom globes go out.  No problem!  I went out and bought new CF ones..  Then, I start to notice things..

First, the CF floodlamps and globes, take time to come to full brightness..  This is a pain, but I can deal with waiting a minute for them.  It’s a little dim in the kitchen/bathrooms at first, but it’s manageable.  Within two weeks of buying a floodlamp, it burns out..   Within 6 months of installing a globe, one of them burn out.

Now, for a product that costs up to five times the cost of an incandescent bulb, I expect it to outlast the bulbs that I haven’t even replaced!  Why am I wasting my money on bulbs that don’t last, or at the very least don’t seem to function properly..

So, while I’ll continue to use CF bulbs for “normal” lamps and lights, I think that I won’t be wasting my money to save money in the kitchen and bathrooms..