The Light Bulb Saga

Saturday was largely just a day to vegetate.  It's very dry and hot outside so, except for a little watering of the xeriscaping that is, uh, not supposed to need much water (according to Justin, the landscaper who installed it), I didn't do much. 

We had gotten a call from Explore USA RV earlier in the week about a 2010 Cameo 37CKSLS that had been returned by a customer after only a few months' use.  Since that is the model we're interested in, we decided to trek out to the dealership in Mesquite to see what it looked like.  I considered calling to see if it was still there, given the 30-mile distance from our house, but decided against it because I knew I wanted to go anyway, irrespective of whether that trailer was still on the lot.  Besides, I had to stop at Light Bulb Depot to pick up a replacement halogen light bulb for one of the overpriced light fixtures in the master bathroom.  

The bulb was a very unusual frosted one that looked like a suppository with a couple of silver wires forming a curly mustache on the end.  I knew that a specialty store would be the only one to carry such a strange bulb.
   

I sauntered in to the counter, behind which the attendant, a large man with a red beard and wearing cutoffs, was standing, looking annoyed at having to tend the empty store until four o'clock.


"Well, have I got a challenge for you," I said, and handed him the burned-out bulb.
  

He studied it for a moment and walked to one of the aisles where a jillion boxes of small bulbs were stacked to the ceiling.  He grabbed a nearby ladder and started climbing.  Near the top, he plucked out a box and said, "How many would you like?"

"I'll take two," I said, wishing to have a spare on hand, as there were three fixtures in the bathroom with this same bulb.


As he walked back to where I was standing, he said, 


"Now I have a challenge for you!"

"What would that be?", I asked.


Grinning, he said, "Paying for it.  That'll be 24 dollars for the two bulbs."

After the paramedics left (not really), I was able to pull the cash out of my wallet, but the bearded guy had to pry it from my fingers.  I think I'm still noticing one of my eyelids twitching at the thought of what could only be called 'robbery by light bulb.'
We continued on to Explore USA without incident, but I was wondering silently if shaving by candlelight would be so bad.



We weren't terribly surprised that the 37CKSLS they called about had already been sold.  It's a very popular model, and Clint, the salesman with whom we've been working, was quick to point out that the factory could make another one if I would merely leave them a check.  I asked him if being a smart aleck came naturally, or did he have to work at it.  Actually, we like Clint, an energetic and polite young man, and we feel we know each other well enough now to do some teasing.

We looked at several other Carriage models while we were there, but none, not even the more expensive Carri-Lites and Royals had the floor plan we liked in the Cameo.  We were also disappointed to learn that Carriage offers only leather living room furniture in its coaches.  Sandy and I have always preferred fabric, and this likely means that we will have to replace the brand new furniture as soon as we get the new rig.

After roaming around the RV lot, we headed for Wal-Mart, where we did our part to help the economy.  We used to hope to get out of that place for less than a hundred bucks; now, it's two hundred.  And we didn't buy any light bulbs!