Helpful Hints from joeeze: How to remove a broken light bulb (Blast from the past)

I had occasion to invoke this post from back in 2005 earlier today after I bumped into a bare bulb in my attic and shattered it, leaving the socket portion in situ.*

Guess what: joeeze's hint worked just as specified below.

Maybe he's not as big a fool as I thought.

Helpful Hints From joe–eez: How to remove a broken light bulb

This much–loved feature of bookofjoe returns after some time in turnaround.

And it returns with a crash, to wit: the smashing of glass on your floor as a light bulb explodes or shatters in your hand as you're changing it.

Now what?

The screw part of the bulb is stuck in the socket, with sharp glass pieces sticking out; and those wiggly things in the middle don't look like a whole lot of fun either, I must admit.

Well, guess what: been there, done that, and not very well, I must confess.

Now comes wondergirl Jane Buckingham with a most clever piece of advice on what to do next.

Here we go:

1) Get a potato. No, this is not a joke — just get one.

2) Turn off the power to the socket or light.

3) Remove the fuse or turn the breaker off.

Note: If you don't know how to do step 3 do not continue — repeat, do not continue. Instead, find someone who can execute step 3 for you.

4) Push the narrow end of the the potato into the screw cap/remains of the light bulb.

5) Twist and the broken base should emerge, buried in the potato.

Ms. Buckingham recommends gloves and safety glasses: I concur.

But I must say I was somewhat surprised to read her instructions and see she'd not inserted the cautionary note between steps 3 and 4 above.

Well, that's why you have me too, isn't it?

Sort of like belt + suspenders: one or the other will do the trick for sure.

......................

As any fool can plainly see, what's old is new again.

*For every individual who emails me to tell me how annoying they find my links to definitions of terms, phrases and words they already know the meaning of, there are ten who thank me for making it so easy for them to learn these heretofore obscure (to them, at least) things.

Besides which, I can hardly continue to advertise as an SAT prep site if I don't offer product....

Wait a minute... since when did I start advertising?

I gotta go, gotta find out what's going on around here.

Who's in charge, anyway?

clifyt?

Oh, well, then... that explains everything.