A lamp costs more than a bulb
The next time a light bulb burns out, leaving you in obscurity, go change it. And then, remember me. In my world, some bulbs are worth more than others. If the manufacturer refers to the replacement as a “lamp”, watch out.
In the large conference room, the data projector is carefully anchored to the ceiling and controlled by a computer. No hands on here; the whole thing is a bright box, shining hotly on demand. As recently as yesterday… Today, no joy. I’m the one that others call when such an emergency occurs, and I know how to remedy the problem. You take the model number, and you ask purchasing to, if you will, purchase a replacement. I did just that.
Someone with more access to purse strings suggested strongly that we prepare for eventualities and order TWO. Just in case. That idea stood for exactly twenty-five minutes, until the supplier called back with the unit price. $480. I’ve left the trailing decimals off, to reduce the sticker shock. And after another twenty-five seconds of careful consideration, the order was reduced to ONE. Just in case. The projector is (probably) going to be replaced with something newer and shinier (brightly shinier), and the rule of thumb is that expensive lamps don’t transfer to the newer gear. Ever… In a time of compressed finances, there’s no sense in paying for security that you’ll never need.
This was an effective day in my department, what with nine of the eleven laptops now en route to their new owners. That little gadget that allows me to clone SATA drives easily is a keeper.
