Our rental house has a "big room" which is the garage that was made into a living room. It's a wonderful room and where we spend a good deal of time. It has a very high ceiling and around the room are lights at what would be a "roof" level were it still a garage. These lights are controlled by 3 separate switches, 3 on a switch. We rarely have them all on at once because I think we could suntan if they were all running. Changing the light bulbs in any of them is a chore, adventure, hard task, difficult, etc. and you get the picture. So unless more than one is out in a set of three, we just ignore it. Very chagrined last week that all three lights in our favorite set had burned out. Dang. That really meant that we were going to have to change some light bulbs.


We got our ladder and standing on the top rung, we can just about reach the light to take off the cover and then reach in and take off the glass cover over the bulb and then pull out the bulb. This is all by feel. As this particular light series has a switch on either side of the room, we couldn't tell if it was on or off. We thought off. Blast but we were wrong after I got a second small shock. So hubby fixed that problem by just flipping the breaker.  


We fiddled and fiddled and fiddled and fiddled and there was just no way we could get the blasted new bulb into this light socket. Totally by feel and stretched to the limit wasn't working. It is way too complicated, albeit a lovely fixture and quite stunning a decor, but way too complicated to continue to try and fit in the light bulb by feel only plus we had to do three of them. So the ladder is out. If we stand on the buffet which was a bit taller than the fourth ladder rung, it might be enough to see and reach. So we dragged the buffet over to under the first light and I climbed up on top of the buffet. It put me a bit closer but not enough to see over the edge and into the light socket. 


Next step of course is putting a footstool on top of the buffet and climbing onto the footstool. YEA! Tall enough now and I can see into the light socket. Fiddle and fiddle and a few more fiddles and I get the light bulb into the socket and we check it by flipping the breaker again and turning on the switch. Yes, it works. Two more to go.


Now we have to move the sofa and the two end tables so we can move the buffet to the next light. Back up onto the sofa, step onto the buffet, step onto the foot stool and yes, I can reach this one too and it doesn't take very long to change the light bulb on this one. For the last one, we have to move the recliner and some baskets, move the buffet over a bit further, step back up onto the sofa, onto the buffet and onto the foot stool and viola! Light bulb changing is a snap once you can reach it and see it.  


Took us 45 minutes of messing around with the ladder and trying to reach and do it all by feel and didn't change a single bulb. Took us 20 minutes of moving furniture to change all three of them. Did not rearrange the furniture but then put it all back the way it was as it was in the best arrangement for our lighting situation. We did find several missing cat toys under the various furniture pieces. Ahh, always a good weekend when hard to do chores are finished and completed.