This evening, though, I just about got sidetracked for the rest of the night.
See, it's been extra-cold (else I would not be replacing the bulb) and the air is therefore very dry. I was at the front door, in the dark, with the bulb in one hand and trying to pull on my parka, which has a polyester inner layer.
The bulb was flickering and I said, "Aw, that is fuckin' cool!"
I know why: it's static electricity generated by rubbing the polyester, traveling through my hand and ionizing the mercury vapor inside the bulb. It's a phenomenon that's extremely simple to understand for anyone who's had a seventh-grade science course that's worth anything at all.
That doesn't keep it from being fuckin' cool, damn it.
I was so delighted I went into the bedroom and woke up my wife to show it to her, and she also thought it was really cool.
(Why were we both asleep at 9 PM? We're getting over colds. She is, anyway, and I'm hibernating? I don't know.)
...but it took an act of willpower for me to go out and install the bulb rather than stand there playing with it all night. That's just how I am.