What light?

In a move of action, excitement and thrills, I replaced the light bulbs in my bathroom this weekend. There are two bare bulbs on either side of my mirror, and one of them burned out. After a brief memorial service for the dead bulb that included a touching tribute from it's still-burning mate, I decided to replace the two with CFLs. Because I try.

The problem comes in (you had to know there was a problem) when I got the wattage wrong. I knew there was a little bit of translation from regular bulbs to CFLs, and in my head, that translation came out to "CFLs are weaker than regulars, so get a higher wattage than you'd be used to." Only I didn't realize that they are now doing the translation directly on the box, so when they say "60 watts", they're like regular 60 watts. No translation necessary.

The sum is that my bathroom is now blindingly bright. A pair of retinal images are my constant companion. The simplest bathroom task is now like Going Into The Light. I was already exclaiming "Jesus!" when I looked into the mirror, thanks to my graying, thinning hair, but now it's turned into a question: "Jesus?" Flossing now approximates an out-of-body experience.

I'm going to the store to buy some light bulbs, honey. Back in a few.