had a couple of house lights seeming to be dodgy and now the only sensible one in the kitchen has stopped working - just at a time when I'm doing more work (painting) in the kitchen.

not got a spare fluorescent tube nor even any spare starters left to check whether it's that instead.

to order both and possibly have someone who is less likely to damage themselves enter the house to fit it - which is even more scary right now.

aarrgghh!

meanwhile my helpful friends who are neighbours are quarantining due to one of them having a cough but being unable to obtain a test very nearby nor in a realistic amount of time.

phoned the usual odd-job man - who should be able to pick up a new tube and a starter and come round to fit whichever is required late this afternoon.

have to make do with a portable light (angle-poise or something) from somewhere else in the house in the meantime.

what a nuisance! If I were nearer it's the kind of thing I could easily do for you.

well it's done now and, although it was the starter which had gone, the bulb was quite blackened at the ends too. So after a very brief discussion he replaced that with a new one too rather than have to come back again. It's much brighter in there now!

to order another starter on the internet ready for next time because unfortunately he only brought one starter with him rather than a pack of 2.

only one fluorescent tube, which is in the garage. As far as I remember, I've never had to change it in the 23 years since it was installed. I have cleaned it though, and then the garage got much brighter.

rather disturbingly the replacement 5 foot tube seems to be longer than the previous 5 foot tube and is pushing the end of the casing apart. I'm assuming they're meant to be a standard size but their may be some sort of imperial vs metric incompatibility if they're made in different places.

unable to work out which spare starters to buy. There are many on Amazon with names which aren't the same as the previous one and specifications not given in the same terminology either.

try Screwfix.com | The UK’s number 1 trade catalogue | S....

used Screwfix before but it was a long time ago (and I might even have an account to go with the catalogue I just threw out!)

several of almost everything in their catalogue.

that could pose a storage problem. But some things really do need to be on hand for quick replacement.

not looking forward to downsizing from this house. I've built up a decent stock of vital resources (or "junk", as my wife calls it). She thinks I might be willing to ditch my pieces of wood!!!

if you're having serious second thoughts now that it might actually happen?

no, I'm really going with the flow on life changes at the moment. What's the point of resisting change if with a bit of thought, one can adapt and open the way to new opportunities? Of course, if it's really going to hurt, that's a different thing. I'm preparing to face up to potential future disability, and I need to be flexible.

seriously miss the views down the street, the street life in particular. A newly extended house won't have the special character of this place, but with luck it'll be an opportunity to improve some things.

a complete refit would definitely allow you to build in disability compatible stuff - such as more even floor levels, wider doorways, a walk-in sit-down wet room and/or downstairs bedroom or oxygen supply and/or lifts or hoists and/or adjustable height kitchen facilities etc.

fancy stuff will have to wait until we sell this place, but we'll need to design in room layouts which allow for disability compatibility. I'd really like a lift. My friend in Scotland has one. It's simple, slow and basic, but it works, and doesn't take too much room. Downstairs bedroom is planned.

never found disabled-friendly wet rooms to be anything except horrible. But it's something to think about.