Thoughts

This is the bulb from my fridge. Of course when it first failed I worried that it might be the fridge that had expired so I checked that the plug was in the socket and then played with the thermostat to be sure that the motor started running when I changed the settings. Finally I decided that it must be the bulb so I went through the contortions needed to undo the retaining screw on the bulb-cover and then unscrewing the bulb. I don't think they designed it to be changed by old fat blokes and certainly not when the shelves were in the fridge.

So I had the bulb and no replacement. Because I have been in meetings all afternoon I wasn't able to drive over to B&Q to get one so I thought I'd look online. The replacement is £2.60 and it's being delivered this evening, at no extra cost.

My parents would have thought this incredible. If you needed something on the same day you had to go to Stockport Road to see if any of the shops stocked it. If it was too esoteric for the local shops it would have been a bus into Manchester or Stockport. Wealthy folk might have been able to get stuff delivered quickly but the costs would have been well beyond the reach of the likes of us. Now we can get stuff on the same day from Argos, Amazon and others. Not just things but food too - my mum was used to having food delivered, she used to send one of my sisters to the Encore Rooms Chinese takeaway at West Point to collect her order. Now I can have any number of different cuisines delivered to my door though not as wide a range as those who live in a larger town or city, I live outside a village so the choice is restricted. Of course there are costs but they are no longer prohibitive for the majority.