Dear Ron:--to My Architect Friend in CA--about my Kitchen Window

Hi Ron,

I am writing now about my kitchen window.

It has a roll down shade on it that you can just barely see.

Wait a second, after a last swig of coffee, I am going to pull that shade down without the damn thing breaking like the one in the other room did.. hold on please..

OK, did that .. not for privacy ( wall of next apt is all you see out of this window, it in space between buildings which have been joined together in what was supposed to be an artful way).

Window is zit for light, need that damn awful fluorescent 32 Watt Bulb that came with apt. for that.

As soon as I can-- we discussed this and you kindly sent me an email with a description of round 32 Watt fluorescent bulbs, but of the "warm" or "color enhancing" bulbs/ )( I tried to google color enhancing lights , either fluorescent round or LED or whatever, without much luck..

I mean, BACK IN 1996 I got some for my apartment on East 94th Street , they were all circular, some smaller than others, the color enhancing ones were a treat...got them at some neighborhood local hardware store, something like "Wenger's" on Third Avenue, I don't think that store is there any more

I googled and Bing-ed and tried Home Depot but so far I am not coming up with what I want.

The light now is as I said 32W , Daylight, SATCO FC 1279/D
Made in Taiwan-- what, 12 inch diameter I guess

Found similar SATCO bulbs on the internet, they were like $3.00 tops -- as I remember, the light enhancing bulbs were more

But prices on some items have actually COME DOWN  ( reminds me of the female friend, who, looking at an ad in the newspaper--this was some time back of course-- said " Why is it everything else is going up and panty hose are coming down?!!" 

It took her awhile to see the humor in what she said then she laughed but she still said I had a "typical male sense of humor"--

ABOVE; I HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT BUT IT DOESNT SHOWW THE KIND OF CIRCULAR TUBE BULB I WANT

Anyway, I am writing not so much about color enhancement as about insulation.

I will get back to that at the end of this.

(That stupid window is really hard to get to, you have to get up on a chair and then a least a knee or two on the counter top --saying, will it hold my 168 lbs this way, and for how long ( when I lived on East 94th I went to the now defunct household store chain Martin's and got a stepstool and a regular A frame type stepladder because my ceilings were so high it was the only way I could get up to the light fixtures on the ceilings, which had been fashioned in 1890 or so and which I had painted silver. I thought the effect was nice, but I put these flared special bulbs in the fixture--it had a Vintage effect-- when my sister saw it for the first time she saidm :"What is this, Flash Gordon?" in that usual Scotland acquired snide mocking way of hers).

ABOVE; TYPE OF BULB IN CEILING FIXTURE-- MINE WAS EVEN MORE DECO SHAPED--THE ONE MY SISTER MOCKED

OK, this is the kind of bulb I need I think

I would ask "super" here about my buying and replacing light I might need his help but he is not all the knowledgeable it seems to me...

ANYWAY--INSULATION:

Getting the 3M kit plastic up on that kitchen window would be a Buster Keaton of Harold Lloyd stunt and I don't trust that counter...

When I was young, my agility was remarkable and I worked out with weights all the time and swam and could pass endurance tests etc. But now ha ha ha...as I write this I straighten my back and neck and hear all this arthritic crackling


Leo, the super, only weighs maybe 140 and he was afraid to get up on counter originally to put the pull down shade up there, but his Latin bravado made him do it...he could not hide the expression of "what the hell am I doing" on his face

what, what, can I do for that window?

"Curtains in the kitchen near a stove is a No-Go," Mr. Fire Prevention in my brain says. And they don't make asbestos curtains anymore.

OK, ANY BRIGHT IDEAS, MR. BIG SHOT BAY AREA PRIZE ARCHITECT? LOL

Larry