When Did Noah Become Head of the Parts Department?

I have a 1999 Toyota Camry. I'm very happy with my car. It runs just as well as any other 7 1/2 year old car with over 180K+ miles. Sure, like any other car that age, it is showing its wear and tear. There are a few things I could replace, as well as a few things I already have. The one and only real complaint I've had with my car over the years is the fact that little things light brake and parking lights keep burning out.

I know what you are thinking: "Pesty, stop your whining! You have the original radiator, your brakes lasted for 150,000 miles (okay, I probably should have fixed much them earlier!), and you've done no major repair to this car. It will probably last you another 120K miles and we'll probably see your ugly mug in a Toyota commercial, so shut up!"

Now I don't mind doing some minor car repairs myself from time to time. Granted, you won't catch me spending a Saturday rebuilding a tranny (that's mechanic jargon for transmission for those of you not down with the lingo). But I'm not going to pay a mechanic $30 to basically screw in a lightbulb.

Well, here is the source of my real problem (and yes, the same three brake light bulbs have burnt out a few times in the last 7 years, which is aggravating). Why on God's green earth do you have to buy TWO light bulbs when all you need is ONE? I go to Sears to pick up a bulb, look at the stock number, look up the package that match, and there it is. A package with two bulbs! Since when in your life have you ever seen a situation in which two lights burn out at exactly the same time? When have you seen two lights burn out with in a few days of each other? It doesn't happen! Two given lightbulbs of the same specs will not burn out at the same rate. Too many variables get in the way for this to happen. It is a mere matter of physics. Not to get all Thomas Edison on you, but no matter how hard a manufacturer tries to make each filament, each bulb, each connection, and anything else to be the same, there are other outside factors that will make one bulb last longer than the others.

But I digress a bit. The point is, if I have one bulb to replace, I don't want to have to buy two bulbs! Why, so I can have it sit in my glove box, or in my garage (wait, I don't have a garage), a closet, or anywhere else that is out of sight/out of mind? Now when the next brake light burns out in six months, I have to go buy two more bulbs! Here's a thought! Let me decide how many bulbs I want. Sell them individually! If I need more than one bulb, then guess what?!? I can buy more! I know....such a novel concept.

Until then, I guess the ebay bidding on my extra bulbs starts at 50 cents...

The Pest