A caution against buying cheap stuff!

Clang, clanKITYCLANG *CRAAASSHHHH* *tinkle tinkle*

This was the sound in our kitchen at about 9:45 Wednesday night. My husband was downstairs and I was in my library (read: junk room) when this huge crash resounded in our kitchen. We each made our way cautiously to the kitchen, only to find:

... the base of the light fixture dangling by a wire from the ceiling, and the glass dome shattered all over the room.

While we were cleaning up the glass shards, which had exploded so vehemently they ended up in adjacent rooms, we were pondering how this would have turned out if anyone had been in the room. The glass dome that broke was very heavy and gouged chunks out of our lino as it fell.

WHAT if our heads had been under this dome? My husband is tall, it may have konked him good. My son is small -- it would have injured him, or worse. Even if no one had been directly beneath the dome, the shrapnel would surely have caused injury.

Upon closer inspection my husband found that the single nut that was holding the thing up was not metal. He figured the heat from the enclosed dome finally melted the nut enough for it to let go.

This was a cheap fixture from a big-box store, installed by the contractor who owned the house before us. I have always found the mass-produced stuff from the big-box stores to be flimsy and a waste of money -- I never thought they could be dangerous. Until now.

Our new light will be coming from a proper light shop. We'll be inspecting it to make sure it is all metal!

I have been thanking God and our guardian angels that this thing let go with no one in the room. This could have been a real tragedy.

Lesson learned: There is nothing to be saved by buying cheap!