An Invaluable Addition - The Ottlite

Look what arrived today!

Oh yes ladies and gentlemen, it's my very own 13W Ottlite Task Lamp which was delivered this afternoon. Firstly I can't emphasise how much I already love this thing. I'm not sure how I've managed so long without one. Seriously, I've got images in my head of me and my Ottlite running towards each other in slow-motion, across a big flowery meadow to the sound of 'Is This Love?' by Whitesnake.

Okay but seriously, this thing is fantastic. It looks a bit funky, yes, but acceptably so in my opinion. It seems sturdy, and certainly something I wouldn't mind stuffing in my suitcase if I'm going travelling anywhere. Which reminds me: it came with a European Travel Adapter! Perhaps not the most exciting thing on the surface of it... BUT, I travel to Holland quite often to see my family over there and those damn adapters always seem to go missing somehow... Quite chuffed I have actually managed to find one. Well... buy, I suppose.

I haven't even talked about using it yet. Basically, it's phenomenal. I've never realised how much difference it actually makes when you paint under a daylight bulb. First of all, colours are so much more vivid. You see them as you would see them if you looked at your model on a nice, sunny day (we do get a few! Don't be so cynical...). Secondly, I'm seeing things on the model so much more clearly. I know very little about the workings of lamps - I wasn't interested in Physics - but I'm surprised by how bright this lamp actually is, and it's only 13 Watts. I haven't had a chance to paint for an extended period of time today, so I can't comment on how it affects my eyes over a long period of time, but when I did paint my eyes felt comfortable. Wait, can eyes feel comfortable? I don't know... But that's how they felt. Like they weren't straining to see, like they had to make no effort.

Negatives? None I can think of really... It emits a VERY quiet hum when you have it on, but it's nothing worse than the hum a laptop emits when running. In fact, it's rather a lot less.

Oh, and the coolest thing about it? It doesn't have an on/off switch. To turn it on you just lift it up. And that's magic as far as I'm concerned.

A great man once said, "I love lamp."

I finally see what he means.