How long does it take to change a lightbulb?

My wife's 2006 Hyundai Sonata headlamp bulb died, so instead of taking it to the mechanic, I figured I would save some money and replace it myself... Three hours and $46 later, the joke was on me! Here is what happened:

1. Went to pep boys, asked the parts guy for the correct bulb part number... Went home ans started to remove the boots that hold in the headlight box housing. Two screws were easy and accessible, but the 3rd was tucked away about 8 inches deep. My 1/4" rachet set for home hobbies was not compatible. The 3/8 was too ss all and the 7/16 was too large.
2. I went back to pep boys and talked to a new parts personal. She must have been no more tha 21, but knew more about car parts than the previous parts guy and showed me where to find a 10mm. This time, I brought my rachet with me, so I went to the parking lot, popped the hood, and quickly learned that the rachet and socket were both too small and made the first comedy of errors, and dropped the rachet down into a crevasse.
3. Third trip into pep boys, found me helpful parts girl and she suggested I use a retractable magnet to extract my ratchet. I also bought an extended length 10mm socket, whet back out to the parking lot to fish out my ratchet, and in the process, inadvertently knocks the ratchet down even further into the abyss. I dropped to the concrete and was able to pull the rachet out of the bottom just by a small opening near the drivers side wheel base. Using the extended socket, I realized that my 1/4" ratchet handle was simply too small.
4. Back to pep boys, my parts girl recommended a 3/8 ratchet upgrade since they are more durable and more commonly used, is I returned my two 1/4" sockets, and picked up and extended handle ratchet, along with and extended 10mm socket and a rice crispy treat. Upon returning to the parking lot, I quickly realized that this was the right fit, so decided to drive home and compete the project in the garage. Once I was home, I handily removed the entire light housing. From that point, I was able to remove the bulb. Once the bulb was out, I compared it to the build I had purchased, and guess what... It was the wrong bulb! At this point, I was fuming....
5. Quick trip back to pep boys, and it turns out that the car is a 2006, not 2005, so that was clearly my fault... I purchased the correct bulbs, along with a giant 3 musketeers and went back home. Removing the bulb was easy, but reseating the new bulb was a huge pain. There was an awkward paperclip like part that needed to be secured to the base of the bulb so that it would stay in position... It was so annoying that I started laughing at myself because the paper clip kept detaching. My wife and I had to leave, and I was going to have to put down the project for now, but just beforehand, I learned that the extended ratchet was simply too long for the passenger side... So later that evening, we stopped at an auto zone about 5 minutes before 9 pm, and of course, the did not have the right part.
6. Next morning, went back to pep boys for a 6th time... Purchase another 10mm socket, went home, replaced both bulbs, easily spent and hour fiddling with the paper clips, and finally completed the job.

Posted with Blogsy