Re: Light bulbs blowing
My own personal experence with lamps for my personal use: I have had much better luck with Sylvania than GE (I hope GE doesn't sue me for that). Especially for the candelabra types. I put in a bathroom 2 years ago with 4 Sylvania 40W candelabra bulbs (mounted base up) and I finally had to change one because it quit making good contact at the base.
With candelabra types, I have had a lot of problems with the glass separating from the base when I try to take them out. This was with both GE and Sylvania. Lower wattage seems to have less of a problem.
I also think that 130V Sylvania bulbs seem to be last a very long time and they aren't much more expensive. (I use a 75W 130V lamp in fixtures marked for 60W max. I know, shame on me, but they only put out 64 Watts at 120 V.)
Also, since I moved out of an apartment, lamps seem to last a lot longer. No more neighbors on the floor above stomping on top of my fixtures.
Steve