Seeing The Light(s)

One of the little halogen bulbs in the kitchen burned out a while ago.  Mr. W went off to buy a replacement, but came back with the wrong size.  Then when we were on Martha's Vineyard, we passed by a hardware store and he went in to see if they might have the right sort of bulb.  He came back to the car with a pair of bulbs and a satisfied grin.  Unfortunately neither of those bulbs were the right size either!  Today we took the burned out bulb with us to the Charles Street Hardware store in our neighbourhood, determined to find the correct replacement.  Naturally we were confronted with a dizzying selection of bulbs in all sorts of different sizes and wattages, so we elicited the help of one of the shop keepers who pointed us to the right kind.  When we got home, although the bulb fits in the socket, it is too long for the glass cover to be put back on!  Why, oh why can't these wretched little bulbs come in just one size?????  It's like trying to find the right vacuum cleaner bag used to be in days of old!