I was reading in bed last night and my light bulb blew in my bed side table lamp.  I put my bookmark into my book, and got up out of bed and went to the light switch to turn on the overhead light so I wasn't in the dark anymore.  I keep spare light bulbs in my pantry and found the one with the right wattage to replace the broken one.  Once back at the lamp I made sure to switch it off and unplug in.  I removed the shade and saw I must have had the light bulb in for a long time because it was a little dark on one side.  I twisted the light bulb up and out and held it to my ear and shook it like a maraca.  The broken coils bounced around inside and it sound like a rattle.  I took the new light bulb and screwed it in, making sure not to over tighten it so it was seated perfectly.  I put the lamp shade back on, plugged it back in and flipped its switch.  The lamp worked just like new.  I put the old light bulb in the garbage before heading back to bed to keep reading.
What were they doing before they changed the light bulb?