Dead light bulbs?

Between yesterday and today we have replaced one light (in the kitchen) and 6 different bulbs. It must be a cycle, because I have noticed that periodically bunches of bulbs go out all at once. The bulbs in the yard light usually go out in twos. Not always the same two. Or we just don't notice until two are out because it is definitely darker. Two bulbs were out at the bottom of the stairs and that was definitely dark. One outside on the deck....could not see what the weather was doing! And two florescent tube bulbs in the kitchen. It turns out that one of the bulbs was good and worked in the other side of the fixture. The other bulb was just bad. We could not get any bulbs to work in the one side and thought that we could just replace the ballast or starter. Unfortunately, we could not fix the fixture and had to replace the whole thing. Of course, that involved taking down the old one and starting all over. New toggles, new wires to connect and then bulbs back. The instructions say that it takes about 90 minutes.....it took that long to get to where we were ready to put the new one up. It is not fun working over you head with your arms up and balancing on a ladder.....but after a relatively smooth take down and put up....minor adjustments to some clips....we are back in business and seeing much better. If things go true to form....we should have a couple more go out in the next few days. We will have to be on the lookout for that blinding flash of light and then startling darkness that signifies a blown bulb.