In my apartment (yes I know it's not a house) I have a flourescent
fixture in the kitchen. A month or so ago (right when I moved in)
when I'd flip on the switch, it would usually light up very very
dimly. Sometimes if I reached up with my knife sharpener and gave it
a light tap on one end, it would light up just like normal and be fine
until I turned the lights off. I figured it was a loose tube or
something, but I had no way to reach it to jiggle it back into the
connector(s).

I bought a table, it came with chairs. Now I could reach it, but it
behaved itself completely up until about three days ago. Now, when I
turn on the lightswitch, both of the tubes (it's a 4-tube fixture with
2 tubes in it) glow orange on each end and that's it. Occasionally I
get a flash of white light right as I turn the switch off, but that's
all it will do. The apartments were built in 1975 and the fixture
hums when I turn it on, so I assume it is a magnetic ballast instead
of electronic.

Sew... Should I go out and buy some new tubes, or should I call the
Maintenance guy? I'd hate to erroneously spend money, but I'd also
hate to bring someone over just to tell me "go buy some new tubes".

Thanks.