We are living in a golden age of change, brought about by technological advances that are staggering. Change is sometimes wonderful, sometimes unnecessary and often vexing. If you are a tax paying adult in America and read a periodical or watch the news, you understand the driving forces behind change. They are profit and convenience.
This past week, with freezing weather and record highs the next day, we hung around the thermostat as if it was a coffee bar. Imagine my surprise when I dialed up a little heat and got nothing. It was Saturday, and rather than pay an inordinate fee for weekend service we waited until Monday to call the guy. When the guy arrived, we discovered the guy was a young lady, polite and entirely competent. She quickly diagnosed the problem and left to procure some sort of an induction motor as ours was shot. She returned, installed it and presented us with a bill for north of 600.00 bucks. The motor has bearings and the bearings, as bearings do, were shot. They were also strategically sealed in the motor housing, and thus unserviceable. I’m guessing 10 bucks would buy the bearings, but replacing the whole motor was much more profitable.
My good neighbor, Mike the accountant, who is remarkably savvy when it comes to cars, repairs and fixing things mentioned that his wife’s daily driver, a newer, very nice vehicle, needed rear brake pads. That is counter intuitive to his and my experiences with brakes. (Patrol cars eat brakes and tires like Skittles.) Front brake pads wear much quicker than rear, don’t they? No, not today said the mechanic Mike talked to. Cars today are engineered to more evenly distribute the brake load, and rotors are lighter, to save weight and squeeze another fraction of a mile per gallon to meet EPA standards. Planned obsolescence. Lighter rotors warp much quicker and have precious little extra metal, to save weight. A brake job today will drain your wallet.
Profitability has driven the cost of ownership up dramatically, especially technology driven change. I own a number of Makita power tools, all battery powered. They are marvels of efficiency, plenty of torque and handy, precluding extension cords and inconvenience. I love them until it is time for a new battery. If you have owned a battery powered tool of any description, you know to hang on when it is new battery time. Convenience is expensive. We live in an era of convenience and the rule is replace not repair. My grandfather, and Mike, my neighbor could and can “fix” almost anything. Not today, Bubba.
My advice is to buy a bigger trash can to take your trash to the curb. Bigger will hold the everyday stuff you discard because it cannot be fixed. I took a printer to an electronics salvage yard this past week, not because it was broken, rather because the ink was more expensive than a new printer. Everybody was happier. The salvage center, Sam’s Club and Canon, that makes these things.
As a final note, you will do just fine with a wholesale club close by and an account with Amazon. God help you if you have to call the guy. Change ain’t cheap.
Have a great week!
SR
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