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18.5 Things
Jul. 22nd, 2011 12:35 pmWith the move on the horizon, I find myself pondering material possessions a lot, lately.
-Those people who have been showcased in the news, lately, for owning only 20 things, or some other such arbitrary number. How did they dispose of the rest of their possessions? Where do they work? How do they eat?
-There's a scene in the film Iraq in Fragments where a man who works as a car mechanic is seen repairing a metal folding chair. I wonder if there are many Americans who put much work into repairing things instead of throwing them away and getting new ones.
-I just shipped a set of broken Bose headphones back to Bose. A few years back, I experienced a whole lot of simultaneous electronic gadget failure (SEGF), including the headphones. Technically, they still work, if one holds the ear cups onto one's ears. I didn't want to throw them away, because they were expensive. I tried to repair them, but my repairs failed. Eventually, they became just one more piece of flotsam that got moved from desktop to side table to dresser to shelf to desktop again. I don't know what Bose will do with the broken headphones, but at least someone there will have to open the box and notice them before disposing of them. I switched my electronics-purchasing strategy after the SEGF - I mostly buy used products, now. I love my cheap, used camera, with its broken flip-screen and quirky light sensor. It took me a very long time to get around to buying replacement headphones, but the replacement headphones appear to be much more durable than the Boses. For now. In the interim, I accumulated some cheapo headphones with huge earpieces that I do not care for. Would you like them? This is why I tend to hesitate before buying electronic junk - I hate getting rid of it.
-My parents have a fascinating basement, largely because they are careful about how they dispose of things. My unwanted childhood toys would always wind up on a table or in a pile down there, where they would sit for months or years before getting moved along to a charity or thrift store. My dad has a bucket going in the basement for accumulating all kinds of shreds of scrap metal - old staples, rusty nails, wire, et cetera.
-I am thinking about purchasing a convection toaster oven when I move to Texas. I wonder if any exist that are repairable. My roommate and I are on our third toaster oven in as many years.
-Those people who have been showcased in the news, lately, for owning only 20 things, or some other such arbitrary number. How did they dispose of the rest of their possessions? Where do they work? How do they eat?
-There's a scene in the film Iraq in Fragments where a man who works as a car mechanic is seen repairing a metal folding chair. I wonder if there are many Americans who put much work into repairing things instead of throwing them away and getting new ones.
-I just shipped a set of broken Bose headphones back to Bose. A few years back, I experienced a whole lot of simultaneous electronic gadget failure (SEGF), including the headphones. Technically, they still work, if one holds the ear cups onto one's ears. I didn't want to throw them away, because they were expensive. I tried to repair them, but my repairs failed. Eventually, they became just one more piece of flotsam that got moved from desktop to side table to dresser to shelf to desktop again. I don't know what Bose will do with the broken headphones, but at least someone there will have to open the box and notice them before disposing of them. I switched my electronics-purchasing strategy after the SEGF - I mostly buy used products, now. I love my cheap, used camera, with its broken flip-screen and quirky light sensor. It took me a very long time to get around to buying replacement headphones, but the replacement headphones appear to be much more durable than the Boses. For now. In the interim, I accumulated some cheapo headphones with huge earpieces that I do not care for. Would you like them? This is why I tend to hesitate before buying electronic junk - I hate getting rid of it.
-My parents have a fascinating basement, largely because they are careful about how they dispose of things. My unwanted childhood toys would always wind up on a table or in a pile down there, where they would sit for months or years before getting moved along to a charity or thrift store. My dad has a bucket going in the basement for accumulating all kinds of shreds of scrap metal - old staples, rusty nails, wire, et cetera.
-I am thinking about purchasing a convection toaster oven when I move to Texas. I wonder if any exist that are repairable. My roommate and I are on our third toaster oven in as many years.
