So many products getting "upgraded"

Quite certainly we are at midsummer now. Heat should be at its most intense. You never know how these patterns will play out. Ah, the vagaries. So my furnace came on for the second straight morning this morning. I remember a time when I simply put the thermostat at "off" in about mid-May. Then I got a new thermostat installed that is a little bit funky. As are all the new products today. 

Cars are built with an increasing number of electronic conveniences. Upside is obvious. Downside is a rapidly increasing cost for auto repair. There was an article on this last week. A consequence is rising car insurance premiums for everyone. 

We used to have a basic sense of how all equipment operated. One generation to the next. A standard walk-behind lawn mower with the ol' Briggs and Stratton engine. You'd learn the ropes with that when young. Then life would just go on, as with your automobile. Today there are horror stories about people (really just guys) who cause all sorts of damage by trying to do an automotive repair themselves. 

It's common today, we learn, for people to acquire a car and never have to pop the hood open themselves, ever. I take my car to "the dealer." My mileage is limited so I go beyond the standard three months. I probably deserve a pat on the back for keeping my 2004 Chevy Malibu going this long. 

I have some fear of getting a new car because most likely, there would be new funky stuff requiring adaptation. I have the manual for my thermostat in a drawer. I have gotten it out more than once, then decided it would just be best to leave well enough alone. Just as with popping the hood open with your car, there's potential for just screwing things up. 

The old reliable!

Give me an old Briggs and Stratton lawn mower, and it's no sweat with ongoing care and maintenance. 

Are we getting close to a law prohibiting gas-powered lawn mowers? Doesn't California already have a law on the books, although its application is set for a future time? I scratch my head wondering how people with large lawns are going to handle it. My own lawn out on Northridge Drive is pretty large. Can the non-gas mowers really handle a substantial piece of property? What if no? 

We have been told by our City of Morris that non-adjustable water softeners are now against the law. I'm wondering: has anyone been busted for this? Has anyone actually been compelled by a legal threat to make a change? What about landlords? Property inspections are mandated for them anyway, right? Will the heavy hand of the law now come down on them? 

It's nice to have high standards set for everyone including renters. We'd all like to live the perfect life. In the past I have written a post that sticks up for the so-called "slumlords." It's a pejorative term that ought be used very carefully. Negligence does exist. But so many of the income-challenged people need housing that is affordable. 

A new water softener can cost quite a bit - but hey, can't this be said of just about anything? 

I got a walk-behind mower at Eul's several years ago - we miss Eul's - and I'm certain I could estimate about double the price, at least, if I got the same thing today. And heavens, browse around our local furniture store and look at the pricetags on stuff. As the late Willie Martin would say, "astronomical." 

The public to date has not shown as much inflation shock as I might expect. Products in the old days were simpler and cheaper. 

 

Mea culpa

I will confess that I "suckered" in the face of the city's threatening language on the water softener thing. I need to reflect on that now. The Morris newspaper in my opinion was nakedly biased, caving to the city's propagandistic language on softeners. There was one big front page article that was "full of it." It screamed at us that no one needed a softener anymore. Specifically it reported that no one "needed salt" anymore. "You are wasting money." 

Well, no one wants to waste money. If you are not acquiring salt, then you obviously don't need a softener. My theory, after all the dust settled on this was that the city was under pressure from the State of Minnesota to reduce local salt consumption no matter what, even if people's water quality was going to be compromised. 

But many people want to take proper care of their homes - we don't give a damn what "the state" wants. The state wanted its scientists to get a lower reading of chloride in the river. As a factual matter has this even been accomplished? 

I am at the mercy of others for understanding a softener. I purchased a new one and have since had the company rep out to do a check, because my new adjustable one appeared to be using no salt at all. Whatever the explanation, the company guy said my water was just fine. The softener appeared to be set up right, he confirmed. 

My plumber informed me that the original intentions of the water treatment plant had gone all to hell. Here's the story: the original expectation was for the "new" city water to be between two and five grains of hardness. (The lower the number, the better the water.) 

As time went on, the number moved higher. I think the problem is lead pipes which cannot handle really pure water. Whatever, the last I heard the water was 15 grains and that was a couple years ago. 

The softener company did not send me a bill for the checkup. Maybe they know I have been rattling cages on this topic. Their representatives have been very nice and I think their info is credible. 

You can tell there has been a schism between the City of Morris and the water treatment companies. Anyone trying to size this up has to take sides: the city (and by extension the state) or the treatment companies. I cast my vote for the treatment companies. The private sector can really sort things out. "The state" has its own agenda, probably with employees who are glory-seekers. 

(Again, I didn't come into town on a turnip truck.)

 

My wheels

Oh my God, with a 2004 car I really have to start weighing that big change in my life. A new vehicle! 

In the old days with the Detroit monopoly, Americans tended to consider getting a new car every four years. A rule of thumb. There was a belief in "planned obsolescence" by our friends in Detroit. After four years you'd "trade." We knew the basics of car operation from one generation of vehicles to the next. 

Detroit had marketing savvy with design of vehicles so that the new ones always looked more "cool." It was just the shape of the metal, you fools. The shape of the metal is what gives the allure to so-called "classic cars." I guess such cars are overrated. 

Someone in our local classic car club had a 1980 Ford Mustang. Someone pointed out that the 1980 Mustang was not a well-made car. I guess it had the look of a classic, so if that's what floats your boat. . . 

I am weary now, contemplating the whole "electric car" thing, wondering if that's the way to go. Is it true that the jury is sort of out on that? I don't want to make a big mistake. Maybe I'll choose to go carless for two or three years, then research again. Maybe a new consensus will have arrived. 

"Hybrids?" Is that still a thing? "Mongo" is getting weary of all such change, so ubiquitous. "Mongo" is the name of the "everyman" from the movie "Blazing Saddles." "Mongo just pawn in game of life." That's the famous quote. The actor was Alex Karras, the old football player. 

Yours truly in the spirit of Mongo tries to survey the changes going on with everything. Sometimes I just relish the thought of pulling the start rope on a good ol' Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine again. Time immemorial.

 

Addendum: I remember the late Glen Helberg musing about all the electronics in cars now. He imagined someone having a system go out on their vehicle, not wanting to spend a huge amount on fixing it, and then driving around all winter with a window halfway down! Our "progress" can have its ironies. 

I remember in the pre-digital days of cameras, the point-and-shoot cameras with "automatic film advance." So easy and convenient: automatic film advance (as opposed to the simple manual lever advance). When the automatic film advance broke down, you just had to toss your camera in the wastebasket. Oh, and buy and new one! 

We got used to replacing old stuff with the new all the time. My parents who grew up in the Great Depression had difficulty understanding this. Eventually we all just tossed all our film camera stuff. A lot of that was expensive.

 

Addendum No. 2: The list goes on, so do you suppose the Morris City Council might pass a law requiring all residences to have solar panels? One can lay awake nights wondering.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com