Monday Miscellany

We could call this the "I have enough enviro-guilt to share" episode.

I would rather buy stuff that's made to last. Mostly, I think it's what I grew up with. Our TV lasted 25 years. Our microwave 15. My mother retired her old Electrolux vacuum just 2 years old. The vacuum was a present from her first marriage, making it over 35 years old.

I wasn't raised to throw stuff out. I was raised to buy really good quality stuff. And use it for 20 years. And to keep using things until they are totally broken.

Mr. Spit's father bought a microwave for Mr. Spit, so that Mr. Spit would have a microwave when he moved out to Alberta, shortly after we got engaged, oh, about 10 years ago.

And the microwave has always had an issue. When you pull your food out, after heating it, the microwave, it keeps going. We've learned to cope with it, hit a few random buttons, open and close the door a few times, and it stops. Not a big deal. But, the old microwave, she doesn't seem to heat well either. But, I don't want to fill the landfill with something that still works - sort of. And I looked into it, it is not worth it to try and fix it. For the cost of fixing it, I could have a new microwave. A good one. So, while that keeps the microwave out of the landfill, it's also not fiscally sensible.

So I refuse to get rid of a poorly functioning microwave, because in the words of Monty Python, "it's not dead, it's sleeping".

Tell me, oh internets, what do you want to throw out, but can't?