Broken Things... and Life in 2025
It has been a challenging week. Aside from my work feeling like an interminable slog, I have also been dealing with "broken things."
Problem with broken things in the year 2025 is that you are not expected to repair them, you are expected to buy new ones. Sadly, most people can't actually afford to buy new things so they end up limping through life using broken things and that makes the stuff of life take much longer than it needs to.
For example, I have previously lamented how my phone's input device — which allows me to do voice-to-text no longer works.
There is no fix with either software or firmware, thus my only option is to buy a new phone. As I'm not qualified for a free upgrade quite yet on my phone plan, I have to struggle on with the phone I currently have.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, I use my phone to take verbal notes for blog posts (for example), but I can't do that anymore, because I don't have time to sit there and type stuff in by hand.
And the end result is that my productivity goes down, and time is wasted.
Meanwhile, there was an issue with my car. There was a time in the past when it was possible to buy a $30 part and the pay maybe $80 for labor at the local garage and it would all work again. But in the year 2025 you have to buy some $600 "computer control unit," and still pay $80 for labor.
Ironically, what is actually broken is likely some $5 chip, but there's no way to replace just the chip, so you end up $700 out of pocket.
Meanwhile, the people who formally report on things like the cost of living point out that what was once a $30 part is now a $5 part, so we're all actually better off... even though the $5 option doesn't actually exist. This is what I refer to as "lying with the facts."
My water heater is also broken... that is, it has a leak that is currently being "managed" by allowing the drip to fall into a large tub that I end up emptying out about onxe week.
The traditional fix would be have been for a plumber to cut out a piece of pipe, add threads to a different piece of pipe and install that new bit of pipe in-line as a patch that would likely extend the life of the water heater by another five years.
That, however, is also not possible because "policy" — having something to do with liability and insurance — has changed, so the only path forward is a $1,600 water heater installation, rather than a $250 plumber service call.
These things — and many other like them — seem to be the norm of our times, and perhaps go some way towards explaining why so many are so broke, while feeling like they are no better off, even though they seem to have more money... at least on paper.
Sometimes the whole thing just feels thoroughly frustrating, and makes me basically want to move into a shed in the woods!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!
How about you? Have you tried to get anything repaired, recently? Could you do so, or did you just have to buy a new item? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)
Created at 2025.04.29 00:40 PDT
x945/2179
How about you? Have you tried to get anything repaired, recently? Could you do so, or did you just have to buy a new item? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)
Created at 2025.04.29 00:40 PDT
x945/2179