Yard Sale report

[chenoameg]

We had a yard sale. We made enough money to buy Redbones dinner for 10, plus have redbones for half a dozen packed lunches (and just enough more to replace our broken microwave). I think I enjoy having a yard sale as a way to interact with the neighbors more than I enjoy Halloween, so maybe we'll have one again next year or the year after.

Comments

[firstfrost]

Oooh, ooh, I know the answer to this one.

Why does my stuff wear out so much?

Because you're using it.

I bet my stick blender is wearing out much more slowly than yours is, but it's probably not because I am treating it more gently. (Well, I suppose you could be using yours to blend gravel, in which case I am wrong.)

Also, I am wondering just out of curiosity: can you go to Redbones and give them a bunch of money and say "Give me food until the money runs out!" or did you have to pick what you wanted? :)

[readsalot]

firstfrost beat me to it--your stuff wears out because you use it.

If you can find a KitchenAid mixer from the early 80s, those were modeled on Hobart mixers and will apparently last forever. The ones made after that, not so much.

[pekmez]

Yeah. I think it's about using it a lot. Some of it probably has to be do with being clumsier, spilling more crap on our clothes, etc; but a lot of it is that shoes that get worn once or twice a season wear out a lot slower than shoes that get worn 3 or 4 times a week to walk a few miles a day.

One more thing is that you know the things you have and their flaws better than the things other people have and their flaws. I think other peoples' kitchens look more spotless than mine, and some of that is about housekeeping, and some if it is about noticing when I spend several hours a day in a place vs. going into it to fill a glass of water during a visit a few times a month.

[kirisutogomen]

One more thing is that you know the things you have and their flaws better than the things other people have and their flaws.

I suspect this is actually the primary explanation, and that differential use patterns are secondary. Although there's also a hybrid explanation, that the things you use the most are the things you notice wear to; you don't notice how pristine your crockpot is if you use it twice a year, but the immersion blender is more in your face (metaphorically, we hope. A friend of mine recently stuck her finger into her immersion blender and ended up with nine stitches and a kitchen that looked like a crime scene).

[kelkyag]

Heh. We saw a lot of yardsale signs this weekend as we were wandering around SOS, and I was wondering whether it was a good or a bad weekend for yardsales. (High foot traffic, definitely, but at least in our case, foot traffic with an agenda and not enough time during SOS hours.)

Glad the yardsale went well, and that I had a chance to see eowyns' pottery before it went to new homes.

firstfrost is right on the money -- things take wear and tear with use. Sadly few things are made to last for lifetimes of heavy use -- and some classes of things that used to be rarely are anymore. This makes me sad.

[nuclearpolymer]

Well, since you now know what sorts of things wear out a lot for you, you could try to find/buy extra-sturdy versions when you get replacements. My rice cooker is slightly broken (a dent that causes the rice to get slightly burned in a spot), but I am keeping it because it's 50 years old and pretty sturdy - I could buy a new one which would be less broken now but probably it would be more broken within a year.

[jcatelli]

Remnant Population is a great book. Now I'm going to have to go read my copy again. :)

I've been thinking about getting rid of stuff too, but mostly cause I'm moving this summer. So far I've only been doing some idle mental sorting, rather than actual work, so I admire your accomplishment!