They just don't make 'em like they used to...

I was noticing today, while washing the frying pan in which I cook eggs, that my frying pan really looks crappy. We've really only had this frying pan since we moved into this house, and that was less than four years ago. How many of you can remember pieces of equipment that have just lasted for decades? From the big stuff to the small stuff, nothing is really built to last.

Like our dishwasher, which threw a hissy fit only a few weeks after the warranty ran out. The dishwasher that had been in the kitchen when we moved in was probably older than I am.

Many of the toys look cheaper too. Just looking at some of the plastic parts, they just don't seem sturdy like some of the toys that we had. Or maybe that's my perspective having changed, since everything looks big when you're small and everything looks small when you're big.

I've had a sore back all day, so I've been trying to take it easy. Except, of course, for going to the grocery store. I saved 35¢ by using my own shopping bags instead of the plastic ones. It used to be that you'd get 2¢; now you get 5 for each bag! Good deal. New Jersey is phasing out plastic shopping bags entirely, under new legislation, so I'd imagine that encouraging consumers to use their own or at least reuse the ones that they have (still gets you that 2¢) is a good idea.

Fortunately, The Boy had mercy on me and we napped together for about 2 hours this afternoon, and I did feel somewhat better. We went to the bank and then to get Musical Daddy's glasses fixed. I was considering a trip to the playground but neither The Boy nor I were in any mood to spend more time in the heat.