"Don't Expect it to Last"

January 6, 2011

Today’s Bit of Advice…..

“Don’t expect it to last”

Cars come with a “new car smell”.  Don’t you wish it would last forever?  You get in the car and that wonderful smell gives you such a sense of calm.  A feeling of clean, neat, and orderly.  You know from that smell that there are no McDonald’s French fries lodged under the backseat.  There have been no motion sickness accidents in the vehicle.  Sweaty gym socks and old sneakers do not reside in the trunk.  It is so peaceful.  But then life happens and that special smell is gone, never to return.  By the time you buy your second new car you know that the smell will be short lived.  Don’t expect it to last.

There are other things in life that we should expect not to last.  For example……

·         Appliances – Fifty years ago you could expect a new appliance to give you many years of quality service.  You bought a quality name product, didn’t need an extended warranty, and enjoyed the value of your purchase.  My mother has a freezer with 40 years of use that is still going strong.  Unfortunately, when you purchase an appliance today you can’t have the same type of expectations.  We own a Kenmore dishwasher that we purchased less than six years ago.  It washed dishes successfully for about two years, washed them unsuccessfully for another year, and has served as the world’s largest drying rack for our hand washed dishes for the last three years.  Then there is our GE toaster that stopped toasting both sides of the bread after 2.5 years of use.  I think a toaster is supposed to last a little bit longer than that.  I’m currently on the third blender of my fifteen year marriage.  Don’t expect it to last.  (I’m referring to appliances here not the marriage!)

·         Computers – A brand new computer is a wonderful thing.  By two years, it starts to run slow. By four years, you could start it up, go cook a meal, then come back to do your work.  Computers have to be replaced with increased frequency to meet our rapidly increasing technology needs.  I have to purchase a new scanner for my computer – not because the scanner doesn’t work.  It just won’t work with the new computer and they don’t make a driver for it that will work with Window 7.  It feels a bit strange to me to have to get rid of something that works just to get something else that works.  Do you follow?  Don’t expect it to last.

·         Cars -  Do you really need a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty?  The number of people who actually keep a car for 10 years is a pretty low number.  After all, how else will you get that new car smell back.  And the warranty won’t really cover the big problems that seem to occur as soon as a car hits the 100,000 mile mark (which we all know is going to occur quite a bit before the 10 year mark).  Just plan on getting the new car around the seven year mark.  Don’t expect it to last.

·         Children – There is a phenomenon in raising children that I really can’t explain but I’ll try to describe it.  When a child learns a new skill like talking, crawling, walking, eating a new food, dressing independently, sleeping through the night, etc., they will have that skill for a period of time and then lose it.  The process of learning another new skill seems to take the place of the previous one for a days, weeks, or months. Then, as quickly as it was lost, the old one returns.  It’s very strange until you begin to anticipate this loss.  Don’t expect the skill to last.  Don’t expect it to be gone forever either.

·         A Blue Funk – Did you ever have a blue funk?  Feels like there is just no way out.  But a good nap, lunch with a friend, getting out in the sunshine, enjoying a special drink, or other activity that takes your attention away from the funk is often just the cure needed to get back to normal.  Unless blue funk is your normal.  In that case, you might want to look into some therapy or medication.  Living the blue funk life is not the way to enjoy your life – work on getting it fixed.  Nobody should expect or allow blue funk to last.

·         A Great Haircut – How come my stylist can make my hair do things that I could only imagine.  I use the same tools she does and the same products but the hairstyles I create at home look and feel nothing like what she does at the salon.  I have to enjoy my salon day hair because I won’t see it again for five week when I go back for a cut.  Don’t expect it to last.

There are lots of other examples I could share.  But it’s your turn now.  Tell me…. What should I expect not to last?

FYI – Did you really think I would add a new blog every day without ever skipping one?  I’ve enjoyed writing every day (and actually did write this post on Wednesday, the day after the previous one).  But I decided it would be better to post my blog entries in the morning for people to read rather than later at night.  And I don’t have time to write in the morning – I only have time at night.  So this is my transition point when I’m beginning my night writing and my morning posting.  Do you really think I can add a new post every day as I have so far without ever missing a day?  I won’t say yes or no, but I’ll refer you to the title of today’s post for some thought.

Hope you enjoyed the read!