They Just Don't Build Them Like They Used To!

  Remember those light bulbs I told you
about yesterday?
  You know. The Dollar store 60 watt
bulbs that lasted all of about two weeks!
  They got me to thinking about how
many things used to last a lot longer
than they do these days.
   Cars are a good example.
   My Dad's 1950 Buick, for instance,
was built like a tank. Everything on it
was metal. I mean actual steel!
   It's probably still sitting in a scrap
yard someplace. Or maybe it was
crushed and meted down to make a
couple KIAs with plastic fenders and
bumpers.
   That wouldn't be so bad if the price
went down because they substituted
plastic for metal. But that's not the case.
   A 4-door Buick Special sold for about
$2,000 in 1950.
  Buick says its 2012  Verano will range
from $21,000 to $26,000.
  But let's get back to those light bulbs.
  I got a couple packs at the Dollar store
in December because I didn't think I'd
be able to buy the old incandescent bulbs
this year.
   They're going to be banned by the
government in favor of the more
energy efficient compact florescent lamps.
   The ban was suppose to go into effect
this month. But Congress granted the
incandescents a stay of execution till
October.
   I wanted to get mine  installed before
the FBI, or CIA, or whoever is going to
check your light bulbs, made me replace
them with those curly ones that probably
won't fit my old fixture.
   I figured they ended up in the Dollar
store because manufactures had stockpiles
they had to unload.
  Now I'm thinking  it's just because they
were cheap!
  But even "cheap" should give you more
that two weeks!
  My late brother bought a desk lamp with
a fluorescent bulb when he went to college.
  That was just a couple years after my
Dad bought his Buick.
  That lamp is set up my computer these
days. Same bulb and....it's still working!
   And, like I said, it's fluorescent so it
should be OK with the Light Police!
  Hope you've got some good things that
have lasted and that all your NEWS is
good!