Furnace in Progress

That's if it can be gotten to work at all. I have learned the hard way not to buy things if I'm not pretty confident of being able to operate them successfully. Which is why we have a countertop mini-oven and a buffet burner instead of wall ovens and a stovetop. >_<

Other aspects that bother me deeply in this encroaching enforcement of dependence are that much modern equipment is designed to be thrown away when it breaks; some cannot be repaired at all, and almost none can be repaired at home. A classic alarm clock could be fixed; you could take off the cover and dust inside it or look for loose parts, and if that didn't work, take it to your local watch shop. Now, you have to buy a whole new gizmo, and they're massively more inclined to malfunction.

I have, however, noted with smug approval the resurgence of ribbon typewriters. Why are they suddenly popular? Because they can't be hacked. What you type on those things is secure unless someone breaks into your office and physically enters the filing cabinet. This is much more difficult and much less rewarding than just hacking a huge database. So I hold out some hope that enough people may object to this shit to create a countersurgence of classic technology.

I have also learned to keep a sharp eye on adaptive equipment. Even when not medically necessary, it is often far more functional than ordinary whizzgigs. That includes having identified a backup device in case the evolution of the computer mouse takes it entirely out of my range. (I can't use the wireless kind; I kill wireless peripherals in about 2 weeks.) There's a little keypad-like thing with up/down left/right and clicker buttons: clunky, but better than nothing.

>> I've noticed that a lot of people seem to share your dislike of wall ovens and stovetops <<

I love wall ovens and stovetops. I miss mine bitterly. But the ones on offer now are not usable, so I have not purchased them.

>> judging by the numbers of slowcookers and various countertop cookers and bakers I've consistently seen for sale in this area. <<

I do also adore crockpots.

>> One device I'm especially intrigued by is the multiple slow-cooker. It's been around for a while, but this year it seems like every store has got them for sale.<<

I've seen those. I would totally buy one if we needed to feed more than 2 people often. As it is, I just use the several crockpots I have, separately. It's not rare for me to crock a main dish and a dessert, because a favorite dessert is Berry Sweet Dumplings.

>>Something else I've noticed is that slow-cookers disappear from the Goodwill almost as fast as they arrive. I wonder if it's because more women are using them to cook with than they used to? <<

Possibly so, or it may be a need for what they do: make food smells last long, and cook while you're not home.

>> Something else that's come to mind: Not only are modern appliances expensive to repair (if they can be repaired), having to deal with appliance repair men is highly stressful. There's been more than once that I've ordered one out of my house and I'm generally a patient person.<<

I agree that service is extremely poor if it can be obtained at all. We lost our kitchenware because people simply refused to work on it anymore. It was old, but fixable; they couldn't be arsed to do it anymore. >_< People coming late or not at all, refusing to return calls, doing a shitty job, etc. are routine. The cost-benefit analysis is therefore also poor. For non-critical items it is generally better to buy new or do without.

That's insane. Functionality during power outage was one of the primary advantages of gas over electric, the other being faster thermal response.

The stupid, it burns like hydrogen.

I take an extremely dim view of any change which makes a product less usable, especially under emergency circumstances. When you change a product in ways that mean people could die (i.e. from lack of heat) who would not have died with the old model, that really ought to be illegal.

The problem we have is that capitalism has almost no accountability. Generally you cannot solve problems if people are not held responsible for their poor decisions.

That check works if and only if alternatives and information and resources are all available.

Frex: I cannot choose to have medical privacy if all providers require electronic records. My choices are to give up privacy, or go without care. I often prefer to go without care, but that's 100% of the time yet.

I cannot choose not to eat GMOs if they are unlabeled. I can either eat them, or avoid whole categories of food in which at least one GMO exists (unlabeled). Growing my own is sometimes helpful, but cross-contamination is still a risk. Sometimes it is possible to choose named varieties (i.e. Jonathan apples are not gengineered) but often not (most labels just say "apples"). I actually advocate mass boycotts of newly franked categories. If they take a bad enough hit, people will stop doing this shit.

I cannot buy a product that is not offered for sale. If all the makers switch to a new version that does not work for me, I'm just screwed.

People cannot choose products they want but can't afford. This is why many poor folks do not eat many fruits/vegetables. Either it's not for sale, the quality is shit, or more often they're just too expensive. Same with organic: it is often desired, but rarely affordable.

Many things that look like choices really aren't. "If you don't want have back problems, get a job where you don't have to lift things." But if that's the only job, and the alternative is starving because survival needs are not guaranteed, it's not a real choice. A real choice is having two job offers that are good, or at least livable with different pros and cons.

>> Are the wall oven and stovetop gone, as in physically removed, or "just" non-functional? <<

Still there. By this point, continued degradation of elements may have rendered them unfixable. It's been a long time. I don't know.

>> The problem you describe is maddening, yes. It suggests a niche occupation to me, though: an itinerant repair person - possibly a college student on a gap year? - who tours the country, perhaps in a VW bus or mini-motorhome, earning zir way by fixing analog devices that local repair people disdain. Someone like Kaylee from Firefly (who had no formal mechanical training when she started, but had super-nary mechanical intuition) would be perfect for this. I think such people *do* exist in L-America ... we just need to find them and help them make the right connections! <<

That is an excellent idea. And yes, mechanical intuition is a thing. My grandfather had it; my mother has it.

Notice that over in T-America, handywork is a fairly common profession. Most work for themselves, although some run community center repair nights or a fixit shop or even a place like a garage that employs several people. Janie has a loose conglomeration of other handies she can team up with for big projects; she knows enough to supervise. Smaller stuff she does on her own. Closely related, oddjobbing is also popular, like Turq is picking up.