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Thirty-ish years ago, my grandfather said he felt sorry for me because of the state of the world.
Human nature is to say things are going to shit, everything is terrible, and things were better in some non-existent past.
Yeah, things suck now. But they also sucked thirty years ago and 100 years ago. The difference is that we know the outcome to (some) of the problems people faced then. And (generally) the worst case scenario didn't happen.
Yeah, we need to fight the rich on climate change. But we will. And we'll mitigate the problems we can. And we'll tell our grandkids that we don't envy their future.
30 years ago, if your microwave went out, half the time it might have just been the fuse, which you could buy a pack of really cheap at the local Radio Shack.
Today, what the fuck is a fuse? They want you to chuck that old microwave and buy a new one that connects to the internet...
a new microwave is like $20-50 dude. And no, it has no internet.
I've never bought one, I always repair them. Spare parts are pretty easy to find near dumpsters, given how often people just throw them away..
Cool I'd rather go to the store and buy one than dumpster dive and spend hours of my time repairing something I can buy in 15m for $50. Hours of my time is far more valuable than the $50 I'd save dumpster diving. Must be nice to have a lot of free time to go dumpster diving to save a few bucks. I might have done that when I was broke in my 20s.
Meh, the dumpsters are within walking distance, and I'd say on average someone out at our apartments throws out a microwave around twice a month or so. As long as the keypad works, the typical issues I tend to find are either a blown fuse or shorted high voltage diode, both way cheaper than even the gas it takes to drive 8 miles to the nearest Walmart. And I usually have suitable parts in my parts bin anyways.
And between two microwaves, there's almost always enough good parts between the two to make one work. It takes me less time to fix most microwaves than it does to even drive to Walmart. 🤷
Today, people have the money to buy a new microwave every time the old one breaks. Things were a lot more expensive then, and electronic repair was a viable industry because of it.
I can't remember ever actually buying a microwave in the first place.
Then again, I'm not normal, I know how to diagnose, repair, overhaul and even Frankenstein microwave ovens, so if one ever goes out, I'll just keep an eye out by nearby dumpsters for scrap parts microwaves and rebuild whichever of the two is in better condition...
I hate living in such a wasteful society, I'm all about the right to repair!
I agree that living in a more repair-friendly society would be superior, but I’m very curious; just how often is your microwave failing that you’ve semi-consistently dumpster dived? Are microwaves a hobby for you?
It's not even often to be honest, maybe once every 5 years or so, and that's counting more than just us, I've fixed/rebuilt microwaves for friends and neighbors as well, but definitely not often.
My late father taught me the basics of electronics repair starting at age 10, and once the internet became a semi-common thing (dialup days), I found https://repairfaq.org/ which expanded my knowledge and understanding quite a bit.
My late father was also a bit of a junk hoarder, so back in the day I had plenty of scrap electronics and appliances to practice on..
These days I don't have to use those skills as often as daddy thought I might, but they're still handy skills.