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Entropy > Frugality

I did an inventory around the end of last year, and came up with a large-ish number of things nearing the end of their useful lives:
  • 35-year-old water heaters (two)
  • 20-year-old mattress
  • 18-year-old memory foam mattress pad
  • 13-year-old car
  • 7-year-old walking shoes
  • 6-year-old air conditioner
  • 6-year-old computer
  • 5-year-old computer
  • 5-year-old sofa
  • winter and summer comforters of unknown age 
The car was the first to go, and financially, it went with a bang.

Now one of the two water heaters has departed for that great basement in the sky, with the other soon to follow. The landlord has both apartments hooked up to that relict, a situation which cannot long endure. We're replacing both.

The air conditioner is a must, and will probably be replaced in the next two weeks. I cannot sleep, think, or guarantee my sanity in temperatures above the low eighties.

The mattress has been a champion, but it needs to be retired soon. The shoes, which have been worn almost daily, are also blue-ribbon, but the soles can't be replaced and they're almost frictionless at this point.

We're holding off on the mattress, making do with a mattress topper, bought on sale and paid in full. We're saving for the computers and the shoes.

The comforters are nearly porous, we've worn them so, but they're at the bottom of the list, since we can always stitch/duct-tape another leak. 

The sofa? The sofa was clearly a crap choice, despite the research I put into it. Aaargh.

But overall, most of these lived well past their expected life spans.

And ultimately, no matter how carefully you research and how meticulously you care for your purchases, entropy beats frugality every single time. Also paper, rock, scissors, taxes, duct tape, and sonic screwdrivers. Every time. 

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