The Final Act.

[rareboy]

This is not meant to be lachrymose or sickeningly fatalistic in any way.

No matter how you cut it, my partner and I are in on the final act.

And I AM SO FUCKING ANNOYED that there seem to be no end of things that we now have to replace or fix before we shuffle off this mortal coil.

Even today, when we had to replace a baking pan because the other had simply worn out after 30 years, I was secretly irked.

The snowstorm means we have a whole summer of having people here cleaning up the trees.

The gutters have all sprung tiny leaks this winter after only 30 years.

We have talked about it and believe that the Beale women took the best approach.

Grey Gardens (1975) ⭐ 7.5 | Documentary, Comedy, Drama

1h 35m | PG

www.imdb.com

ready to let racoons et all nest in the unused parts of the house.

And in June, I drop nearly 10K for laser cataract surgery...for eyes that I will only likely need for another 20 years at MOST. This is an investment I should have made when I was 30.

Are there things as you advance in years (and you don't have to be old) that you don't want to piss away $$ on?

 

[Latimer]

^The cataract surgery was money well spent, am I right? Forget about 20 years in the future, right now you see the world brighter and clearer. Rejoice and marvel in the fact that 20th century man sought to and was successful in creating such wonders.

 

[Rickrock]

If you live another 20 years that is a long time and it is worth spending money. Even 10 years would be worth it. If it was 1 or 2 years it would be less worth it. I am surprised that it cost $10,000 for laser cataract surgery. I thought that Canada had good health insurance.

 

[Araucaria]

I am retired, and I was fortunate enough to inherit the home I grew up in. That said, there are a lot of maintenance and repairs, and they cost a lot of money. The house is 66 years old, and a lot of things are coming due that the family just didn't have to worry about when I was growing up. All the windows are old and breaking down, and I need to replace the front door. And code enforcement just started getting on my ass about my slowly deteriorating driveway. In addition, both the exterior and interior need to be repainted. And finally, I have to replace various appliances as they break down. I find that I'm annoyed at having to do all this, especially when I look at my life savings and the rather meager Social Security payments I have and wonder, will this be enough? Fortunately I am in good health, so no real expenses there, but I realize that as I age, that situation could change at any time.

 

[belamyi]

So this is the new "You know you are REALLY old (or costive or stingy) when..." thread.

 

[rareboy]

If you live another 20 years that is a long time and it is worth spending money. Even 10 years would be worth it. If it was 1 or 2 years it would be less worth it. I am surprised that it cost $10,000 for laser cataract surgery. I thought that Canada had good health insurance.

Standard cataract operations are covered under OHIP. But Laser surgery in a private clinic is considered to be an elective procedure.

Because the cataract in my right eye is affecting me at work, I don't want to wait for the procedure and don't want the longer recovery time.

 

[rareboy]

So today, it is the microwave that has died.

 

[purina]

^Their lives are so much shorter than ours. It's sad.

 

[rareboy]

I still swear they are programmed to die a specific number of days after being plugged in and operated.

Just like us I guess.

 

[Rickrock]

I am retired, and I was fortunate enough to inherit the home I grew up in. That said, there are a lot of maintenance and repairs, and they cost a lot of money. The house is 66 years old, and a lot of things are coming due that the family just didn't have to worry about when I was growing up. All the windows are old and breaking down, and I need to replace the front door. And code enforcement just started getting on my ass about my slowly deteriorating driveway. In addition, both the exterior and interior need to be repainted. And finally, I have to replace various appliances as they break down. I find that I'm annoyed at having to do all this, especially when I look at my life savings and the rather meager Social Security payments I have and wonder, will this be enough? Fortunately I am in good health, so no real expenses there, but I realize that as I age, that situation could change at any time.

This sounds so much like my life. Our house is also 66 years old, but I inherited it with a brother and sister and our other brother and sister were paid off. Three of us share the expenses and we have had many repairs and replacements; painted inside and out, a new roof, new rain gutters, a new furnace, replaced a sewer line in the yard, had major repairs to the foundation. My sister also paid to take down some very large trees in the yard. We will need to repaint some year soon. So far we are managing.

 

[darian]

Without an income that keeps pace with inflation, savings become progressively eroded as repairs and replacements cost more over time, quite apart from built-in obsolescence giving household items a limited lifespan and being too costly to repair in many cases (because something else fails in that appliance soon after). It's definitely a worry when many things reach the end of their lifespan around the same time, yet few of us factor in a replacement cost for the most expensive asset in our lives, our house, assuming it will remain pristine forever.

Ahh the tragedy of self-deception.

 

[belamyi]

^ The ones feeling lucky for being up in the mezzanine as if it were the executive floor>

 

[NotHardUp1]

20 years?

 

[NotHardUp1]

On a slightly more serious take, I may not file my taxes on time, mostly because I hate the State of Alabama, and enjoy delaying their pittance a tad longer, but I don't object to paying my taxes, as I'm able.

Most of my family consumes tax dollars like air.

I do enjoy spending money on my house and seeing improvements, even if they are only restorative.

Preventive maintenance is simply the cost of not living in a ruin.

And, I remember the problem my grandmother had of trying to stay in her home when she had zero savings and only Social Security to live on. She worked on to her 80's making minimum wage in government clerical work.

Unless I miss my guess, you have multiple millions in assets without counting your land and home. So, it's just a matter of paying someone. If it's tiresome to be the foreman, hire someone to do that too, and just save your time and energy for fun stuff you like to take on rather than the tedium.

You can't seriously be resentful of using things until they wear out. I think your post is tongue-in-cheek. The alternative to them wearing out is to keep them without using them, and that is bourgeois beyond credibility.

If we stay in our full homes past the point of wanting to maintain them ourselves, we did so in aversion to downsizing.

It's one or another.

 

[fredroy]

I wish I had multiple millions. Or even, just one. I'd hire out clearing the cedar trees.

This house was built in '81. The roof was old so now I have a heavy duty (aka the thick metal) sheet metal roof on the house. That should last 100 years. I mean, the paint warranty is 30 years and then you have galvanized metal. And it's all on top of the original roof that had no leaks.
We replaced the original windows several years ago. Folks say you'll never get a pay back but folks are full of shit. No more drafts is worth it. Double pane and double hung Low-E and argon gas. Every option but the mini blinds between the glass.
I replaced the central air about 10 years ago. Four ton two stage heat pump. Did everything but connect the freon lines. Because I don't know how to do that and it had to have an a/c company do it to have a warranty. The guy offered me a job so I guess I did it all right. Had fun, anyway.

We did drop a ton of cash on the fencing. But that's now good for another 60 years or more.

We re-did the bathrooms. Shower stalls instead of tubs. Door wide enough to get a walker through. The kitchen, yeah, looks like crap but it's worked for 30+ years and a few months ago we decided it's just good enough.

We planned it out. I'm set.

I might look for someone to paint the outside of the house in a couple of years.

 

[Kahaih]

I hate having to replace things I've had/used for years because the quality of the new items is just not there. I'll likely have to replace the newer items once or twice again before I'm done.

I have a riding mower that is almost as old as I am. I've replaced tires and a few other small parts like the new coil I replaced this year, and it's still a great workhorse. Solid and tight.

I have three push mowers, all different ages, that still work beautifully - all tuned up, and each one has its own purpose. But I decided this year to buy a new self propelled DeWalt walk-behind mower that works wonderfully, for the time being, that is made mostly of plastic. Even the carburettor. I don't expect it to last more than a couple years.

 

[belamyi]

What a bunch of spoilt omega old farts you all are...

What I hate is not being able to decide about the quality or the obsolescence, or to be forced to this or that dependence... that includes most of "society".

 

[PalacePaul]

Honestly I don't understand how your homes need so many major reparations. Maybe it's an American thing...
My family home was built in the late 70s. My parents live there since they got married, and they never did any major reparation as far as I know. They installed central heating around 2000, they painted inside and outside a few times, they replaced two windows last year, they renovated part of the bathroom... but it was done for better comfort, not because everything was falling apart

 

[belamyi]

Honestly I don't understand how your homes need so many major reparations. Maybe it's an American thing...
My family home was built in the late 70s. My parents live there since they got married, and they never did any major reparation as far as I know. They installed central heating around 2000, they painted inside and outside a few times, they replaced two windows last year, they renovated part of the bathroom... but it was done for better comfort, not because everything was falling apart

Cardboard homes: easy come, easy go...

America has been building sprawls for a very ecologic/environment-friendly future without any human footprint. Tornadoes & co. help too.

While Europe is building for future trümmerpeople and future quarries of recycling material.

 

[Araucaria]

Actually, there was little reason for the family to believe all these extensive repairs would be necessary, as most likely the house would have been sold after ~50 years, when my parents passed on. The repairs would have had to have been taken care of by the realtor or the next owner. I was living elsewhere at the time, but I jumped at the chance to move back in, as I would own the house free and clear, as opposed to renting an apartment at the time. TBH, the magnitude of how extensive and costly the repairs would be dawned on me gradually, like the slow turning up of the lights.