People and snowstorms... just don't get it... Almost every year here, they either call for or we have one big snowstorm... ...and every time, you see people rushing out to buy snow shovels. Bear in mind that this is every year... and I wonder why they just don't use the one they bought last season. I mean, come on, you buy a new snow shovel every time there's a storm, you have to have a big collection in the garage right now... Just something I'm a little curious about. Thanks
"Mum, why don't we use the old shovel?" Shhhhh Billy! If the government hear you say that they'll think you know to much!
I agree with you!! I see that every year too but I suspect that it is because of the "crappy" products that we buy courtesy of Walmart, etc. Most of the shovels that are sold today are cheap pieces of garbage that are designed to work for a couple of times then the bottom falls off of the handle, etc. I cannot believe how many times I've gone into a store and asked for a better made item (which I am willing to pay for!) and have been told that they no longer stock the more expensive item as no one wants to buy it! I would rather buy a good winter shovel and pay extra and have it for years versus getting the cheapie model that breaks within the season. Unfortunately, most people would rather buy the cheap, Chinese knock off and brag about how much money they saved at Walmart... (For the record, I absolutely hate that Walmart commercial where everyone raves about how much money they saved shopping there...most of the time, the money they saved was because they bought a cheap, crappy product versus something that used to be made to last. I have bought too many items (eg. vcr's) that died within days of their warranty expiring. And it's getting harder to find brand names that haven't compromised their standards because they have to cheapen out their stuff so people will buy their product. Here's a perfect example: Our first washer/dryer set was Maytag and they lasted us 20 years. We replaced them with another set and they lasted less than 5...when I complained to the company I was told that they now had a cheap line (that looked like the old style but weren't up to their standards) plus the more expensive Admiral line...Of course, no one in the sales department told me that or I would have bought the more expensive set in the first place! When I checked this story out with some local appliance repairmen they told me that the Admiral wasn't even as good as the old basic machines Maytag sold years ago....talk about the cheapening of products...That's just one company! We've experienced that with other companies too (like Motorola, etc... )
I'm just thankful there's no snow storms here! I'm from southern Arizona. It snowed twice in my 18 yrs. growing up there. The only natural phanomanon that's there is flash floods. And that's just as bad when it comes to people. I mean, when it's the season, stay out of the stupid streets that are flooded. It's not that hard. My husband and his brother used to sit out front in their old truck and pull people out. It's hillarious. Good luck getting through that storm!
Well...where I live, we dont' have that problem. We just have to deal with the earthquakes, firestorms, floods, mudslides, dense marine layer/fog, tornados, and the occasional rapids
Only reason we would have to buy a new shovel is cause us kids decided to play with it out in the snow then left it in the yard where over time it "dissapeared" and we'd just get a new one. Course we dont even use the shovel much anyways lol
Can't you get good quality stuff from local industrial suppliers? eg Agricultural or janitorial supply companies? But anyway ... don't knock built-in obsolesence. Durable goods should only last as long as economically viable and don't ignore the service industry side of consumerism. If people could only buy high quality goods there would be millions more unemployed Walmart check-out staff (and ancillairy logistics chain workers ... those gewgaws and gimcracks don't get on the shelves by magic!) The shorter the life of the trash the more often the consumer needs to buy new rubbish. This makes work for sales assistants thru truck drivers to the RTG operators at the ports ....
Well, I live in wisconsin and when it snows, for some strange reason the media freaks out. "Oh my! It's snowing in Wisconsin!!! Eek! Global Warming!" They are freaking out over about a foot now, but I see the shovel thing too. They proballay sold the old shovel at the yard sale over the summer. Snowblowers are replaced about every 3 years tho, We can't live without the extra 4 HP that comes with this one!
Then we have the Professor Frink-type scientists that get on and go "Why, yes, global warming is the cause, with the ozone and the giant hole and the changing weather patterns, ga-hey!"
I was in Texas over winter break and they freaked out because this was the first time in 15 years (I must be lucky-born 15yrs ago-there when 15) and the hotel staff all stared on wonder at the little tiny bit of snow and there were roads closed everywhere. It was funny since we get a lot of snow where I am and this was only bout an inch tops
True, true on the employment issue...I guess I'm just old enough to remember when stuff was well-built and if it broke, it was still well-built enough to be worth the repairing...Hmm, I guess that dates myself! Well, speaking of heavy snowfall, it's 4 a.m. in Alberta and the central part of the province is under a heavy snowfall warning. My daughter just got home and there's 8 inches of snow on the highway! Yechh! Oh well, she made it home safely and that's all that counts. She had to drive 60 kmh (@40mph for you Americans) and it was slow going when meeting anyone (white-out conditions) but she's here safely now so I guess I can head to my bed! I guess we'll have to dig out the snowshovels in the morning ourselves...if I can find where the kids have left them and if the dogs haven't dragged them away! On the bright side, I figure this is a good place to live as we don't get too much weather extremes. We can get lots of snow but if one prepares for it there is no problem. For example, we put studded snow tires on our cars in the fall and change them back to all-seasons in the spring. We don't believe the tire companies when they try to sell us all-seasons for year-round use up here as we know that they can't handle the snow conditions but every year you see lots of people in the ditches because they thought they could get away with an all-season tire. Plus, I find most of the people in the ditch are the SUV's with 4x4 because the people driving them think that they can go through anything with that option and don't realize that it doesn't make you invincible. Anyway, I'd best head to bed so I'm ready to shovel in the a.m. If we're snowed in for a few days, that'll just give me more time to post in here!
Good shovels, winter tyres with studs (law here), ice scrapers and special snow brushes for the cars, car engine heaters, minus 15 centigrades, 3-4 feet snow, slippery-muddy-icy roads. That's winter!!! And nothing shuts down. People work, go to school etc as usual. Some delays in public traffic is common-but not to worry. For you who have no clue about centrigrades ( Celcius); at Zero water freezes, plus 37 = normal body temp, plus 100 = water boiling. I'm not sure how to upload a pic of how it can look around here.... Jooooosh!!!! :confusion:
