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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: do you buy a new one, back home, or fix it ?
most things back home ( furniture and appliances) I would expect to last at a minimum 10 years ,,hopefully 20 ...and I would go to the local hardware store or wherever and attempt to prolong the life of my investment.. here it seems more like 1 or 2 is a reasonable life expectancy................ and that is what I been getting from my purchases ( 1 year). then 垃圾
or 尘芥................ I say laji....garbage!!!!
I seem to have gotten out of the habit of buying anything made here. Why buy it when it will break?
If it breaks I do without.
But I do indulge myself with camera gear..... but that's made in Japan ...... mostly
That's because of the materials they use. Look at the construction of houses and you'll get the idea. When I was in Guangzhou, I rented a brand new apartment but within 6 months the ceiling was leaking, I mean really leaking. The owner wanted me to compensate him for the leak but I told him if he pushed me with his demand I will go to the PSB and get him for extortion. Anyway, he got it fixed and the problem was a substandard pipe running through the ceiling during construction. When I threatened to seek compensation for the loss of use during the rectification period (4 weeks), he reduced my rental by 10%. Well, so much for made in China stuff, especially furniture.
i get things fixed/repaired if i can.
my really comfortable leather boots have been repaired so many times i have lost count.
they were well made to begin with and still look almost new.
i was laughed at here for doing that.
I buy quality to last, and thankfully i had a grand-mother who taught me how to repair things myself.
You know, a lot of things can actually be fixed, but at what cost. I am writing this from a brand new chair, old one had faux-leather that sort of disintegrated, but I am sure it could have been fixed by the correct craftsman, and since the right craftsman doesn't live in China, it could have been botched to last another year of two by the incorrect craftsman who lives on every street corner of China.
But I must admit, seeing the piles of garbage everywhere in China, all the junk being thrown out, I lean more and more to the repair side. E.g. we have a rice cooker where there is a small hole in the non-stick coating. If I throw it away now, someone will fish it out and use it for another year or two. If I replace the pot, I pay half that of a new rice cooker for a new pot, and the old discarded pot is of less use to those who cannot afford new shit.
I used to try to explain to *certain groups of people* that Expensive things really cost less. They thought I was extravagant or something like that. Well, I have worn my Omega SeaMaster wristwatch about 25 years- it has never missed a beat yet and looks as good as it did new,, or even better,,, as cool things wear well with age. I've carried an S.T. DuPont writing pen a good 20 years. Looks/functions as good as it did the day I purchased it.
I hate math, but if you figured how much the 'expensive, extravagant' purchases cost per day of use, it would probably be less than buying the cheap, throw-away crap people use for one year..... (excuse the writing, I'm waaaay tired)