The older we get, the more we sound like our parents.

           Phrases like, "When I was your age" creep into our parlance when talking to our kids.      Sessions with friends often begin with a litany of everyone's maladies--newly diagnosed diseases and brushes with death.      Then comes the recitation of the recently departed, usually preambled by, "Did you hear about (insert name here)?"      

          Another rant of the elders is the one about things not being made they way they used to be.      I remember my mother singing the praises of her Frigidaire refrigerator--a squat, Art-Deco juggernaut that predated my birth in 1957 and lasted well into the 1990's.       The praises of it's durability were sung each time a friend or relative made a new appliance buy. 

          I mentioned not to long ago the fact that my microwave continues to warm my coffee, pop my corn and reheat cold pizza even though it's a quarter-century old.      I remember it being a fairly new-fangled and high-tech invention when we got it, being in awe at it's ability to turn a can of Chef Boy Ar Dee ravioli into a warm feast in seconds, without having to mess up an extra pan.       I remember experimenting with it to see just how long it would take to get the kids' formula just the right temperature.      Teaching those same kids how long to cook things like hot dogs and Dinty Moore beef stew, in part to teach them a life skill but also to liberate me from kitchen duty (teach a man to fish...).      Using it to bring a frozen shipment of mom's world-class vegetable soup back to life.    Mom's gone, and so is the soup recipe, but the memory lingers.     

        As my wife and I get ready to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, I see a couple of our major kitchen purchases from those days will still be around to enjoy it with us.      We  have our original fridge--a spartan thing, minus the bells and whistles of today (no ice maker, no fancy racks or shelves) as well as our very first stove (a testament both to it's longevity and the fact we probably don't cook as much as we ought to).    

         And then, I think about my more recent purchases, including my still-balking XBox 360 which barely lasted two years before flashing me the "Ring of Death" (I'm still waiting for Microsoft to send me the official "casket" I need to use to get it to the repair station in Texas).         Maybe the old folks were right.     Maybe they don't build 'em like they used to.

         Exhibit A is the so-called "Livermore light bulb", featured last night on NBC Nightly News and in the L-A Times.

         It burns 24/7 at a fire station in Livermore, California--a silent tribute to fine workmanship and longevity.      The embodiment of industrial permanance.          It just turned 107 years old, a time during which I would burn through roughly 53 and a half XBox 360's at the present clip.

         Got something around your house that continues to serve you well, long past it's scheduled obsolescence?       Tell me about it (and, if it's really cool to look at, attach a picture as well) to mueller@620wtmj.com.