Obsolescence...

Finishing the final cleaning of my dad’s stuff (a “few” years late) has really brought home how his life stuff doesn’t fit the 21st century (sometimes it had some trouble in the 20th!) Pop was known for being old fashioned, not enjoying the library computer that his coworkers tried to get him to learn. But stuff that 20 years ago would not be obsolete now is. Pop loved encyclopedias and had three of them in the basement and one in the living room. The last one was thrown in the trash over the weekend. I know he’s not here, but trashing them still bothers me a little. I wish they could be of some use, but even the local book sale site noted that only encyclopedias less than 10 years old would be accepted (how many of those were even printed?!) Then there are the typewriters. One of mom’s last vestiges is her manual Royal typewriter that she insisted on always using and was very happy to have. It’s going in the Tuesday trash. I’ve also been trying to see if there’s any demand for my dad’s two Remington manual typewriters, and not surprisingly, there isn’t. There were maybe 24 auctions for them on Ebay with a handful of bids, most of them 2 bucks or less. Sigh. So they will probably be joining mom’s typewriter in Tuesday’s trash. I distinctly remember both of the parentals using their typewriters and being thrilled with them. Alas, it is no longer 1960 (neither would ever upgrade to an electric.) It’s just sad to have to throw out these relics of a different time that has gone by the wayside…and of course, there are plenty of things that right now are depreciating in value. Such is the rhythm of life. I can hear the value hissing out of stuff now (along with a screeching cicada)…

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