The other tread about appliances having to be replaced got me to thinking about things that people have that are still working well enough to do the job, but you just have to know the secret to making them perform.
Like one poster said, having to prop a broom handle to keep a tv turned on while another poster has to unplug to turn off.
So what do you have that works but there is a trick to making it work.

I guess right now it would be our old (1975) Bronco. The shift tube went out and we are waiting for a part to get it repaired. Sometimes with classic vehicles it isn't easy to get parts so we have another couple weeks before we will have the part needed and replaced but in the meantime, it means not being able to shift with the shift lever.
You have to start the truck, set the parking brake, jump out, lift the hood, shift the gear at the base of the steering column, close hood, jump behind wheel, release brake and go.
Now normally this truck isn't driven on a daily basis but we just loaned our Toyota to a bud and now one of us has to use this to get to work 2 days a week.

How about it, what do you have that only you know the secret formula to making it work?
And also do you try to make things work until the bitter end or do you replace at the first sign of trouble?

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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass
It's about learning to dance in the rain.

I once had a car that the key would not turn in the ignition unless you stroked the key down the inside of the car door.
I have a tv that the buttons fell into the case and of course it is the t v with the lost remote control that no other "universal remote control" could be programmed to work. I stick a pencil in the hole and lift up to change channels and turn off and on. I am sure there are other things I just can't remember them now.

It does seem as if the appliances from the 70s and 80s lasted for many years BUT remember we used to repair them when they went out. Now it seems like it costs almost as much to fix something as it does to just replace it.

Small appliances though used to last forever, now if you get a couple years you're doing good! My husband says they make them out of scrap...ha!

I have an old food processor that I still use all the time that was my Mom's in the 70s! HAHA! I still have old wedding presents from 1981 that still work!

Right now I'm house hunting and the houses around here are mostly at least 40 years old. MANY of them have the OOOOLD brown, avocado, harvest gold etc appliances! How can those old things still be working? And so ugly!

I used to have a Toyota Corolla station wagon. On the way to see my parents one weekend, we got caught in a horrible storm and parked under an overpass until I could see to drive again. I guess debris blew into the engine from the bottom, because after that, the car wouldn't go in reverse. I had to either park on a reverse incline, push it out of a parking space, or park where there was a concrete "bumper" in front of me that I could bounce off of and make the car roll back (it was a straight drive).

Still, I loved that car. I'm currently saddled with a seven year old Kia that I'm spending about $2,000 a year on. Kias seem to be 5 year cars. Pay 'em off, then they croke.

I agree, the older stuff did seem to last longer. We have a fridge that's 23 years old!!! Still use it as our daily fridge!

I had a Ford Granada that would not go into reverse many years ago, so this sounds soo familiar!

We own a 1984 Honda Accord and a 1985 Toyota Supra - they run on prayer anymore.

[quote=xpcandy;3180423Right now I'm house hunting and the houses around here are mostly at least 40 years old. MANY of them have the OOOOLD brown, avocado, harvest gold etc appliances! How can those old things still be working? And so ugly![/QUOTE]


I have to say that the UGLY factor has something to do with it. Have not noticed that the uglier and more out of date an appliance or vehicle is the longer it will run.

We have a dryer that is 19 years old. The only problem with it is that it doesn't turn off automatically. So we have to set a timer upstairs, so we remember to go down and check the laundry.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.