Speaking of making stuff last… I bought this industrial shelving unit when I graduated for college – my ersatz bureau. Seriously, I had a tiny TV and VCR on one shelf, books on another, and my folded t-shirts and jeans on the others.

I still have those shelves in the garage and they’re way more solid than the ones I bought a couple of years ago. Same chipboard shelf on steel frame except the steel frame is now something not quite steel-ish and made in some far away land. The chipboard is 1/2 inch instead of 3/4 inch, and the weight ratings are in the toilet. My old shelf can hold more on one shelf than all shelves combined on this new unit.

I bought the new one oln sale for roughly twice as much as the old one. I know time has passed, but…come on. What’s happened to expectations of quality? It seems like we are supposed to be happy with something lasting 4 or 5 years these days. Does anyone remember the lifetime guarantee and the expectation that things would actually last a lifetime?