I'm over 50 now, and newly injured at that (luckily also a bodyworker, so can keep it from getting to the replacement knee joint point). But as we men have fed comedy routines for generations, graduating from 'uncle' to 'grandpa' status by the kids du jour, has come with um, U-Hauls of baggage. Think I say FFS, probably 3 - 4x a day now Here's a selection of things that in-grow my blossom hairs: as a 20-something in mil, never once did I need to take precautions for keeping soap out of my eyes warshing my arrogant, pretty young '90s self in the shower Now, seems the combination of Neanderthal eyebrows w/ white antennae, wrinkles what channel the liquid pain directly to sockets, and the neighborhood's water pressure sinking to ridiculous levels, give me Omniman-from-Invincible eyes when he goes berserk... and must to go to bed with such. FFS... screams at clouds bought a windshield sunscreen for the XW60 when purchased a year ago. Perfect fit, it said (it did at first). Folds up into the size of a 45 vinyl record, it said (not exactly but still impressively close). Does neither of those things, Year 2. Shrunk at least an inch, you guessed it... from sitting baking in the sun... so falls away from the glass and lets the interior heat up. Wires which give it shape and allow twisting it compact,have also warped, due to doing this daily. Not cheap either, so not exactly eager to have to buy another for $60... but its quality is juuust enough that going to Wally's for an alternate, would defo get me worse (that's the store's whole purpose, after all). FFS... good for one year, really? why is my memory actually worse, on CPAP...? Wasn't oxygenation for a 30-yrs-depleted shriveled brain supposed to get back cognitive performance? I swear, huge things like appts, just sail clear over my head lately, not sure what the hell's going on. Missed two appts this month: one a doc appt, one a svc appt (to reprogram my new 2nd fob; both weren't critical, just embarrassing). I've never brain-farted an appt made myself, seriously since mil days. Even brought it up with the follow-up (yep, a CPAP one)... and they said to just monitor, since a year hasn't gone by yet. Well eff me, doc -- this is a major disruption in my life, if this condition suddenly starts to spread into my client appts the health food place I get a morning salad / tofu chili from, insists on using these paper, basically burger clamshell containers for salad (rules for takeaway disposables on Maui have become super-strict, which I'm a fan of). But being this place is an organic and sustainable haven of often dubious product marketing... the containers are an unlined, recycled compostable, which means they're essentially glorified compressed paper towel. What's worse they're so thin, if you use dressing on your salad, the oil will bleed thru in seconds. I don't eat until my workout is done, which can be more than an hour -- and I use EVOO and ACV only, as dressing... which destroys this stuff (have to both dbl-up the containers and line them with a couple of napkins). The paper bowl w/ lid for the chili will last literally all day with a hot oily dish inside -- why isn't there a slightly larger one that can hold a full salad I can use instead of this papier-mache symbol of bad food service post-covid? who decided paper towels and toilet paper, need to 1) be priced 50% higher than pre-covid, and 2) come with laughable quality in exchange? Never used to have to think about whether or not toilet paper was going to work, if I bought Charmin'. First the goofy wave perforations (probably to keep the new substandard paper from tearing doing its job), and then the tubes -- not even close to being the same length as the roll's sheets, and getting bigger in diameter when the rolls stay the same. Same applies to Bounty kitchen roll, a brand I've trusted for decades: did you suddenly contract your QA to prisons or some dystopic shens? last one Why the hell is a square, healthy meal, $20 now on Maui? That could buy my whole day's nooch pre-covid. A single Bartlett pear, $4? Even accounting for living in a resort destination (which has always been hilarious since the reefs began dying and shark attacks continue to claim people who insist on swimming in murky water, caused by huge mini-lahars washing river-adjacent comm'ys away -- and then the covid pandemic stressing services and rocketing premiums in even the biggest Wailea and Kapalua hotels... but y'all be y'all). These are L.A. prices. for not-even-in-the-same-universe-vs. L.A. food-truck quality, or even Honolulu trucks while we're at it. Only reason I feel this way really... is remember a time when virtually none of the American product quality issues were even close to being a thing... and tbh, Zoomers have picked up on it too, even if their memories of it are fuzzy from being tinier people at the time. Even in K-pop there's a nostalgia reflecting one in SK society for the simplicity and honesty of the Y2Ks and earlier burning up charts (like, all of NewJeans' discography)... not surprisingly, when a lot of the rot began here, resulting in the underwhelming, apathetic, s/m-ruled demagoguery of Now. Think the clouds have heard their fill for today, signing off What's made you say FFS lately (besides my posts)?
I used to work for $Large_Organization where some task force was actually convened from the offices of finance to reduce the expenditure on toilet paper. This was accomplished by switching to single-ply gossamer supplied on rolls narrower than the human hand. I'm sure this switch was not made in the private baths of the offices of finance or above, just for all the rest of us. The gossamer issue was surmountable if you remembered to pull from the roll about double the length you normally would, and fold it thick enough to stop your fingers pushing through. The width could be addressed by pulling a length again greater by about half, and mastering the W-fold, to produce a pad that wasn't narrower than your hand. I don't know if the expected savings were realized when the additional length usage was taken into account. If you ever forgot to roll off the ~ tripled length and use the needed origami folds, you could correct your mistake at the sink with extra minutes running hot water and soap. But I think the hot water and soap came from a different budget area, so that didn't stop the toilet paper economizing from being judged a success. It also provided a vivid visual image for what was happening to employee morale in that period.
i remember the plasticky/wax paper toilet paper in public restrooms. even george harrison complained of it in the abbey road studio bathrooms. todays is far superior, bu by the time you reach 70, you start to accept many of these things
Clear 99% uv rejection film on the inside of the windshield solves it without kludgey folding sunshades. In Central Texas you rarely see those things anymore. Google Calendar with reminders. I use calendars in the corporate world; they work equally well in the personal space. First world problems don't even apply in Maui. Inflation fueled by tariffs have consequences, especially for those on fixed incomes.
The toilet paper budget isn't being broken in the men's room. The bulk of the cost is in the other one. - - - As for cost, much of North America's tissue paper supply is very dependent on certain soft wood fibers from Canada, so is subject to the increased tariffs du jour. While not an inherent requirement, that is what many factories are set up for. Drastically changing the input mix would require considerable changes to the factory equipment, which can't happen overnight.
