Minor rant. I got new tires last year. Today i went to get my oil changed and while I was there I asked for my tires to be rotated. They found a puncture of a nail or something right on the edge so the patch would need to be on the side wall which no one does. The only place around that sold used tires doesn’t do that anymore. If i wanted to get it fixed it was going to cost me $200 to replace the tire. I did not drive in any crazy places, just got unlucky enough that my personal 2 ton death machine found this tiny little piece of metal that I wouldn’t have even had a chance to see and avoid, and got it stuck in a place that’s apparently unfixable.
On top of all the ways car culture has destroyed our landscapes and controls our cities, the car is designed in such a way to be the biggest financial burden possible. What other thing do we have where you can use it as intended, but there’s a decent chance for the equivalent of a splinter to make your hand stop working?!
My general contractor buddy once explained to me the state of plumbing: “We used to make plumbing with lead and cast iron pipes, but that old tech would only last 50 to 100 years before it needed major maintenance. Then we modernized with copper pipes, which gave us about 20 years of working life. We really stepped into the modern age with PVC pipes, which generally give us a solid eight years of working life.”
That said, I redid my house and sailboat with PEX, and it’s been solid AF. And anything that can survive being on a blue water sailboat is probably going to last a century in a house.
I mean, getting rid of lead in plumbing is generally a good idea.
If you get rid of the lead, it’s just “ing”
I’ll admit that PVC-tubing-ing doesn’t have the same ring to it, yet cars and coaches aren’t horse-drawn anymore.