It’s been a good week for ... things that last
How many lightbulbs does it take to change your resignation to the unstoppable march of built-in obsolescence? Just the one ... and it’s in Jim Macrae’s loo in Brechin.
The bulb has been going strong for at least 40 years and hasn’t been changed since he and his late wife Doris moved into their flat in July 1977.
And Jim, 79, has no idea how long it had been there before they bought their home. I've had cause to contemplate the concept of durability of late. First my radio-cassette player packed in. A Christmas present that came with a tape of Del Amitri's 1989 album Waking Hours, I’d thought it was a permanent fixture, although the fact that we were using a ladle as an aerial should have alerted me to its imminent demise.
Then it was the turn of the radio alarm to pack in. Surely not. It wasn’t that old. It had been a gift for ... let’s think ... hmmm ... ah, my 13th birthday. Eek. OK, that’s a lot of wake-up calls.
But contrast this with our son’s phone, which had been playing up for weeks. The prognosis from a specialist was not good. Do Not Resuscitate was the opinion. There was no consolation from the words of comfort offered: “Really, it’s lasted well. He’s had it since 2014.”
Splutter. That’s barely three years!
Long may Jim’s bulb shine, a light in the darkness of a broken world.
It’s been a bad week for ... cauliflowers
Just a few weeks ago, Med-veg fans were up in arms because there wasn’t a courgette to be had in our supermarkets due to unseasonal weather on the continent.
This will cheer them up. Shoppers are being advised to eat cauliflower in a bid to prevent thousands being dumped.
An early bumper “crop flush” has left farmers struggling to find buyers and unless we tuck in, huge numbers will be ploughed into the ground.
We’re assured that this traditional vegetable is very versatile. There’s cauliflower rice, cauliflower burgers, cauliflower curry.
It doesn’t have to be boiled up until it’s grey and served with gloopy cheese sauce. But if you fancy a retro night in with your radio-cassette player and some Del Amitri, it might be the perfect accompaniment.
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