Yeah, the shit they fixed was generally just a motor and some bearings, maybe with some simple electrical switches. Everything was simple and made as durable as possible because that used to be a selling point.
Modern appliances are specialized computers with moving parts that are designed with cheap, flimsy pieces that are only meant to last until their warrenty period runs out. One minute after that and its all “replacement parts? You mean call our service dept or buy a new one, right?”
Lots of boomers fixing modern machines out there? Somehow I bet they are still talking about that one time in 1983 when they changed out the belt in a dryer that had 6 parts total and had been working for 23 years. Yeah, congrats. You did a simple thing to a simple machine.
Being the guy who owns a truck (work truck, I’d love an electric work van or teleporter since we’re now in fantasy land lmao) I went with my parents to pick up a new washer and dryer for their house.
While wandering around one of those “we fixed this broken used stuff, and are now selling it to you at 70% original price” , the old guy behind the counter kept talking mad shit about how people my age don’t know how to just fix something, and the whole time I’m looking around at verious appliances, I notice something pretty obvious.
All this shit is old, extremely simple, or the only issue was clearly cosmetic and was likely purchased as part of a defect lot. No smart devices, no sensors, not even microwaves. Just things exactly like you described, a belt had broken, or some very simple swappable part needed swapped.
I asked him when the last time he fixed a computer was, or the last time he worked on a car from after 2010. Because I do those all the time, and never see people his age working on their own stuff, they always come to people my age. So maybe let’s just get along with our business and try to show off on our personal times, huh?
He thought that was hilarious, and I wasn’t intending for it to be rude so I just chuckled with him and went about loading everything up.
Honestly I love working on older things, and I like working on my truck because of how simple it is. My truck is from the 90s, and while it’s about half the size of modern trucks, I’ve always wanted a smaller one like an old Ford ranger or even some of the smaller pickups from the 60s/70s. If I could do an electric swap within my budget limitations on one of those, I’d be soooooo thrilled. Modern EVs are too complicated for me now. I can do electronics work, but damn.
