Your post about the woman at the shop where you get your hair cut and the comments that ensued reminded me of a conversation I have had in the past about how old things hold up much better than some newer things. Case in point: It is highly doubtful that in 80 years you'll find many 2011 vehicles still on the road - in spite of the fact that there are millions more cars being produced each year. Major electronic components will be irreplaceable, rendering the cars useless for nothing more than scrap. Yet your Model A soldiers on! Likewise is my 1923 California Bungalow. It still has the original wood windows, the original hardwood floors, the original kitchen cabinets, the original knob and tube electrical (with cloth wrapped wiring), etc. The roof has obviously been redone, we have a modern fusebox and electric meter, the the plumbing has been replaced. But the house is still largely intact. And when this house was built in 1923, it was a kit home and the city where I live was the fastest growing city in the US. So no doubt there were some shortcuts taken. How many of the McMansions that were slapped up during the last housing boom with their high tech heating and cooling systems, their energy efficient windows and insulation and all the other modern conveniences will still be standing 88 years after they were built? Probably not very many.