In preparing for retirement, I arranged for a steady source of income, created a detailed budget, prepared a detailed plan for travel, and tried to formulate a contingency plan for “unexpected” expenses such as medical, dental, and repairs. One category that I can already tell that I did not do a good job of anticipating are the costs of replacing items that break, are no longer functional, or simply outdated. I did account for the fact that at some point I will need a new car and will have to make payments once again. I was aware that clothing and shoes will suffer from wear-and-tear or will go out of fashion and need to be updated. It’s items like TVs, radios, phones, watches, appliances, glassware, collectables and jewelry that end up lost, stolen, broken, and out-dated that have recently caused me concern.

For example, in my last post, I discussed the situation with my Apple Watch. I use it to wake up in the morning, accurately measure the distance and times of my daily run, and keep track of the time. Since I’m suddenly forced to replace it, as an unbudgeted item, a decision needs to be made on its need relative to cost. Do I replace this item that will need to be replaced over and over again, or somehow learn to live without it? When I was earning a regular paycheck, there would have been no hesitation about immediately replacing it with an upgrade. Instead, I resisted feeling that the problem was a result of shoddy workmanship, and that despite their limited warranty, Apple should offer me compensation. I feel that as they’ve grown to such dominance in the marketplace, they have lost some of their customer focus. They are building products for the short-term, and constantly upgrading the technology to quickly make them obsolete before anyone notices. In retirement, I will be unable to afford these constant upgrades, and will always look for ways to extend their useful life. Does this mean that I’m resisting change? No, it means that I can’t afford change when my priority is now travel. I don’t want a new watch. I want to travel back in time and see the places and hear the stories where history took place.

I will contact Apple corporate directly about my dissatisfaction with their product and the lack of empathy that I received at their local outlet. They just tried to sell me a new one, and strongly suggested that I add their Apple Care extended warranty, implying, in my opinion, that there would likely be more problems. In the meantime, I will do without their product and research different options. I have other Apple products and would hate to go through the trouble of adapting to alternative brands, but I will if their equipment continues to prove unreliable. I guess I’ve become a stubborn old man, with enough time now to fight the establishment. I’ve managed to avoid conflict most of my life, but this is just the beginning of trying to protect my assets. I’ve started to take better care of my stuff, hoping to preserve and extend the life of these material possessions. Their longevity is worth fighting for! Also, get off my damn lawn!

If I had done anything to damage my watch, I would accept the responsibility of paying to replace it. However, I did absolutely nothing to abuse or misuse it. In exploring the internet, I found pictures from other owners, showing the same dark spot in the upper right hand corner of the clock face. There was also discussion that the corner was not sealed or glued properly at the factory and over the course of time moisture would get into the electronic components. Hopefully, they’ve since corrected the problem, but I feel they owe me compensation. What started as a small dark spot has now spread to cover the entire face, rendering the watch useless.

I’ve run the last two mornings without it, following the three-mile plus route that is familiar. I listen to a battery powered Jensen radio that I also had to replace this year, but after five years of use. I’m not sure which is less convenient, replacing batteries or constantly recharging. In either case, the device always seems to lose power at the worst possible moment. I guess it’s better than a long extension cord, but not as good as the Apple Care warranty extension that apparently I should have bought. I also added an expense line of $100 a month to my retirement budget to cover the cost of replacing any current possessions that wear-out, break, or are not under factory warranty.