Vehicles

I have observed to my parents that their 25-year-old vacuum does not, to put a fine point on it, vacuum. At least not any longer. It pushes the dirt around. Sometimes. Other times, it leaves the dirt where it was. However, one has exerted a great deal of effort to leave the dirt where it is, so this is something. Big dirt, little dirt: the vacuum does not discriminate in not picking it up. Possibly the vacuum is only 23 years old. It is in the range of 23 to 25 years old, inclusive.

I have found a good vacuum on sale if we buy it before Mother's Day, but this being my family it is likely we won't have a new vacuum until three years out, because we are late adopters of technology even after we've fully researched it and confirmed that it fills an urgent need. I could have bought the vacuum myself - perhaps should have bought the vacuum myself - but buying someone a vacuum seems oddly personal and presumptuous. I feel the same way about bicycles. Yet not about cars.