I do hope this only applies to your "time" with modern tech and nothing more sinister!?

I do empathise though because the more complex it becomes the more we become a nation of "users" and not menders which for myself and no doubt all assembled here, is part of the joy of ownership.

Sunday mornings with dad heaving the car bonnet up and fettling something either needed or imaginary is where my few fond memories of youth lay. Watching him "bodge" for the tenth time a thermostat housing, sans the the required gasket, with copious amounts of Araldite before biting the bullet and buying a new one whilst muttering vile oaths under his breath, no doubt due to a publicly withheld self realisation of his own mechanical ineptitude.

As an aside I too remember when petrol stations also sold parts for vehicles such as hoses, ignition coils and contact breaker points with suitable condenser, spray paints and even spare keys mainly for common marques.

Now they have been turned into mini supermarkets which seems to be more of a profit maker for them than their actual fuel sales the upshot being that one can no longer buy a radiator hose for a Mini but can easily purchase a pint of milk a bag of charcoal for the BBQ and half a pound of mixed sweets. Whilst these shopping "Herberts" are holding up the queue, blithely doing their weekly grocery shop, the rest of us have to stand patiently in line waiting to pay for a gallon of two star, relegated as we are to a somewhat lesser league importance as we stupidly thought that purchasing a tank of fuel brought more to the table than buying a dozen eggs and two cucumbers.

I must have missed that meeting.

Meantime should one require something as ubiquitous as a Jubilee clip then a trip to the stealers is the order of the day only to be told they want the soul of your first born in payment as the aforementioned clip is a dealer only part made solely for your daily driver and no other!

To bastardise an old phrase.

You can take my guns but you will prise my memories from my cold dead hands. (Laughs)