niche markets?
Monday, Aug. 30, 2004,

I�ve noticed something lately, in my various shopping excursions. There are no well-made, mid-priced toasters or toilet seats.

It�s true. I have been looking in stores from �Wal-Mart� to �The Great Indoors� for a toilet seat to replace the well-built-but-worn (butt-worn?) model our commode is currently sporting. Now I have standards for these things, and wish to replace with one of equivalent quality. So I�m only looking at seats with a real hinge all the way across the back. Those cheap plastic models, with the two flimsy connectors, are not worth a damn.

$39.99, up to $80.00 or more. Anything in the $10-$30 range is either junk, or designed for the disabled.

And toasters aren�t any better. I have an aversion to spending more than $40 on something that only does one thing, takes up a chunk of my limited kitchen real estate, and doesn�t get used very often. But if you want a toaster that A.) Is made of something sturdier than heavy-duty Reynolds Wrap, and B.) Doesn�t rattle like a Navajo rain stick when you give it a shake, you�re looking at putting down from $64 to $130 dollars.

There are a lot of things I wish for in life; happiness, my husband�s health, success and security for me and mine, and a political center for my country. But right now, I�d just really like a sturdy, $25 toilet seat, and a $40 toaster.

300-6=294