Things That No Longer Exist

Mara here: Ok, the title of this blog is possibly more dramatic than it needs to. I'm not thinking on a global scale. I'm not referring to dinosaurs.

Right now I'm dealing with the fact that recently several products that my family and I loved are no longer being produced by the manufacturer. What? Why? I hate it when companies do this. They sell us products that we get used to and that become part of our daily lives and then they just stop making them.

Wahhhhhh.

This is partly why I think I'm a bit of a hoarder. I'm always afraid when I find something I really like that I won't be able to get it at some point. Make-up manufacturers do this all the time. They like grow and evolve as companies, but I just want them to stay the same!!! I'm kidding. Kind of. I want the things I've gotten used to.

So here are a few things that my family loved that no longer exist:

Trader Joe's Thai Noodle Boxes. 

These were delicious. And they were super easy to make. And cheap! They were Pad Thai, Kung Pao, or Satay flavored noodles in little take out style boxes, and they cooked in just a couple of minutes. Brad, my husband, loved to have them on the weekends. But they stopped making them. And our house feels the loss greatly.

Kraft Fat Free American Cheese Slices. 

I can already hear people saying this is not food. And I will fully admit that it was a bit like eating cheese-flavored plastic. But you can stop the flow of hate because my family loved them. We don't care if they were mummifying our insides. They were only 25 calories per slice and we put them on everything—eggs, sandwiches, potatoes, wraps...everything. It's a bummer. I've been to several different stores to try and find them. They've disappeared. It's a tragedy.

$5 Pants. So, when we went to Mexico this summer I wanted some pants that were light and airy. I found these amazing culottes on Amazon.com that were exactly what I was looking for, and they were only $5. What? Amazing. There was $3.40 for shipping, so I bought two pairs because it seemed ridiculous to pay almost as much in shipping charges as the actual product cost. I thought about buying more, but what if I didn't like them?

So the pants arrived and I LOVE them. They are perfect. They feel like non-pants pants. I can't really tell I'm wearing them. This might not sound ideal to everyone, but remember I'm the person who has worn the same fuzzy pants for a decade.

So I put off buying more because I've been trying to break myself of the habit of buying more than I need. But I just looked and they're not selling them anymore! And it's not just that I'm sad because they were so cheap. I actually tried ordering a similar pair of pants from a different online place and I didn't like them nearly as much.

So I will have to love and protect the two pair I have because I can't get more. I might start crying...it's so sad. I even e-mailed the manufacturer to see if there was somewhere else I could buy them, but they don't make them anymore.

Toni here. That was fun to read, Mara! Now, here are three things that no longer exist that I miss.

Actual people answering the phone when I call a medical office or most businesses.

I'd like, just once, for an actual person to pick up the phone when I call one of my many doctor's offices or clinics. And, I don't just get put on hold but have to listen to awful music that's way too loud. If I try to compensate for the noise by taking the phone away from my ear, then I miss when a real person comes the phone...and wind up with a disconnect. I can't seem to win on this one.

Fireworks without music.

I don't go to fireworks in person anymore, but I sometimes watch them on TV, and when they're set off in my small town I can hear them from my house—that is, if the extremely loud music that now accompanies them doesn't drown out the sound of the fireworks exploding. I like that sound. For me, fireworks are exciting in themselves. I don't need music to help me enjoy them. 

A slow news day.

I can't remember when we had one of these, but they seem to be a thing of the past.

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So what about you? Have you had products or other things that were near and dear to your heart disappear?