They don’t make them like they used to. They make ‘em much better – like, really, really good.

  A friend of mine bought a brand-new car the other day – a zippy little Korean number that looks like a bunch of other zippy little Korean numbers – and it didn’t cost very much at all. It looks spunky, has plenty of bells and whistles, airbags everywhere and a tank that fills for less than $40. And it occurred to me: some things have become really really good.
  Cars weren’t always this way. The sight of a sedan parked by the side of the road with its hood up and steam coming from a pipe was a constant of my youth. You hardly see it anymore – and almost never with a new car. What would you do, anyway? Stand there staring at a computer chip? Even the warranty on a new car goes for five years. Five whole years! That’s seven iPhones away. No wonder roadside assistance companies now do house insurance.
  It made me think about the catergory, ‘really really good’. TV’s today are really really good. It feels like only a year back that they weighed more than 100kg and came in a cabinet. They’re now slim and sleek and you see people wheel them out of Costco in shopping trolleys.
  Budget air travel is really, really good. The days of saving up for your ‘big trip’ feel almost Downton Abbey-ish. I spoke to a 20-year-old recently who went to Bali for a weekend. Not that long ago you had to book months in advance just to get to Coolangatta. And it involved a travel agent and a ceremonial issuing of a triplicate ticket with its own pouch and clutch bag (I really, really miss those days!!!). My last boarding pass was flimsier than a shopper docket. (Mind you, as good as budget travel is, airport parking has become really, really bad.)
  Going to the dentist is really, really good. It used to be like airport parking, only worse – expensive AND painful. I sometimes wonder if I was unknowingly part of a secretly filmed pain-threshold experiment. Now I actually enjoy the visit somewhat. I don’t know who invented the stuff that numbs your gums before the needle goes in, but Madam or Sir, your invention is really, really good! And kudos to your colleagues who added the Perspex patient glasses, instant X-rays and auto-drink fountain. They’re all really, really good, too.
  Speaking of dreaded experiences, I used to dread camping – or anything involving a sleeping bag or a camp fire. But I like it now because camping equipment is really, really good. Inflatable mattresses, season-rated sleeping bags, non-leaky collapsible tents and portable toilets have made all the pain go away. You can forget the phrase ‘freeze-dried’ and opt for portable burners and fridges and 12-volt anything. An espresso after your warm camp shower?
  Dog owners are (generally) really, really good. They pick up their dogs’ poop and walk them on leads, and in summer you hardly ever see big wet sandy dogs freaking out kids on crowded beaches. I know we still have problems but, if only for further encouragement, I officially put dog owners in my really, really good category.
  Rubbish bins? Again, really, really good. They used to stink and have no capacity and bad handles and even worse, wonky lids. Now they’re big and super-wheelie and the lids shut and….anyway, they’re really, really good.
  So, I’d like to make a toast…and I’ll do that with a glass of really good, cheap beer in a really good, cheap big glass. Two more things that, rather wonderfully, have become really, really good.

Step away from the razor: pubic hair grooming injuries on the rise.

  When you think about it, putting a razor anywhere in the vicinity of your most sensitive parts is…well, a little bit bonkers. Risk-wise, it’s up there with walking on the ledge of a 50-storey building: one little slip and it’s all over. Okay, so a grooming injury probably won’t leave you flattened on the footpath, but it will be followed by obscene language, a few tears and days of discomfort. And yet, in the name of keeping things presentable in our pants, many of us regularly take that risk. Oh yes we do.
  A recent study has found public hair grooming injuries increased by 500 per cent between 2002 and 2010. 500 per cent. They say that beauty is pain, but this is just getting far too painful, guys. By monitoring Emergency Room visits, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco found genitourinary injuries – laceration, in most cases – rose by 247 incidents per year, with razors involved in 83 per cent of cases. Scissors and hot wax were also culprits.
  Although women made up only 56.7 per cent of the cohort, “external female genitalia” was the most common site of injury in the pubic region. Are your eyes watering yet? As for the cause of this increase, it’s safe to assume it comes down to one simple fact: hair down there has somehow become Pubic Enemy Number One (yes, I did just go there). Ouch.
  Where once the Brazilian wax was an exotic, underground trend, the hairless look has become mainstream over the last decade or so. And the “man-scaping” phenomenon indicates women aren’t the only ones getting a little wax-happy. It’s all a little strange considering pubic hair – like any body hair – serves a practical purpose. In fact, it is believed that the removal of pubic hair presents health risks of its own, increasing risk of infection and sexually transmitted diseases.
  Regardless, the decision of whether or not to leave things au naturel or to go bare is ultimately a personal one – influenced by factors like aesthetics, personal beliefs about grooming, or the purchase of a very skimpy bikini. If you’re a hair-free fan, all we’re suggesting is that perhaps the maintenance side of things is best left to the professionals. Yes, the experience of having a stranger spread hot wax between your legs, then rip it all off, is incredibly awkward. But surely this beats the more painful alternative?