People flock to the Repair Café to have their broken devices repaired. The concept was introduced in Holland by a journalist who decided it was much better to fix things rather than throw them away. In a convivial atmosphere, volunteers fix items while you watch or you can fix it yourself with some assistance.

It’s common to see photos of celebrities aged forty and up happily pregnant or pushing a pram. But according to most doctors, a woman’s chances of conceiving drop dramatically after age thirty-eight or so. Of course there are exceptions. Modern medical fertility treatments allowed a sixty-six-year-old Romanian woman to give birth to twins in 2005. But unless we’re willing and able to procure such treatments, which can be financially, emotionally, and physically draining, those who want to wait until their forties to have kids will have to take their chances.