# Sometimes, things do improve!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 1, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548 "2026-06-01T19:45:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/21 "2026-06-02T13:58:54Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> Something was different. Don’t think I remember what Artemis did back there that was so great.
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The Artemis mission was basically a complete repeat of Apollo 8. Its one claim to a record was that it was slightly further from the Moon.
Not a complete repeat. I think the issue is that it wasn’t just “slightly” farther from the Moon. The higher altitude made it possible to see a lot more of the Moon’s surface at the same time, which gave a different perspective.
> Orion flew around the Moon at a closest approach of about 4,067 miles (6,545 km; 3,534 nmi) from the far-side lunar surface
> **[Artemis II | Lunar flyby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II#Lunar_flyby)**
>
> On flight day 6, Orion entered the Moon's sphere of influence, where lunar gravity became the dominant force shaping its trajectory. Orion flew around the Moon at a closest approach of about 4,067 miles (6,545 km; 3,534 nmi) from the far-side lunar surface at 23:00 UTC on April 6. Its farthest distance from Earth was 252,756 miles (406,771 km; 219,639 nmi) at 23:02 UTC, and it surpassed Apollo 13's 248,655 miles (400,171 km; 216,075 nmi) record as the farthest crewed mission from Earth at 17: Dur...
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### Author:  [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/22 "2026-06-02T16:45:10Z")
Despite internet grousing, the quality of automobiles has improved drastically in my (58yo) lifetime. When I was a kid cars were trashed by 100k miles, and it’s a good thing the speed limit was 55 because they were fairly terrifying above that. Just sold my 2010 Dodge 1500 to a friend’s kid with 208k on it and it really drives like it is new.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/23 "2026-06-02T16:55:34Z")
Tires are DEFINITELY much better too. It takes a LOT to flatten a tire nowadays.
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### Author:  [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/24 "2026-06-02T17:10:41Z")
They also provide MUCH better traction than they used to, in many different situations. My first truck had a set of bias plys, squirrely things in a turn. Radials were kind of amazing when I got my first set. The tread patterns and compounds of the last 20 years feel like race tires in comparison to that first set of radials.
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/25 "2026-06-02T17:12:28Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> Tires are DEFINITELY much better too. It takes a LOT to flatten a tire nowadays
I’ve noticed that too. As an example, there’s what appears to be an abandoned car near my martial arts school this week. Two of its tires are completely flat - but they’ve been worn down so far the steel belting is showing through in spots. That two of the tires _aren’t_ flat is a testament to the general quality of tires these days.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/26 "2026-06-02T18:41:37Z")
> [@PastTense](#):
>
> Unless you are a pedestrian; there has been a huge increase in pedestrian deaths since 2009–thanks partly to all the SUVs and pickups around.
And pedestrians getting stupid- wearing all back at night, head down on their phone. People walking in the street rather than the sidewalk at night.
> [@Past\_Paper](#):
>
> And also probably due to all the motorists (_and_ pedestrians) whose eyes are often glued to their damn smartphone screens.
And drivers doing that also. That, at least is illegal.
Today there are a LOT of free books out of copyright you can just find and read in the comfort of your home.
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### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/27 "2026-06-02T18:57:08Z")
> [@kitap](#):
>
> Zero sugar soda keeps getting better-tasting.
To each according to their own tastes, but I strongly disagree. They all taste equally bad to me, and they aren’t any better now than they were in the back in the 90s, which is as far back as my recollection of how diet drinks taste goes. I go so far as to say that drinks sweetened with monk fruit or stevia are flavored with what I derisively think of as naturally occurring artificial sugars.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/28 "2026-06-02T18:57:17Z")
Frozen food has improved enormously since I was a kid. i recall once having a frozen pizza that literally tasted like wet cardboard; I know for a fact it did, because partway through I realized I’d been eating the cardboard disc it was cooked on as well as the pizza itself _without noticing._
Frozen pizzas still aren’t as good as fresh of course, but they taste like _actual pizza_ now. The same goes for all sorts of other frozen foods.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/29 "2026-06-02T19:14:32Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> Frozen pizzas still aren’t as good as fresh of course, but they taste like _actual pizza_ now. The same goes for all sorts of other frozen foods.
True, good points.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/30 "2026-06-02T19:15:20Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> To each according to their own tastes, but I strongly disagree. They all taste equally bad to me
Splenda and aspartame-splenda blends are absolutely far superior to the saccharin-dosed sodas of yesteryear. Tab was vile, long-live it’s too long delayed demise.
That’s not the same as saying they taste as good as non-diet sodas. Just that if you take the time to acculturate yourself to them (because you sorta feel you have to), some of them are eventually perfectly fine. Some of them still aren’t (looking at you Diet Coke), but in the past they were all pretty awful. So it’s matter of degree, not absolutes.
Stevia works great for some people, but fails miserably for me. I’ve been told there is a genetic factor at work with that one.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/31 "2026-06-03T13:59:33Z")
IV needles have improved drastically over the last 20 years. When I was getting regular IVs in the 1990s, you had two choices: a bigass horse needle or a somewhat smaller butterfly. The standard IV needle today makes the butterflies of the past look like the bigass horse needles. I still tense up when I get stuck because I’m severely needlephobic, but the pain isn’t nearly as bad.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/32 "2026-06-03T15:55:24Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> Just that if you take the time to acculturate yourself to them (because you sorta feel you have to), some of them are eventually perfectly fine. So
I found it takes about two weeks.
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/33 "2026-06-03T16:02:04Z")
> [@Past\_Paper](#):
>
> I got one for you: **I remember as a little kid in the 90s that [every time an airplane flew overhead, we all had to shut up and wait for it to pass](https://www.google.com/search?q=neil+degrasse+tyson+jet+noise&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1217US1217&oq=neil+degrasse+tyson+jet+noise&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigAdIBCDQ5MDRqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&source=chrome.ob#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1fcdb87d,vid:anuhveUIB_g,st:0) (Jet engine NOISE audible on the ground), then suddenly tech changed and that all stopped**
I don’t know about the jets where you are, but I live very near LAX, and I hear jets all day long (and night, too). We often have to stop talking when one goes by, but now we just close the window when it’s “primetime.” The airport paid for triple glazing. We hear almost nothing when the window’s closed.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/34 "2026-06-03T16:22:28Z")
> [@Horatius](#):
>
> Someone in my office just did a reply all to an e-mail from January, which is what made me realize it’s been years since I’ve seen an e-mail mess like that. It seems most people have finally learned to just ignore such mistaken messages.
Some years ago, the guy in charge of contacting people for our 50th reunion sent out a broadcast email asking people to respond as whether they would attend. A lot of people got bombed, since he didn’t say up front to only reply to him.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/35 "2026-06-03T16:27:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> And pedestrians getting stupid- wearing all back at night, head down on their phone.
I smartened up on that while living in Portland. Street lighting is very poor there, especially in residential areas. I bought reflective orange jacket cuffs for wear whenever we were out at night.
As for the Artemis discussion, it was the first mission to the dark side _with a woman on board._
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/36 "2026-06-03T18:24:22Z")
I had to get a new cell phone. The audio recording and playback are significantly better. But I still want my old one. ☹
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/37 "2026-06-03T19:16:40Z")
Access to all sorts of stuff is dramatically better than it used to be, largely because of the Internet and the associated computing revolutions.
I mean, back in the day you had to call your doctor, schedule an appointment, write that down on your paper calendar, and then refer to it periodically to see what was coming up. If you needed your medical records, you had to call and someone would go root through a file cabinet and find what you were looking for.
If you bought something, you had to go to a store and you were generally limited to what was in stock. Or you had to go to a different store/location. Or find a mail-order catalog and call them then either pay more money for UPS/FedEX or wait a long time for the USPS to get you your package. Convenient it was not.
Now you can go to your doctor’s website, download whatever records you want, schedule appointments, communicate with their office, pay, etc… right there.
And shopping is dramatically better. If you want a particular gizmo, you’ve probably got multiple versions available, and mutiple prices for any one version. And it’ll get to your house faster too.
This sort of thing is applicable for lots of other stuff- banking, food, even your kids’ education. They’re all improved through better communication and record access than we had in the phone and notepad days.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/38 "2026-06-03T20:03:10Z")
In-flight entertainment options on commercial airliners have improved dramatically. I still remember when the option (singular) was a movie projected onto a single small screen at the front of the cabin, heard through crappy airline-provided headphones because the outlets were deliberately non-compatible with standard headphone jacks.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/39 "2026-06-03T21:59:32Z")
Insulin administration keeps getting better and better as time goes on as well.
As for food, my grandmother (1915-2007) loved being able to get oranges year-round.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sometimes-things-do-improve/1030548/40 "2026-06-03T22:01:18Z")
And a non-white person, and a non-American too!
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