Oh yes, that's nostalgic
But the cyberpunk generation used to interpret that as yelling in the online chat

Regarding the ferro rod life. It looks like it will disintegrate with time no matter how well you protect it. I've recently removed the double ziplock bag with silica-gel bullet and Magnesium bar from my car kit bag. It was sitting in the side pocket for about 4 years untouched. The rod is pitted really badly, and a lot of grayish-white dust is everywhere. I believe - about 30-40% of the rod material is in this dust. The Magnesium bar looks like new (after cleaning of the dust). And the rod still produces good sparks...