Metatalktail Hour: Splurge! October 12, 2019 5:32 PM   Subscribe

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, Sparky Buttons wants to know, "What is your most recent splurge? This doesn't have to be monetary ... maybe you "wasted" some time doing something enjoyable you don't normally prioritize. Any creative definition of "splurge" is welcome!"

As always, this is a conversation starter, not limiter, so tell us everything that's up with you!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 5:32 PM (111 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

I bought a period-appropriate sideboard for House the Trilogy.

In the meantime, thanks to contractors beyond my control, I have spent the past six weeks with exactly three usable items of furniture: a mattress, a portable desk, and a chair. All my books are still in boxes. Theoretically, everything is going to be moved to its proper place on Monday, but in general I've been in a state of high distraction for the first half of the semester (and unable to finish writing a couple of things under contract...).
posted by thomas j wise at 5:40 PM on October 12, 2019 [13 favorites]


I bought some new arrows yesterday. I do not need more arrows. My outdoor arrows, which I bought last spring, would be okay for indoor season. I already had old arrows in the box o' arrows in the garage which could probably be made to work. But noooo, I bought nine pretty new arrows so I wouldn't have to spend indoor season stringwalking.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:51 PM on October 12, 2019 [5 favorites]


> I bought a period-appropriate sideboard for House the Trilogy

That is gorgeous! Good splurging!
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:52 PM on October 12, 2019 [5 favorites]


An early three year subscription to Disney+. I know this seems a little Pepsi Blue, but we are planning a big multi-family vacation to Disney World next fall and I want to show my kids all the stuff I loved when I was their age. And my husband wants us to watch all the MCU stuff (we’ve seen barely any).

Also, a baby on the way. Seems like an indulgence.
posted by Night_owl at 6:10 PM on October 12, 2019 [10 favorites]


When I was half my age, I used to get drunk and wake up smelling of spray paint and bonfire smoke. The last time I got drunk, I woke up slightly regretful that I'd bought a juicer without doing an appropriate amount of consumer research.

But, it does seem to be a pretty good juicer. There are many reasons why shipping juice is better than shipping pretty vegetables to supermarkets, but it's also nearly impossible to get vegetable juice here that isn't mostly just apple juice and nobody puts anise root in their products. (Also, the smell of crushed celery and beets isn't entirely unlike the smell of spray paint and wood fire.)
posted by eotvos at 6:10 PM on October 12, 2019 [18 favorites]


"Also, a baby on the way."

Congrats!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 6:11 PM on October 12, 2019


I bought a DS-1 boss guitar pedal. I don't need more guitar pedals in general and I certainly don't need any more distortion pedals. It looks so pretty on my pedalboard, which I designed and CNC-fabbed in lieu of a midlife crisis last year.
posted by signal at 7:12 PM on October 12, 2019 [9 favorites]


Since weed is now legal in my state, I went to a cannabis store and bought way more weed than I need, plus a bag of cannabis mints. I got one kind described as sativa and one described as indica, for comparison, and I had my husband cover the names with tape labels that just say A and B without telling me which was which, so I can see if there's a noticeable difference without being influenced by my expectations. So far I've only tried A and the mints. I'm looking forward to lighting up a bowl of B and (on a separate occasion) trying four mints instead of two, which was not enough. If I feel like there's a difference between A and B the next experiment will be getting my husband to give me some without telling me which one it is and seeing if I can guess right. Not sure when I'll next have time for it, though. This was something of a financial splurge but the time splurge is probably more significant. I don't have a lot of spare time to sit around getting high, sadly.
posted by Redstart at 7:24 PM on October 12, 2019 [5 favorites]


I had to get my car repaired. That counts as a splurge these days. I do wish weed was legal here, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:35 PM on October 12, 2019 [5 favorites]


Redstart reminded me that I need to pick up some more tinctures :) Maybe tomorrow after Meeting, if I don't just want to go home and become one with my bed.

Speaking of -- I splurged on some nice flannel pyjamas from The Company Store this morning, because yay flannel pjs! It will be a good winter, I think.

I don't know if it's a splurge, exactly, but I wore my new binder for the first time today, as it only just arrived. I love it, and I'm so happy I dropped the cash to have one made to my measurements. I had to take it off after about six hours, but it was incredibly comfortable, and I'm hoping I can get used to wearing it for longer period.
posted by kalimac at 7:48 PM on October 12, 2019 [11 favorites]


I bought a set of these plates (which are on Native People's Day Sale), everyone in the family loves astronomy and I make family feasts, so they seemed apropos. I'm going to tell my husband he's giving them to me for Christmas!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:02 PM on October 12, 2019 [8 favorites]


The iPad Pro 12.9 based on recommendations from an askme here. So I blame metafilter entirely. It's like going from walking to a bike, workflow-wise. Whooosh!
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:05 PM on October 12, 2019 [3 favorites]


Between the stuff I ordered from Rancho Gordo and Bob's Red Mill, I'm sure I could sustain myself nutritionally for two or three months without ever leaving my apartment.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 8:16 PM on October 12, 2019 [7 favorites]


I took a mental health day a couple weeks ago and just sat around and played video games all day while my kid was in school.

I usually take a short solo vacation in late October/early November (my work busy season is August-September though this year there is no not busy season for reasons) and I hemmed and hawed long enough that actually I wound up getting deputized to represent my institution at a conference in Florida in a couple weeks. That's not a splurge, that's just work, but I did opt to stay an extra couple of nights so I can kayak the springs, which is something I've always wanted to do.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:16 PM on October 12, 2019 [7 favorites]


Tickets to Adam Ant’s upcoming UK tour (plus, in preparation, some quality eyeliner).

I regret nothing. Da-diddly-qua-qua...
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 8:34 PM on October 12, 2019 [9 favorites]


I'm about to share a Great Moment in Parenting with you. Please pay attention.
Daughter 1 asks which discworld novel to read next. I suggest Monstrous Regiment.
Daughter 2 looks book up and laughs - "The title comes from weird old book about the monstrous regiment of women!"
I say, "The one by John Knox?"
She says, "Yes, how did you know that?"
I say [Great Parenting Moment coming up], "I was once tapped on the head with a cushion made from a pair of John Knox's pants." (this is a true part of the Edinburgh University graduation ceremony!)
I then left the room.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:38 PM on October 12, 2019 [64 favorites]


I recently went out to karaoke with some people. I timed my exit so that I wouldn't miss the last DC Metro train, but of course the schedule was a lie, and the station was closed 20 minutes before the website said it would be. So I had to get a Lyft back to the outer suburbs, which cost $30 altogether. That's a HUGE splurge for me, especially considering I had about $150 in my bank account at the time. I'd already spent $20 on dinner, which is as much as I can spend on groceries in a week.

But I'd had such a good time that I didn't care. For once, I could roll with the punches. I can't pinch pennies at the expense of my happiness.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 8:59 PM on October 12, 2019 [20 favorites]


My last (mini-)splurge was earlier today. I've been working fewer shifts and fewer evenings which means I've been able to try cooking different meals from scratch when I'm in the mood rather than dishing up late night chuck-it-and-bung-it meals. Wasn't much of a splurge, but having done a recce of straightforward, interesting recipes that I wanted to attempt I did loosen the purse strings and allow myself to buy a bunch of common ingredients, herbs and spices all at once, instead of doing my usual one-at-a-time thing to build up the cupboard and gradually replace the "Oh God, 2014!" paprika, etc.

Next somewhat-urgent splurge is some new DMs as my current pair of cherry reds are literally falling apart. Could buy a cheaper boot, but I've always worn proper 1460 DMs of varying colours and always will, even if the prices have got ridiculous in recent years (from £55 > £55 > £83 > £120+ ?!?)
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 9:08 PM on October 12, 2019 [5 favorites]


I financed a car yesterday! It feels kind of like a splurge but the previous car was 14 years old and had 156,000 miles, and the "check engine" light kept coming on and costing me $400-1200 every time it did, and I was in the Northern California blackout zone this week, and I woke up Friday morning with the unshakably firm conviction that holding onto my car had become a safety risk, given all of the above plus the fact that I live alone in the middle of nowhere, so FUCK IT I was going to buy a goddamned new (used) car and get rid of the existing car that day so help me gods. So I checked Carmax at 6am while still in bed, saw a 2017 Camry at the closest lot, and booked a test drive, then talked to the saleswoman by phone at 10:30 and got the financing figured, and then drove up and did all the paperwork and bought my first bought-by-me car by 2:30. I'm still trying to adjust away from the constant background noise of "something's going to break, something's going to break...." every time I drive. The payment and insurance are going to be more than I'm used to paying, but at least I won't have random $1000 car-repair costs every couple months. Plus the saleswoman was awesome (we had a nice chat about racist/ablist policing and how she had wanted to become a police officer to change the system from within) and I'm glad I helped get her a commission this week.
posted by lazuli at 9:12 PM on October 12, 2019 [26 favorites]


splurged and bought a cord of wood : meaning someone else felled, loaded, trucked & unloaded it up here. I already hauled a couple cords for me and some for friends with my truck & said friends; and my arms were going to fall off plus the snow is accumulating & I was running out of time so I splurged & paid for the last one.
toasty warm now!
posted by cabin fever at 9:38 PM on October 12, 2019 [16 favorites]


Last year I was digging a hole in my garden and found a perfect little jawbone that turned out to be a baby possum’s. Being who I am, I mailed it to a local-ish artist, who attached it to a ring and copper-plated it, making a beautiful and creepy necklace I’ve been wearing daily since it came in the mail on Thursday. Money is tight and this wasn’t a necessity at all, but it was worth the splurge.
posted by centrifugal at 9:48 PM on October 12, 2019 [35 favorites]


I splurged on an eight-week beginner watercolor class at our local museum's art school for my birthday and I'm having a really marvelous time. It's funny -- I took a life drawing class as an elective my very first semester in college and I passed the class, but by my own reckoning I got an A for effort and an F- for any actual skill. The instructor was a good one and gently suggested I might really enjoy trying watercolor, so here I am 25 years later finally doing just that.

And wow, she was right! I love watching each page fill with color. I love learning how everything interacts. When I find myself awake in the middle of the night, which is often, I find myself practicing washes and brush strokes, shadows and light, and as of this week I can paint some rather convincing leaves and flower petals. After howevermany years I've been sick and foggy-headed, it feels good to be able to focus on something, and to find so much pleasure in that.

Which led to a second, smaller, and yet fully necessary $13 splurge: A tube of Daniel Smith's Payne's Blue Gray. Here's a link to a painter who also loves it and articulates its awesomeness so much better than I ever could. I mean, look at it. It's beyond gorgeous.

I'm otherwise using student/academic paints and this stuff is so rich and spectacular that all week I've been ignoring every other color in my bag and filling up pages and pages and pages in moody and luscious dark monochromes.
posted by mochapickle at 10:26 PM on October 12, 2019 [27 favorites]


Weekly blues guitar lessons. I‘m having so much fun! Guitar used to be merely in the way of singing, now I‘ll actually play instrumental pieces and enjoy it. Hell, I even enjoy practicing pieces I can‘t do yet. I grew up with a series of (mostly) terrible classical music teachers who were somewhere between sadistic and incompetent, so having a teacher who cooperates with me and seems to enjoy teaching is kind of a revelation.
posted by The Toad at 10:35 PM on October 12, 2019 [10 favorites]


I bought these hiking boots a month ago. I needed hiking shoes that were actually waterproof, and I wear these ones while walking dogs for Rover because they're super comfy and my feet are too delicate for prolonged walking in normal tennis shoes. Plus they're warm and not ugly and I can write them off as a business expense!
posted by mollywas at 10:45 PM on October 12, 2019 [7 favorites]


I had a work trip to Paris which came at a bad time and meant I lost a lot of sleep. It was the end of fashion week, so I indulged in a rare (for me) shopping trip and found a beautiful work dress with pockets!
posted by frumiousb at 10:55 PM on October 12, 2019 [13 favorites]


I have a cleaner starting next week, I’ve never had a weekly cleaner before and it will stretch my budget but it will take such a mental and physical load from me.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:33 PM on October 12, 2019 [19 favorites]


Recently I've fallen unprecedentedly hard for a new fandom, which feels like a delicious time splurge--downloading all the episodes of the Chinese webdrama in question, reading other people's fics and posts and doodling around with my own, much pleasant daydreaming.

Work and volunteering are starting to fall into place and I'm more or less neither too busy nor too much at loose ends, although there's still an element of wait-and-see and knock-wood. It's just about finally autumn, thank God, which means chestnuts and hotpot and Brussels sprouts and hot baths.
posted by huimangm at 11:50 PM on October 12, 2019 [6 favorites]


I ordered a cat backpack. We had an incident a few weeks ago with a glass pie plate (RIP, pie plate) and I decided that it was long past the time that I figure out how to give the cat more enrichment. He is already pretty good at getting into his harness and walking the length of the deck out back, so my plan is this:
Put harness on cat
Put cat into backpack
Take cat to nearby park (about three blocks away)
Let cat out on leash to sniff the world
Pack cat into backpack and go home

I am less confident about this last step (getting him back into the bag). If anyone has any tips I’ll take them. He has already proven to be clicker-trainable but I am sure that he won’t have the same kind of focus outdoors as he does in the living room.

In other news, I gave my landlord notice that I will be moving out at the end of December. I don’t know where we’re going to go just yet, but it is not going to be a place in which the rain just pours straight down through the roof and directly into my kitchen.
posted by janepanic at 12:07 AM on October 13, 2019 [15 favorites]


I’ve been on a budget for the last few years and very rarely splurge with money. Time, however.

Lately I’ve been spending long stretches playing Civ 5 and working through an endless podcast list. I find this to be completely restorative, relaxing and indulgent. I’m also working my way through the achievements. I think I’m near 60% now, which I think is massively impressive for that game, but I have no comparison stats really.

I started to write that I found this behaviour funny because I’m not good at long term goals or big commitments and time-investments, but that’s actually not true anymore (and this is just one of many examples). Yay change!
posted by iamkimiam at 12:37 AM on October 13, 2019 [9 favorites]


Recently took a short break in Bergen, Norway. Part holiday, part revisit, part seeing if the place was a good one to possibly emigrate to (definitely). My camera didn't work out, so a few low quality phone pictures on my Flickr.
posted by Wordshore at 1:27 AM on October 13, 2019 [14 favorites]


I bought my first ever car! With my very own money. It is a red 2005 Ford Fiesta. I love it. It has a CD player so I have also been splurging on second hand CDs.
posted by Balthamos at 2:08 AM on October 13, 2019 [12 favorites]


Janepanic: Definitely get your cat used to the whole process (bagging, walking, de-bagging, re-bagging, de-bagging again) at home, indoors! And do a few short trips down your drive/up your street before attempting the three block trip. Sounds so fun, you have a lucky kitty!
posted by Balthamos at 2:10 AM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


A whole day spent hiking- up to the Pinnacle above Halls Gap, and a triple scoop ice cream afterwards. Worth it!

(have discovered that my phone is not as good as my camera, despite being a nice phone, but photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHEyBz5)

A lovely surprise on the way down was that one of the plants blossomed while we were up there, so came back down wondering if we were really not observant on the way up, or lost!
posted by freethefeet at 2:30 AM on October 13, 2019 [5 favorites]


Oh I had the best splurge this week! It was *a lot* of money, but so, so worth it.

My efforts to landscape our hilly and mad yard petered out about 2/3rds of the way through, when I ran out of hessian matting, native plants and most of all patience. Since a fox got the chickens last year, Madeira vine has been slowly, but surely taking over this area. It's an absolute menace, and rhizomatous, total pest. I let it get waaaaaay too out of control sans chickens and the thought of getting rid of it filled me with dread, esp as I have a new job now.

I paid someone to do it this week. It... was not cheap, but oh my god his team did such a good job - far better than I would or could have done. Just looking at that area of the yard is now making me happy.

I'm going for my second colonoscopy in a year tomorrow, currently undergoing The Purge. It's not the dam-wall-bursting special effects that bother me, but ugh do I hate the fasting and having to drink litres and litres of fluid. Hope they don't find anything nefarious down there.
posted by smoke at 2:53 AM on October 13, 2019 [12 favorites]


Earlier this year, I convinced the flying club that we needed to modernize and spiffy up the planes. We got the first bit of work completed about a month ago - brand new avionics in our 182 to replace (more or less) original factory installed 1970s equipment. Here is what it looked like before, and this is what it looks like now. The driving force behind all of this was getting rid of the old autopilot (an analog computer from the '70s that could just about keep the wings level) with a new digital system that has two axes of control and couples with the GPS. We have more capability than most airliners in that cockpit now.

The plane goes in for paint in January, and then we wait until the FAA certifies the same avionics package for the other plane and we'll do that, too. The plane is due for an engine in the near future, and at some point I also want to redo the interior; then, we'll basically have a new airplane.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:24 AM on October 13, 2019 [14 favorites]


Been thinking about it for a while and 6 weeks finally bit the bullet and bought a new ebike. The good news is I am actually using it rather then letting it rot in the shed, which is what happened with the not-e bike I bought a a few years ago. It wasn't till I was thinking about this thread that I realized it is the most expensive think I have ever bought, after my house. My doc told me I needed to get some exercise if I didn't want hypertension to kill me (thanks Brexit!) so that helped me pull my finger out. I still need to drop a bit more cash on a proper helmet.

While we're on the subject though, I just got a big promotion after more than a decade of work and I would like to buy something to mark that. Last time I got a promotion I splurged on a fancy leather overnight bag which has been really useful. I'd appreciate ideas for something practical, useful and with some longevity. An item to keep basically. I'm an academic in the UK if that helps.
posted by biffa at 5:26 AM on October 13, 2019 [7 favorites]


On a separate note, Japan-Scotland eh?
posted by biffa at 5:42 AM on October 13, 2019 [5 favorites]


I skipped a meeting last Thurs and canceled my one Fri class and took a long weekend at the beach, during which I did nothing but read books, splash in the ocean and the pool, and eat out. It was glorious.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:49 AM on October 13, 2019 [11 favorites]


I bought an upscale battery-powered chain saw for smaller dainty yard work. It was (in relative terms) pretty darn too expensive. Then the universe paid me back in the form of my employer funding an upcoming trip to a conference overseas (because I am an invited speaker). This is how scholarship and yard work connect, in my little bubble.
posted by Namlit at 7:21 AM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


A UFO full of aliens and some replacement dinosaurs for the volcano, because new dog Harvey loves stuffed toys that make noise above all other things. Unfortunately they don’t last too long around him but he loves them so and I’m a sucker. I also bought 8 yards of black fleece for the continuing transformation of garage to darkroom. Now I’m broke again but hey, squeaky toys and a darkroom I can maybe use in daylight!
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:39 AM on October 13, 2019 [6 favorites]


My favorite big-name indie yarn dyer has been having an unexplained sell-off of all their stock for like a month now, and I resisted until they hit the 70% off point and then I went apeshit, as one does. Assuming none of my orders get cancelled (touch wood) I'll have sweater quantity in two colors of wool and enough silk/wool 50/50 blend to knit myself a cocoon.

Also it was my birthday this week so I bought myself six bouquets and a slice of chocolate layer cake that had marshmallow fluff and chocolate chip cookie dough as the filling.
posted by palomar at 7:43 AM on October 13, 2019 [14 favorites]


In order to celebrate getting a new job I splurged on a bunch of new clothes. I still feel guilty about it because I could have gotten away with what I had, but dammit I never buy new clothes and now I have nice cardigans and blazers and feel fancy.

Today my husband is away and I have been feeling run down for a while, so I am doing nothing at all but cuddling the cats, watching home make-over shows and eating cheese and carbs. I might have a nap and then eat grapes in the bath.
posted by stillnocturnal at 8:00 AM on October 13, 2019 [6 favorites]


My latest splurge is not so much a waste of money as it is a thing I probably need but wish wasn't so expensive. I got transition lens glasses. They're just more practical with my job going out and in out and in of the nursery and it makes much more sense then just continually swapping specs. They also look very nice.

I planted what can only be described as a gardener's snack, Alpine Strawberries! They're never going to be so plentiful that I can really cook with them, but they are yummy. I had a lot to do, just in general last week. But in specific, I planted my latest brassica bed. Well, and celery. I'm an anxious potato, but I'm a productive anxious potato.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:17 AM on October 13, 2019 [9 favorites]


Got my bike repaired, and my bike being my bike, cost over $500 to repair and spent a total of four weeks in two different shops. And yes, this is a bicycle: the only one of its kind in Canada (sent in error from a huge Dutch manufacturer). Rear wheel rebuilt (I was breaking spokes weekly, and it was all the old ones, so likely fatigue) and then full overhaul of the fully enclosed drivetrain and brakes. But it rides gloriously: better than I ever remember it and utterly silent. Sure, the rear hub has a ghost of a miss-shift every now and again, but I have to remember the planetary gears have had ten years of gorilla-like hammering from yours truly.

On a separate note, Japan-Scotland eh?

How about 'em? They've come a long way from the 47-9 gubbing that Scotland gave Japan at Murrayfield in 1991. I was there, and for $reasons, wearing a Japan team shirt.
posted by scruss at 8:20 AM on October 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


Yeah, it was intriguing as to whether they were going to turn up with a team that had built on beating South Africa four years ago and they certainly did that. Its been exciting to see a new power and looking forward to seeing how the rematch with SA goes. After that they just have to beat Wales to be in the final...
posted by biffa at 9:48 AM on October 13, 2019


I’ve been “splurging” on college tuition, necessary home and car repairs, vet bills for a terminal kitty, kids’ clothes and activities while working part time. It’s funny this question came up because I was thinking it’s been a long time since I had a vacation or bought something nice for myself.

Then, I was browsing the Anthony Bourdain Estate Auction and have convinced myself that I not only deserve, but need to have a pair of his iconic sunglasses or heirloom watches in my life. I think my credit card limit might just get me there if I was feeling completely reckless. This college thing isn’t working out anyway, and the kitty isn’t going to make it another six months, and we can make it through the winter without hot water. And how cool would it be when someone says “Hey nice watch” and I can say “Well actually, the interesting thing about this watch is...”?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:17 AM on October 13, 2019 [8 favorites]


That reminds me, the one thing I am deliberately NOT splurging on is enamel coated, articulated crocodile napkin rings. They are amazing and I want them so badly, but they're like five hundred quid and I don't even use napkin rings. We don't even have a dining table! But enamel articulated crocodiles

I ran the idea of it being my christmas present by my partner, but didn't get past the "£500 napkin rings" bit. They're in the antique centre where we have a space, so I walk past them every week or so and sigh.
posted by stillnocturnal at 10:48 AM on October 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


Thank you, paper chromatographologist for reminding me that Rancho Gordo exists. My most recent splurge was about 5 minutes ago on some Royal Corona beans. It's finally bean soup season!!
posted by dogmom at 10:50 AM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


We splurged on an OLED tv and it's so worth it. Since each pixel produces its own light and there's no backlight, black is actually black. The screen saver is a randomly placed fireworks burst on a otherwise completely off screen. There's a very satisfying moment between bursts where the screen is totally off. Sometimes I just leave the tv on just to marvel at how black it can be.
posted by Uncle at 10:57 AM on October 13, 2019 [5 favorites]


The non-splurge was getting AAA to come out and replace my 12 year old car battery that finally gave up the ghost. Instead of literally walking across the street and buying a new battery and doing it myself. At least I didn't have to worry about the recycling and they did the full alternator and stuff checking.

The splurge(s) were a few months ago and began when I caught a Japanese hammered Damascus steel chef's knife on sale. Don't need a new knife, but want a new knife. Twelve degree edge sharp that thing is and so nice to use. So a few weeks later I catch another set of Japanese knives and press the button. Surprise, they're chisel edged (instead of wedge edged) which I'd always wanted to try and they're also a pleasure to use as well. Now I have a bunch of sad (but decent) knives laying around feeling useless. Maybe I'll give them to my nephew when he moves from dormitory to apartment life in a few years.

+++

I talked to my mother a couple of weeks ago to catch up on her husband's stroke-turned-brain-cancer. He was already down to sleeping and only remembering who he was (on the memory scale). A few days later his mobility was none and off to the hospice. A couple of days later he passed last Sunday. No great loss, glad it ended quickly. Mother was an ICU nurse and we've done Granny and Gramps and great-uncle is in the memory ward at a care facility. We're all old and a bit stoic when it comes to these things. I'm only slightly sad that I didn't call earlier when he was still capable but in the end ...
posted by zengargoyle at 11:14 AM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


My most recent splurge was fulfilling a 25 year long dream of having a pet hedgehog. Her name, bestowed upon her by a member of my girl gang's 8 year old son, is Ms. Daisy Peanut Butter Hedgehog. Amazingly, Daisy was the name I already had in mind before I granted him naming duty, as it fit with both the Fitzgerald theme (Zelda dog and the late Gatsby cat) and the accidental princess theme (Zelda dog and Ariel the Murdercat).
posted by Ruki at 11:22 AM on October 13, 2019 [7 favorites]


We spent $200 to have a large pile of broken concrete removed from our front yard (where it had been in the way/luxuriating for several years). The team that did it were doing extensive work on a neighbors place, and they swung by with the trackhoe, and three guys to load the bucket with small stuff - 30 minutes and all gone! Now the mr. can set about planting wheat in the front yard. Money well-spent.
posted by dbmcd at 11:37 AM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


Totally minor splurge but I had to build a stage at goddamn 6 o'clock in the morning today so I stopped off at The Cleveland Bagel Company for breakfast on the way back. (They close at 1 pm so I usually don't remember to go there until after they've closed . . .)
posted by soundguy99 at 12:42 PM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


I have always been cautious about money, but I have screwed up my finances several times in the last few years. They are now pretty much sorted out, and I splurged by paying the semi-annual property tax only a week late, the overdue insurance, and I need to pay the water bill, under 100 but it's been at least 6 months. (I'm on town water, but my own septic tank.) My splurge was at Goodwill - a cute moon shaped lamp, books for the grandbabies, a handmade silver necklace. I may splurge on a Halloween costumefor the dog.

My real splurge was that last April, I cleaned up 4 years of un-filed taxes, and got enough refunds to buy a used Prius in July. It's still not quite set up for camping, as I want to make window covers, but I think I'll make a trip to Acadia Nat Park soon, for star and moon-gazing.

I will be getting 2 cords of wood delivered for next winter. This year's wood still needs to be stacked properly. I have some books in an abebooks shopping cart as a planned reward.
posted by theora55 at 12:47 PM on October 13, 2019 [6 favorites]


Shoes! More shoes! And Untitled Goose Game, but that was more of a vital necessity.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:48 PM on October 13, 2019 [5 favorites]


I bought some mostly secondhand toddler clothes from the UK to be shipped to the US - so cute, so many rainbows, much wow. US children's clothing brands listen up - boys need rainbows on their clothes too!
posted by peacheater at 12:49 PM on October 13, 2019 [5 favorites]


Does a "splurge" imply some non-essential fun thing or indulgence? If so, my most typical splurge is occasionally treating myself to a bottle of 16-year-old Lagavulin scotch (and seeing how long I can make it last...current record is 4 months) or buying and grilling a lovely thick steak for dinner. But if buying or upgrading practical things to make living easier/nicer, both now and once I'm on a limited fixed income, qualifies as a "splurge", then read on...

Over the past couple of years I've been upgrading my car-camping equipment bit by bit: new tent, better air mattress, better stove, better sleeping bag, more comfortable camp chair and so on, all lighter and more capable than the ancient bulky/heavy stuff they replaced. I also got a big dutch oven with legs and a rimmed cover for campfire cooking...still working out how to not scorch the outside of the food while it's still raw in the middle, since campfire heat is not at all the same as cooking in an oven! Same for my home kitchen - better pots and pans, expensive but wonderful chef's knife, etc. Lately I've been "splurging" on building up a multi-week supply of shelf-stable food and water and other survival odds and ends, trying to act like a responsible adult and prepare for a Big One earthquake that may or may not occur during whatever time I have left here on Earth. Not the fun kind of major expenditure, but "better to have it and not need it" and all that.

This morning I received my latest splurge/experiment: a hammock. Something - I thought it was a MetaFilter or AskMe post, but now I can't find it - sent me down the rabbit hole of first camping hammock "systems", then the advantages of regularly sleeping at home in a hammock instead of a bed. As a side sleeper, over the years I've messed around (and spent a fair chunk of dough) trying to figure out how to get a pain-free night's rest. This is my latest attempt, in the hope that a hammock will cradle me more evenly than every bed setup I've tried so far. It would be lovely to spend each night without my shoulder scrunched up into my neck and hips and lower spine at an uncomfortable angle. And it was only about 20% of the cost of (yet another) new mattress, so totally worth the gamble. Today's goal will be to remove the bedframe and mattress from my bedroom then set up the hammock in its place. Wish me luck!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:12 PM on October 13, 2019 [6 favorites]


I keep almost buying and then not buying a guitar. I need a guitar but I don't have money for a nice guitar and I don't have the patience for a shitty guitar, so I keep waffling, not knowing what to buy, and then going on with no guitar at all. Splurge? No splurge. Splurge? No splurge. Splurge? No splurge...
posted by pracowity at 1:16 PM on October 13, 2019 [5 favorites]


pracowity: If every time you changed your mind about buying the guitar you put some small outlay of cash out of your pocket into a savings jar, you'd probably afford that guitar sooner rather than later.
posted by hippybear at 1:18 PM on October 13, 2019 [7 favorites]


Mrs. Example and I just got a bunch of money loaned to us by our bank--like actual adults or something--and promptly turned around and dropped almost all of it on our applications for permanent UK residency. Our appointments to get our passports and stuff scanned by the Home Office are in early November, and then we get to spend a few months biting our nails waiting on the decision.

We're getting reimbursed for a good chunk of it, and my employer will do an interest-free loan for Mrs. Example's bit, so we're actually in decent shape if all goes well. Fingers crossed.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:39 PM on October 13, 2019 [9 favorites]


I usually make one big tech "splurge" every year - this year, it was a brand new pair of Apple AirPods for my iPhone X. I've used wired and wireless earphones for some time, but this year I decided to take the plunge and buy the AirPods. So far I'm loving them - the only downside is that you only get about five hours of use per charge. With the charging case, however, I can let them recharge during my lunch break and I'm good for the rest of the day.

Next year's splurge MIGHT be a new iPhone, but I haven't decided. There are rumors about the iPhone 12 having 5G along with other nifty features, so we'll see.
posted by Roger Pittman at 2:55 PM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


I have been working towards an upcoming splurge for four years. Ever so slowly, I have been acquiring bargain parts to build a greenhouse/garden shed. I have roofing material, insulation, some treated 4x4s and 2x4s and three massive 7 foot tall windows. I also have two door frames and one door. Last year's major hurricane put a stop to my plans; but now...

I have finalized drawings and am ready to submit for a zoning permit.

I'm scared of the necessary outlay of additional funds but am soooo ready to get it done before cold weather. I have always wanted somewhere to overwinter plants and start seedlings. The end of my very blank house faces due south; the shed will work perfectly there and it's also one wall already there.

And the best thing about it is that I will cut a hole in my wall to install a catflap so the snuggle bunch can enjoy rights to the full sun on cold winter days. It will be glorious.
posted by mightshould at 3:27 PM on October 13, 2019 [9 favorites]


My first set of flannel sheets ever. That was a splurge for me. They may have them in Sweden but I have not seen any. So when I was in the US recently, I enlisted my two sisters for moral support and we went to Bed Bath and Beyond so I can finally sleep between flannel seats during the winter. I am super excited. Was also excited to come back to the gorgeous autumn foliage here. The leaves are dropping quickly but I have not missed the entire show. Yay!
posted by Bella Donna at 3:49 PM on October 13, 2019 [7 favorites]


Flannel is fantastic and I highly endorse it. No more climbing into frigid sheets for me on winter nights!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:07 PM on October 13, 2019


Money and time are both tight these days so my current splurge is more in terms of time: I got books for myself at the library. I’m going to attempt the first book of Caro’s biography of LBJ. This will require putting down my phone a bunch. Which is probably good for me.
posted by sciencegeek at 5:03 PM on October 13, 2019 [11 favorites]


Today I splurged on overnight shipping for some books. Some embarrassing amount of that splurge is probably down to the level of dependence I've developed on my Prime membership.

The last few weeks have been the kind where Captain Awkward whispers in your ear: If this situation stayed exactly as it is now, how long would you stay? Another month? Six months? A year? Five years? Such a powerful question: the answer is often so obvious, like, oh my god, no, I couldn't possibly manage for that long, and then you're like... oh. Oh.
posted by eirias at 5:08 PM on October 13, 2019 [9 favorites]


I got a $25 umbrella to replace my $3 umbrella. It's better!

Also I keep buying more of those $4 succulents in cute sugar skull pots they have at Trader Joes!
posted by moonmilk at 5:24 PM on October 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


I am currently splurging on yoga classes. I found a wonderful Iyengar studio 5 minutes from my house. Im taking 'yoga for seniors' (im 51) due to my deteriorating body, and its the best thing. More expensive than I was expecting but really good.
posted by supermedusa at 6:14 PM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


Ah! I was on a vacation this weekend so was trying to limit my phone time but I am chuffed to see my question used, and the very different answers everyone has - it's such a neat glimpse into your lives.

The splurgey purchase that prompted this question for me was a Nespresso machine. I had a perfectly functioning Keurig at home (along with an Aeropress and pourover), and a functioning but slow coffeemaker at work. However, every time I saw my coworker's Nespresso or passed one at Target, I coveted one. So, I finally broke down and bought it. The coffee is fantastic, no regrets.

And (sad story alert, and a cross-post from hugging hugs thread) - I had to put one of my dogs to sleep this week, and I paid extra to get her cremated separately (I have serious doubts as to whether or not this actually happens, but whatever). I also took the day off of work Thurs, which was a necessary splurge. I tried to work from home, but I was a hot mess who wasn't really doing anything productive. My boss was cool about it though, which is good.

#FigsLoveLifeWeeklyUpdate -- Boyfriend and I took our first vacation, and it was fantastic. Here's a picture (and some nice words) of me hiking with some goats : link to Instagram . He's great, we're great, it's all great. I've had a very rough last couple of weeks, and really needed some time to get away and relax.

Hugs, congrats, high fives to everyone as applicable!
posted by Sparky Buttons at 6:47 PM on October 13, 2019 [27 favorites]


At the end of last month I splurged on a small shopping cart full of cheap Chinese electronics components, which have just now started to arrive. Among the order are some CO2 sensors, to test the theory that the air in our meeting rooms at work get foul during long meetings.
posted by dws at 7:22 PM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


I splurge a lot, but today's splurge was finally FINALLY going to the massive Korean market right next to my house that, for reasons I do not understand, I have been too anxious to visit for FIVE YEARS. Truly, I used to go to the Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Misc SoCal Asian markets in San Diego **all the time** before we moved here, and in Dallas before we moved to California, and there is no reason I should have felt bad or wrong or anxious going to this place.

Y'all, it's lovely. They have everything I needed to stock up on, the eggplant and mushrooms I can't find anywhere else, and I ended up going WAY off-budget with sushi-grade fish and stacks of banchan/tsukemono and fresh kimchi and we are about to have an a-ma-zing dinner.

Also, to tie in with an answer I haven't had a chance to post in the haunted house thread, but I'm about to buy us blisteringly expensive Front-Of-Line tickets for Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights because COME ON: Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Creepshow? We went 2 years ago and I have never seen anything with the production values that even vaguely match what Universal can do. One of my best memories of the past 4 years was the Gauntlet of Chainsaw Chuckys we had to run through on the last of 9 haunted houses. We don't have Disney passes, we never go to any of the other parks here, all our money goes to HHN because it's so amazing.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:27 PM on October 13, 2019 [7 favorites]


I bought two tabletop RPG games: Grant Howitt's Goblin Quest (you play a clutch of very foolish, very fragile goblins trying to achieve an utterly ridiculous quest), and Fiasco (a collaborative storytelling game about "small time capers gone disastrously wrong...like making your own Coen brothers movie"), along with the dice to play them with. I have spent a frankly preposterous amount of time this weekend reading these, tinkering with playsets, and getting ready to introduce them to my friends (I'm hoping to talk them into branching out from board games into occasional tabletop RPGs). It has felt like a lovely indulgence. Wish me luck.
posted by ourobouros at 8:01 PM on October 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


The dumb goose game, (ongoing) small group weight training classes that I’ll actually show up to at the gym I love, and- the big one- I just gave a more knowledgeable friend with some decent hookups a budget to shop for a new mountain bike for me at the end-of-season sales. The budget is the exact same amount as a weird automatic settlement windfall I am getting for a terrible thing that did not happen to me but could have because my university health services was terrifically awful and disbelieving of women’s complaints over decades and it seemed right to spend it on, basically, indulgent self care.
posted by charmedimsure at 8:47 PM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


I have always wanted a Poang chair from Ikea but always talked myself out of it - don’t need it, don’t have the space, don’t have the money. Those things are still all true, but I made the mistake of going to Ikea on a Wednesday with a friend go just moved and needed a few things for her new place. Reader, it was a mistake. I’ve never shopped with this friend before and it turned out to be dangerous - we egged each other’s purchases on more than we should have.

That said, I put it together last night and really am enjoying it. So that’s good! Even if I still don’t really have room for it.

I’m debating reallllllly splurging on a Glowforge. Debating the use I’d get out of it. Do I think I’ll actually have the drive to make stuff to potentially sell? Maybe si, maybe no. But I want one. But I’m also really in a lot of debt. So it’s probably a bad call.
posted by firei at 8:53 PM on October 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


This isn't a splurge in a money sense, but it is in a free time sense: I signed up for Twitter.

So far it's... good? I feel more informed but not overwhelmed. I have a place to write dumb things that pop into my head.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 9:06 PM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


shapes that haunt the dusk: the secret to twitter is to curate your following list until your stream is just things that you like. Follow too many or the wrong accounts, and you end up with just darkness and awful.

Also, go into your settings and make sure you're set to see Most Recent Tweets first, and to turn off any settings that suggest you'll see anything other than tweets and retweets (no likes or whatnot). Latest tweets with no likes/other with a following list who makes you smile makes twitter a fun place. :)
posted by hippybear at 9:14 PM on October 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


My splurge was not cancelling Amazon Prime before the free trial ended. Fall and winter are a good time to cuddle and watch TV, right?

I was gifted an incomplete drum kit via my local "buy nothing" group which led to my husband splurging on new heads, cymbals and stands so now has the complete drum set of his dreams and is ready to rawk!
posted by vespabelle at 9:37 PM on October 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


I bought $20 mango shampoo (13.5 fl oz). I know that's not, like, the upper limit on shampoo
cost, but it's wild to me.
That is, shampoo that smells like mangoes, not shampoo for mangoes.

This reminds me-- last week, a friend pulled a mango out of her backpack and handed it to me. I'd assumed it was a gift. No, she was just showing me her mango. It was an ordinary mango.
posted by typify at 10:56 PM on October 13, 2019 [13 favorites]


I spent 20 minutes playing trombone with my son, who officially started about 2 weeks ago. It might not sound like much, but I *never* get to be home early enough to do so.

So Friday night, right at 7:50, we sat down and played a B flat, then out to 6th for C, and then up to 4th for D 3rd for E flat... and then worked really hard to hit the F.

His aumbichure needs work, but he's got a solid tone. I want to replace his mouthpiece already. And i need to get my trombone repaired - well... cared for. That will have to wait until after next week, but yeah - excitement!
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:00 PM on October 13, 2019 [9 favorites]


now I want to buy me an aumbichure
posted by Namlit at 11:49 PM on October 13, 2019


If every time you changed your mind about buying the guitar you put some small outlay of cash out of your pocket into a savings jar

Oh, you adults and your logical plans. We would just find another thing that needs that money. A new bed, for example, so my back doesn't hurt so much.

Just start a jar for the bed, you might be saying to yourself. But then there's that thermostat for the heater that we need to replace.

So now there's a jar for the thermostat.

And then there's the plumber -- the kitchen sink is constant trouble and the bathroom sink needs a new U-bend. So we need a jar for the plumber. Maybe we can use the jar catching the drip under the current U-bend.

But now I need to get a new shelf for the jars, because we have only so much space for jars. But that means I need to start a jar for the jar shelf.

And I'm running out of jars. So I need a jar jar.

Binks!
posted by pracowity at 1:53 AM on October 14, 2019 [5 favorites]


The splurge was a few months ago, on the last leg of our holiday. I was going to write this big justification about buying new cast iron. But it doesn’t matter because while shopping on the morning of departure, I found what I wanted: French blue cocotte by Staub.

Then my mister found this and my holiday ended perfectly. Victorinox swivel knife block with book/pad ledge.

My life is (temporarily) complete. Until the next splurge.
posted by lemon_icing at 4:22 AM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


I'm splurging my time on Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle. I'm halfway through the second book (on my third try!) and damn it, I'm committed!
posted by kinsey at 5:38 AM on October 14, 2019 [5 favorites]


Oh, here's something fun for a Metatalktail: I got the best random email on Friday, from a high school student who's enrolled in a year-long class on how to do independent research. They found my very first journal article, somehow, which is related to their topic, and connected it to me, somehow, despite the fact that in the intervening years I've changed both my name and my research, and they wanted to know if I could be their advisor for the class project. Aw. I told them, you can probably find someone more current, but if not I'd be happy to help. Someone out there is getting a good education!
posted by eirias at 5:46 AM on October 14, 2019 [5 favorites]


I started having cleaners come for two hours every week and, miracle of miracles, I got one of the coveted FRIDAY spots! Now my house is magically presentable every weekend! Life changing. I can't stop talking about how great it is.
posted by HotToddy at 6:38 AM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


Haha HotToddy the only window that worked for me is a Friday, and I am so looking forward to a super clean place every weekend!
posted by ellieBOA at 6:49 AM on October 14, 2019 [2 favorites]


I splurged for my wife (about a week ago) and bought her a Switch Lite as an early birthday gift. Now she can play all kinds of games. I picked turquoise by the way. :)
posted by Fizz at 7:04 AM on October 14, 2019 [4 favorites]


We haven't been splurging too much lately, due to our new car payment. We are awaiting a cash infusion from an estate, but not holding our breath. It's been going on since 2012. The executor passed away last year, and the attorney didn't notify the court until (we think) 6 months later! Then he appointed the executor's widow as the new executor, because she knows all about it. It might be drawing to a close soon, as all that's left are to do the taxes and figure out how much the attorney's fees will be (the original attorney left his practice and brought this case with him, so there will be a bill from that practice and this attorney). It won't be a huge amount, but it's enough to replace the down payment for the car, and other expenditures we've made this year, like my husband's new power lift chair, which was necessary, but unexpected. Then there will be a nice dinner out, and some shopping, but the bulk will be left in savings, in case of life happening.

But! Earlier this year, I got a new camera, and haven't been using it much lately. Yesterday, we drove around the area and did some leaf peeping, all within a few miles of home. We started off at the junction of 2 roads in a nearby town, then we took a road that meanders up the hill opposite our house on the lake. There are lots of farms, and some ponds.

Did the laundry, then drove to a local preserve, which we've passed many times, but not stopped at before. I was only going to take a few photos, but ended up walking a 1/2 mile loop trail through the fields. The path was wide, and mowed, and I was huffing and puffing along, in my flip flops and a t-shirt, as it was in the mid-60's, with no breeze, so I didn't need a jacket.

These are some of the photos I got. Been going through them since last night, and those are the ones that I thought stood out the most. Was delighted to find a photobombing grasshopper in one photo, which I didn't see until I brought it up on my laptop. Also, I got some exercise. We'll definitely be going back to this preserve, as there are other paths that go through the woods, but since Mr. Mon Dieu was waiting in the car, I didn't want to go further. It's a really lovely place!

One week from today is our 13th wedding anniversary. We are going to go to Dick's to see if I can find some nice winter boots on sale. I've been wearing Mucks snow boots for the past several years, but they don't grip very well on ice or slippery surfaces. I'd like some grippy soles, and something with a little ankle support.

After that, we'll probably stop at Olive Garden for lunch. It's close to the shopping center, and there are no really great restaurant choices near our town, unless you count gas station pizza and subs. That will be our splurge until the extra moola comes our way. We fully expect delays again, as all we've gotten is twice-a-year letters from the attorney, with lots of excuses as to why it's delayed again, and emails go unanswered, phone calls not returned, and we're not sure why it's been so long and drawn out, except for maybe the original executor was too ill to deal with it on a regular basis, but there's no way of knowing. It's just grit our teeth and hurry up and wait.

In the meantime, I've started cleaning up the front dooryard and little flower beds. I'm going to plant some bulbs: tulips, hyacinth, and iris. I'm also going to bring the suet feeder up from the lower yard and put it closer to the door, so I can fill it in the winter, and maybe see some birds and practice more bird photography. I've already brought up the snow shovel, ice melt, and ice chipper, and emptied out my planter, which held some very leggy impatiens. I clipped some of the impatiens stems and rooted them in water, and will be potting them up and seeing if they will survive indoors this winter. Brought my rosemary, sage, and mint plants inside, and trimmed them. They're sitting in the big picture window, which gets the most sunlight.

Still have many craft projects ahead: started crocheting a little neck warmer, which I'll put a button on, and have yet to really get into using my rotary tool. I was sick with a nasty cold virus for over 2 weeks recently, and now it's playing catch-up on housework. I dream of having a cleaning service come in and do my floors and clean my bathroom. I did write down the number of a help-at-home service, which advertises everything from housework to giving rides to appointments. If that money comes in soonish, I might do that one time, to help me get caught up. Until then, will just do a it a little at a time, as my energy returns. But getting outside and walking around yesterday was wonderful!
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:22 AM on October 14, 2019 [5 favorites]


I took some of my friends and some of my girlfriends friends to an escape room. It was their first time meeting.

Woo.

Oh and I bought my mom a visit from a baby goat on the day of my parents wedding anniversary.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 8:30 AM on October 14, 2019 [5 favorites]


Putting together my fall wardrobe! This is not something I've ever really properly done before, but i'm trying to go by the capsule wardrobe principle of buying pieces that will go with several other things for lots of permutations. Before this I stuck with a lot of sheath dresses and coordinating cardigans and tights because it was easy, I'm trying to branch out into more interesting stuff.

Pencil skirts:
Charcoal pinstripe
Olive
Black and red plaid
Black and white polka dot
Boho print
Brown plaid

Shell tops:
Ivory cowl neck ruched
Blue keyhole lace inset
Hunter green v-neck
Burgundy button v-neck
Also got this sweet oxford!

Cardigans (I'm a librarian and have about two dozen already, these are just colors I didn't have yet):
Charcoal heather
Mustard yellow
Green (much more olive than the bright green pictured)
Brown
Rainbow/navy (this might be a weekend sweater to wear with jeans)

Boots:
Black high heeled bootie
Mushroom medium heeled bootie
I also have tall black and brown boots that will be in heavy rotation when it gets cooler., and some mary janes in olive, dark red, and black that I wear a lot.

Today I am wearing this and this with these and this and these.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:31 AM on October 14, 2019 [9 favorites]


My birthday occurs next week and I am feeling mopey and jet lagged on my third night home. So I am splurging again by getting a year’s pass to movies at the Film Institute in Stockholm (it has raised its prices for individual movies which is how I am justifying it but honestly, going to films is the one thing that reliably brings me joy and I am a chronically depressed person).

The other splurge of sorts was getting the courage up to ask two folks I used to work with if we could have lunch together on my bday. I know they like me and I have helped celebrate their bdays in the past. So we are going to do something together, and what we do doesn’t really matter. I just don’t want to be alone when I can hang out with two people who like me.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:41 AM on October 14, 2019 [6 favorites]


I'm splurging my time on Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle. I'm halfway through the second book (on my third try!) and damn it, I'm committed!

kinsey there was a spot in the 2nd book that really bogged down for me and I had a hard time getting through. if this happens to you please power through!! the 3rd book is sooo awesome, its very worth that slog to get to.
posted by supermedusa at 9:04 AM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


Bought another milling machine, because this one has a CNC'ed fourth axis and manual indexing is the work of the devil.
posted by aramaic at 10:08 AM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


As a side sleeper, over the years I've messed around (and spent a fair chunk of dough) trying to figure out how to get a pain-free night's rest. This is my latest attempt, in the hope that a hammock will cradle me more evenly than every bed setup I've tried so far.

Oooo, yes, let's talk side sleeping in hammocks!

Start with these things - a longer hammock and one that is also fairly wide when full spread. You see this in central/south american style woven hammocks where the eye to eye distance tends to be about 2, 4 or even 6 feet longer than a typical american camping/backpacking hammock as I've seen them. The bed area also tends to be wider and longer. I can only barely stretch out to touch either end, so it's about 8ish feet long just for the woven fabric bed part, and it's maybe 3, 3.5 feet wide... wider than a closed full size rectangular sleeping bag, say.

Another thing to note is that a hammock bed really should be rectangular when laid flat, if naturally gathered into a pouch by the yoke under a load. I've seen some modern or cheaper backpacking or pocket hammocks that save fabric and try to engineer a pouch shape and i don't find them to be as comfortable as bed replacements. They're great because they're tiny and more portable and generally more comfortable than camping pads or no furniture at all.

But you want that extra fabric for the reasons below.

When you hang it, hang it almost as long as possible. You actually want very little curve or arch in the hammock. Not perfectly flat, because that will make it unstable and wobbly, but just a gentle, wide arc. If you hang the hammock too short it will be a very steep and uncomfortable arch and you will be forced to be scrunched into a ball all the time.

Height from the ground is less important than that arch, but you can often find a perfect balance so that sitting in the hammock sideways with your feet on the ground is also very comfortable, as is entering/exiting the hammock.

The ideal hammock hang seems to benefit from at least a foot or two of straight line from the eyes to your hooks or trees or whatever. I have not seen a furniture style hammock stand that is long enough for this, and those seem to be designed for flat, spreader bar style lawn/garden/patio hammocks. (Which are also usually highly unstable hammocks thanks to the short length and wide width and spreader bars!)

My inside hang right now is probably like 14-16+ feet from hook to hook and there's about a foot of line on either end from the eyes/loops of the hammock.

The next trick is how to lay in the hammock. The most comfortable position isn't always obvious, and laying in a straight line down the center of the hammock on your back is almost never it.

Lay at a gentle angle, like 10-15 degrees or more across the hammock, and there's a line in there where the hammock will be almost flat under load.

Try laying in that flat, angled line across the halfway between your side and back, which is a thing that you can do in a hammock. Try different angles and limb positions till you snuggle into something without any pressure points. I think I like this one the best. I have wide shoulders and wide everything and I don't even know what cramped shoulders and necks from sleeping are any more, and this position has effectively zero pressure points or stress.

You can even lay on your stomach sometimes with the right angle, or close to it.

Another fun hammock trick: when laying on your side at an angle like this if your turn to face the inside of the hammock where the far side will now be higher than your near side that you're laying on, your hammock may have some folds of extra cloth there.

You can wedge your free elbow, hand or whole arm in one of those folds or otherwise arrange the folds to act kind of like a comfortable body pillow. The first time I discovered that one it was brilliant.

Get a smaller pillow like a neck pillow or travel pillow, or even a small roll or tube pillow if you like. Full bed sized pillows are often too large. A smaller, narrower pillow seems to be more ideal for cradling one's head and neck and adding just a little altitude and support in addition to the incline of the hammock.

Great now I kind of want to go take a nap. You flatland sleepers have no idea what you're missing!
posted by loquacious at 11:30 AM on October 14, 2019 [11 favorites]


I spent all day Saturday in Detroit, just emptying my head out. Brunch at Dime Store - Ginger Absinthe Mimosa and a Duck Reuben. Wandering about to gawk at architecture, most notably inside the Guardian Building. Floor (Row S) at the historic Fox Theater for the 20th Anniversary Tour of RENT.

It was precisely what I needed after some stressful weeks!
posted by MissySedai at 12:52 PM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


Height from the ground is less important than that arch

Unless your butt's hitting the ground! :)

It'll take me a few nights to really get the hang (ha!) of this, I'm sure. But I can tell you that I woke up this morning after my first night in the hammock without any back or joint pain at all, so that's a big win! The only downside was that it was kind of chilly since there was no insulation under me other than the canvas of the hammock itself - I'll definitely be putting a wool blanket under me tonight.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:25 PM on October 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


It looks so pretty on my pedalboard, which I designed and CNC-fabbed in lieu of a midlife crisis last year.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, that is a sweet pedalboard, signal.

I bought a DS-1 boss guitar pedal. I don't need more guitar pedals in general and I certainly don't need any more distortion pedals.

I mean, not to put ideas in your head (*evil chuckle*) but DS-1's are dirt cheap (especially used) and really easily modded if you're at all capable of using a soldering iron, so . . . . you could certainly have more and different distortion pedals without spending a ton of money. (Need? Feh. Need is in the eye of the beholder.)
posted by soundguy99 at 3:46 PM on October 14, 2019


Thanks! And by all means, please put more ideas in my head.
posted by signal at 4:31 PM on October 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


Feh. Need is in the eye of the beholder.

A full list of The Edge's 65 effects pedals he uses.
posted by hippybear at 9:15 PM on October 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


Since I retired and started to get my company pension, after a couple of poverty-stricken unemployed years I've been buying a lot of clothes. Mostly necessary stuff like trousers and pajamas, but the unnecessary splurge items have included a blue velvet coat, a (fake) fur-lined jacket and a long moss-green leather skirt. I look ridiculous in all of them, but I don't really care.
posted by Fuchsoid at 2:51 AM on October 15, 2019 [7 favorites]


I wasn't feeling well this weekend and did about nothing, which is a splurge in and of itself, but I did some online shopping during this nothing, and bought Dior Nail Glow which I first heard of last week in some comments on the green. Empirically not that much money for me, but for a nail treatment like whoa.

Seriously cannot wait for it to arrive and go on my hands, which are one of my nicest features.
posted by wellred at 5:40 AM on October 15, 2019 [3 favorites]


I'm taking time I don't really have today to proofread a friend's NSF grant and then run around this afternoon doing "something fun" (the only specification) with said friend. Totally worth it.
posted by joycehealy at 8:19 AM on October 15, 2019 [4 favorites]


Minnesota has a new government initiative called “Lawns to Legumes,” where starting next year you can get $$ to help convert your yard from grass to pollinator-friendly alternatives. I converted half of my yard this year but planned to wait to do the rest until next year and hopefully get some free money for seeds/plants. But then high schoolers and Greta were leading the global climate strike, and I felt like I should do something, too. So I decided to take advantage of fall planting/seed sowing time and just GET IT DONE - I took some days off of work, rented the hardware store sod cutter for $20, and spent two days cutting out most of my remaining grass. Then I splurged and ordered a dozen bare root plants in addition to my native meadow seed mixes to jumpstart things in the spring. Soon I will have elderberry, prairie ninebark, dogwood, and button bush twigs to plant, plus some bare root wildflowers, then I will sow the seeds before it snows, and I hope everything blooms next year.
posted by Maarika at 8:53 AM on October 15, 2019 [13 favorites]


I recently splurged (not Splunged) ~$3000 on cataract surgery for my left eye. You might think that it's not really a splurge. But considering that it wiped out our savings and entailed borrowing money, I'm going to allow it. :)

Having depth perception and being able to watch TV without glasses for the first time in decades makes it worth it. And the colors, so bright! Truly magical.
posted by Splunge at 9:43 AM on October 15, 2019 [10 favorites]


Baby Objects threw up all over me and most of it got on my old fitbit and band. Even after a thorough wipe down...I just couldn't wear it without thinking of the incident. So I splurged on a new FB Versa 2, and I love it. Responsive, great battery life, no regrets.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 10:59 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]


Oh! I also recently splurged on a 4-pack of coozies from Elizabeth Warren's campaign merchandise because one of them says WARREN HAS A CAN FOR THAT and I truly could not resist.
posted by palomar at 1:02 PM on October 15, 2019 [11 favorites]


I recently splurged on airfare and a fancy hotel room to join my aunt on her annual pilgrimage to see Johnny Mathis, where we will meet the man himself. It will be amazing.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:37 PM on October 15, 2019 [5 favorites]


Food. I got the last couple ingredients I needed to make a bunch of soups and stews and baked things; I don't know if it counts as "splurging" if making these things helped me clean out some pantry items that have been lingering around in my cupboards for a while, but it's got me a well-stocked fridge so yay.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:03 PM on October 16, 2019 [2 favorites]


It will be amazing.

That's not for you to say.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:05 PM on October 16, 2019 [3 favorites]


Having depth perception and being able to watch TV without glasses for the first time in decades makes it worth it. And the colors, so bright! Truly magical.

YAY!!

I had both of mine out in March. It's a wonderful thing to be able to see properly!
posted by MissySedai at 9:36 PM on October 16, 2019 [3 favorites]


I finally bought a digital subscription to The Atlantic. I've been so unemployed for so long and whenever I've hit the monthly free article limit I've wished I could splash out on a subscription.

Also this week I have the perfect trifecta of appointments with people who make me feel better: my therapist, my drug-prescriber and my hair-whisperer. And after so long I can use my debit card instead of my credit card. I think that makes it a double-trifecta. Is that a sexfecta? Ooh, maybe I even got laid!
posted by bendy at 11:17 PM on October 16, 2019 [1 favorite]


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