Back in 2018 I had a bout of stress where I felt like retail therapy would really help, but ended up not buying anything. I'm having another one of those bouts right now. Like, it's really bad. And as I mentioned back then, my approach to this is totally inverted. It used to be that I should have been more discretionary about buying stuff because of everything else. Now I can afford to be relaxed about it, but instead I'm more discretionary than I used to be.
This time I keep mulling over buying a gaming computer, in advance of Planet Coaster 2 coming out. Last year I gave Simon the rig that I built in 2019, and because I bought an expensive-ish video card, it's still pretty great. It might even be a little wasted on things like Roblox and Train Sim World, which aren't super demanding. I spent around $1,600 on that computer, which isn't bad considering how well it still works. But as I've been writing for the last two years, and after passing that computer along, it's hard getting the gaming situation right. Late last year I bought the handheld Legion Go, and an Xbox Series X shortly thereafter. When I bought the dual-screen Asus laptop for the lighting stuff, it turned out that it was adequate for gaming that didn't have a huge 3D component. The scenario not covered is any kind of mouse-and-keyboard game with heavy 3D usage, like city builders and other building sims, or Planet Coaster 2.
So I start going down this rabbit hole, starting with the idea that I would not build my own thing again. So I happened to find a desktop deal from Lenovo that had a $3,200 machine going for $1,900, and that was with a video card that is ordinarily a grand by itself. Basically I'd just go back to Windows on my desk and sell the Mac Mini. But then, there are solid gaming laptops well under $1,500. The screens tend to be non-touch and lower resolutions, but they'll run games well enough. I'd have three different laptops then for different purposes, which seems insane.
In any case, I backed away, and didn't buy anything. Not saying that I won't. I could buy some more lights, various Lego sets, furniture... lots of more useful things. I've finished many video games this year, probably more than in the prior five years combined. They keep my mind and hands busy when the world feels heavy, and it feels very heavy lately. Unfortunately it means not coding or editing the doc. It's just where I am this year.
My spend-to-escape strategy in recent years hasn't been to buy stuff, it has been to travel, especially short-term, luxury kind of arrangements (often DCL cruises). Heck, even our DC trip was kinda like that in March, because the hotel, restaurants and bars were generally premium. I'm just not sure where to go next.
I miss the satisfaction of spending an hour in a Best Buy or CompUSA in the late 90's and coming home with stuff that provided a somewhat enduring dopamine hit.
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