[liljimmytables]

"What is the right price for some of the items you value?" This question has changed its meaning for me in recent months, as I'm saving up to fund some {pre-,}incubation work in the new year. Ordinary things like "a shiny new phone" through to "getting the roof fixed" are now being framed in terms of a week's work at minimum wage. So far there have been very few things as important as a week's work, and as a result the things I love are being fulfilled in slightly strange ways. I now know a whole load about quality homebrewing. My music collection is filling out with all the albums I never got around to buying in my teens (thank you, charity shops). And buying new gadgets has been replaced with writing a few apps and revving the firmware. It's made me more aware that I don't really want _that_ book or _that_ device, but that I will be content with anything that stimulates me and makes me feel richer in the areas I care about. And on the whole, "you could do a week's work for that" has been the perfect whip to keep my tech covetousness at bay.

If this post reads smug or pious it wasn't my intention, you can bet I will be right off the wagon as soon as the new project is up and running...