Ah, finally feeling like myself again. I’ve been sick for the past 5-6 days, barely able to sit at the computer—or anywhere else, for that matter. My days have been a cycle of sleeping in bed, dozing on the couch, and occasionally watching YouTube.

But hey, Black Friday sales have started here in Bulgaria, and browsing through thousands and thousands of discounted items is always exciting, isn’t it? This is how they get us, I’m telling you. But I consider myself a patient buyer. Sometimes I wait years for an item to hit the right price before I finally buy it. That said, this year, I surprised even myself.

You see, I’m 34 now (cue existential dread—deep breaths… ahhh…) and started making some proper “adult money” 2-3 years ago. Granted, with the current inflation, it’s starting to feel less “proper,” but let’s save that discussion for another time. Anyway, living with my lovely and wonderful fiancé, we’ve been focused on turning our place into our love nest. No more holding onto the furniture or house items our parents loved but let’s be real. We’ve been staring at it since childhood. (A topic for another day: why do we dislike the furniture our parents probably adore as much as we cherish our own belongings?)

Over the past few years, we’ve built a space filled with things that we wanted—a nice TV with a decent soundbar, a cozy couch, a new bedroom set with a lovely mattress, and even a vinyl player I bought last Christmas for myself (Essentials, I swear). Each year, there was always something we were working toward, something essential we were saving for.

But this year, it hit me: we’re done. All the “necessary” household items are already here. Even my PC finally got it’s “last” upgrade (yes, the video card—it hurt, emotionally and financially).
Oh my goodness—I said to myself—For the first time, there wasn’t anything big left to plan or dream about. Of course, there are always “nice-to-haves,” but the essentials? Done.

Oh my goodness—I said to myself again—I had been saving up for Black Friday, ready to splurge* on something. But after hours of browsing, nothing caught my eye. Well I’m always taking a look at cool gadgets we don’t possess, you know, research purposes.
And that was, until I stumbled into the hobby section. Oh boy. Tanks, airplanes, Viking ships, Star Wars models—paints, brushes, primers, glue, everything at sweet, sweet discounts.

(*splurge- an act of spending money freely)

So, being the responsible adult that I am, I did what the responsible adult should do: I bought two model kits, dozens of paints, brushes, glue, primer, glue remover, paint remover, and a few other small stuff. Winter is coming, after all, and one must be prepared for the inevitable darkness, depression and cold. What better way to prepare than tanks, paint-covered fingers, and… a glass of good Bulgarian red wine? Naturally.

Oh, and let me tell you about Revell—the hobby company that just happily emptied my wallet. They have six Excel pages worth of paints. How do I know this? Well, after buying my model kits, I realized I needed the specific paints to match. Each model requires 6-7 different colors, and while I already had a small collection from previous builds, I ended up buying 20 more shades. So—I created a system to track the paints I have so I don’t accidentally buy duplicates in the future. Smart, eh? I’m pretty proud of that one.

Now, with my workbench finally cleared (thanks to the new shelf I mentioned in a previous post), I can’t wait to get started. Once all the supplies arrive, I’ll dive in and use the hell out of that workbench.

So, where was I going with this? Ah yes—hobbies. Hobbies are a wonderful thing, especially if you find yourself thinking, “Gee, Commodore, I can’t spend my money on anything!” Well, do I have a solution for you. For the small price of most of your savings, you too can have an infinite source of entertainment and joy. And at the end of the day, isn’t that the point? The meaning of life if you will. Finding joy in what we do while we’re still here.

Stay safe out there folks.
Commodore Bo, out.