Buying a dream

I’m not deluded….well not that deluded. I understand why the purchase is not rational. I throw my hands in the air and give logic a big poke in the eye. I’m going to buy it anyway.

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I bought a planer from one of Dawn’s coworkers. It’s brand-spanking new and has never been used or even taken out of the box. It was a good price, a couple hundred less than buying it at the store. While I don’t strictly have a use for one right now….it seemed like a good tool to acquire for the future.

For those of you who are as ignorant about planers as I was until recently - a planer cleans up rough faces of lumber and creates a smooth surface. It is also capable of reducing the thickness of a board. How wonderfully unessential to my day-to-day life.

To me though, it’s not just buying a woodworking tool that I probably don’t need. It’s buy a dream that I might one day live a life were I don’t bounce between work and school and homework in a never ending soul crushing loop. It’s investing in a life where I can decide to go and goof off in the garage….without necessarily making anything more useful than a board which I probably could have bought in the first place. It’s buying the illusion of having the luxury of time. What a powerfully attractive illusion that is.

So, yeah, I get that it’s probably not a smart purchase. The planer is not going to generate interest or accrue value during its period of disuse. I just plain don’t care. However, if anyone has dimensional lumber sitting around that happens to be a bit too thick….you know who to call.