Postponing Solutions When They Seem Like “Too Much Work”

So I wrote about being annoyed by Microsoft suggesting that I need to buy a new computer in order to accommodate Windows 11.

Having vented about that for a bit, I sat back and took a more objective view of the situation that's unfolding.

I do, in fact, have a pretty old computer. Taking a gander at the system setup, the processor in here dates to 2013. In the fast moving world of technology that's pretty much the Stone Age!

Thus — independently of Microsoft's suggestion — the time has probably come where I need to get myself a new computer... in the not too distant future.

In the past, my process has always been to load up on a system that is vastly overpowered relative to the work I'm doing. My logic behind doing so is that by buying way more machine than I need it will end up being approximately the tech I actually need in four or five years, and subsequently not become totally obsolete for maybe a decade or more.

I have never been a fan of the process of buying something that is bottom of the barrel and then replacing it every other year. Or perhaps even more frequently.

Mostly, my reticence in following that latter approach is that it just seems like too much work.

Whereas I realize that suitcasing machines has gotten easier over the years, it's just very time consuming to port everything you need from one machine to another... and I'd just as well not do so.

Of course, these days, most people insist that you just need to keep all your stuff in the cloud and not have anything that is resident to your system. As such, you wouldn't actually need to do anything more than buy a very basic machine that could run all the stuff that resides elsewhere.

I suppose this is where my edge of suspicion and "tinfoil hat paranoia" sets in a little bit.

Part of that has to do with the fact that we live out in the middle of nowhere and are surrounded by woods and we get a lot of wind... so losing connectivity is a pretty common occurrence around here. Given that most of my work is on a computer I can't afford to just "be without" on a regular basis.

I took a quick look around the HP website — because I like HP's product and that's also my current computer — and I "test configured" a system to approximately meet the needs that should take me forwards for at least another six to eight years. And that came to $800-some, so rounding up to $1000 once you include tax and shipping.

Of course we don't have $1000 idly laying around "just in case" we need a new computer, so that would suggest having to save up for it.

The way I figure it, I don't need to buy it right away, but it would be nice to have it at the end of next year. So that means the actual $1000 would be needed in about 18 months. That would be the "savings goal."

So how do you save $1000 when you already live a life where virtually every penny counts to just keep things floating? That seems like a LOT of work! Right now, I have $6.86 (HBD) in savings...

That's what I'm considering this weekend!

Thanks for coming to visit, and do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!

=^..^=

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Posted with proof of brain