Today was my wife’s first day back home after a month in Brazil (way too long!). I’m still kicking myself for not planning ahead with the visa—live and learn. We kept things low-key, did some shopping for her… and then, as we were heading out of the mall, I wandered into a watch boutique just to browse.
That’s when I saw it: the Shinola “Runwell” chronograph in blue.
I’ve always loved the story behind Shinola—resurrecting that cheeky old shoe polish name and assembling their watches in gritty Detroit. I asked the price… but didn’t care. After a month of lonely drudgery, I wanted to do something spontaneous and fun. A few minutes later, it was on my wrist.
It’s the first watch I’ve ever bought completely on impulse—and I knew instantly: this is the one.
Here it is… Might not be everyone’s thing, but it’s totally mine.
So how about you? Ever treated yourself to something fun and totally unplanned?
That’s a pretty blue color, the kind of watch my dad would’ve liked in his prime.
Most of what I buy on impulse are games: video games, board games, escape games… way too many of all of those! Board games, in particular, are that interesting overlap between “experience” and “thing you can buy, own, and touch” (plus re-use and re-experience again and again). They usually average $50-$100, so not quite watch-level prices, but still quite a hefty chunk.
We recently went to Italy for a work trip, and came back with:
A super-tacky “sexy gladiators” calendar from a tourist trap in Rome
Three heavy-ass board games that took up our entire souvenirs bag… sigh. But hopefully that means hours and hours of fun!
Not so much on a whim because I’m kitting out my new garage. I’ve never had a garage, now my wife and I each have our own 2 car garage.
Anyway, for the last 33 years, I’ve had a tool shed. No electricity or windows. It ultimately ends up being a disorganized disaster. Tripping over stuff and a work bench that is just covered with tools.
So I bought a very nice standing toolbox with drawers, It’s got outlets built into it for my battery chargers. And I started counting up my screwdrivers alone. I have 100 of them. I bought pegboard too. 6 different hammers.
I remember the first time I walked into one of their stores; Holy $#! + is their stuff overpricedly (is too a word) expensive!
Track is looking good; now need to work on the scenery
I, ahem, *splurged* on made-for-me [cologne](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=f7156635f6e9a261&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1157US1157&q=spiderman+eau+de+toilette&udm=2)
don’t know why it won’t format the italics or link properly
Yep. Fortunately this place was selling them for 25% off, so it wasn’t the list price from Shinola’s website, but even that is expensive. If you can find an expensive little boutique jewelry place at the mall selling at $200 less than the website’s price then their website prices are wildly inflated.
I have looked at their watches for years thinking “too darned expensive to justify” and walked on by. Yesterday I saw the one that matched my style to a T and I said “take my money…please!”
Maybe not the most fun of all time, but the most satisfying purchase recently-- a couple months ago I went with my wife to Costco. I usually don’t even go with her, but I needed a new pair of shoes or something so I went to see what they had in stock. There was a HexClad pot and pan display and they were having a sale, so I bought a 9-piece pan set, which included a wok-style pan- that I now use all the time.
Despite the fact I love to cook, I’ve only ever had crappy hand-me-down or second-hand purchased pots and pans, so the HexClad pans have been revelatory. The searing ability, the durability, the non-stick quality- including ease of cleaning, the fact you can put them in the oven, they make cooking more fun, and have really upped my game.
(No, I’m not Gordon Ramsey, or a paid influencer for the brand )
A coworker does fostering of itty bitty kitties for the local shelter and about 2 years ago she brought a batch by our store on her way back from a vet visit to get a little socialization. All kittens are cute but I immediately fell in love with a little blue-cream calico girl and had to have her. Tiny Agnes Dustbunny is now one of my nap buddies and my best girl (don’t tell the others!).
Definitely $10 well spent
Basically, you can’t grow okra in this country without a (possibly heated) greenhouse, and I don’t have one. But as I explained to a friend, my reasoning was:
“Okra?? You can’t grow okra in this country - that’s stupid! I’ll do it.”
Not really on whims - a LITTLE time and thought went into them. But utterly unnecessary and both gave me considerable joy. (And I tend not to be too into “things.” My watch - an IWC titanium pilot’s watch, and my '62 Corvair. (The watch cost twice as much as the car. I still have the watch! ;))
For my birthday last fall, I went to the local mall and spent a few hundred dollars at the Lego store…and then spent ~$1K at Tiffany’s. All purchases were unplanned, and all made me equally happy. I guess the Lego would be considered more fun, though.
I’m a single, childless, debt-free, middle-aged senior project manager (and line manager): I’m not wealthy, but I can afford for my whims to sometimes be a little splurge-y.
I went to an auction with my eye on an antique trunk in the flyer. I ended up buying a farm! I’d been half-heartedly looking at acreage because my the barn I boarded my horse at was going downhill, but I really hadn’t prepared to buy a farm one weekend.
I bought a piranha while on vacation in Colorado. I was at the register paying for some items at a tourist curio shop when I spied the fish behind the cashier. I asked her how much it was and when she said $100 I looked my wife straight in the eyes and bought it. It’s hanging in my home office right now.
My first two cars were 1975 Fiat 124 Spider convertibles—both orange, both used, both lovable little troublemakers. I totaled the first (long story, bad ending), then immediately bought another. Loved those cars!
Before all that, my very first ride was a Honda 360 motorcycle. Zippy in theory, but in practice, I felt like a weenie buzzing around on that underpowered lawnmower. On a whim, I sold it and picked up a used Kawasaki Z1 900 from a motivated seller. Now that was a bike.
Several years ago I was visiting friends in Nova Scotia and we went for an afternoon drive in the country. One farmhouse had a small yard sale set up at the end of their lane so we stopped to check it out. I ended up buying a used Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard for $10 (Casio SK-1 - Wikipedia) which I kept for about 15 years before giving it to one of my nephews.
While I hardly used it, my wife and I used to dress up for Halloween and sit on our front porch giving out candy. We would sample ourselves moaning and screaming and then I’d play short arpeggios on it as the groups of kids came up our front walk.
I hadn’t bought a gun in quite a while. Just today I bought an HK USP compact in .45 ACP.
I happened to be driving by my local gun store today. Wasn’t planning on going there, but my routing today took me right past it. On a whim, I stopped in. The compact .45 was there, and I bought it.
I was in and out of the store in about only 10 minutes. That was fun!
)
