My Costly Hobby & Me

Greetings, Travelers

If you read my previous post, you're aware that I was recently disappointed with the disappointing conclusion with my laptop's keyboard issue being an issue with the motherboard which deprived me the joy of tinkering with it properly since I don't want to risk bricking my daily driver. That was also soured by the fact that I already bought the spare parts for it. So it is no surprise that I was a little nervous about doing another tinkering project. But, I happen to have some extra money on me and a problem that has been in my backlog for a while, which is replacing some spare parts on my moped which I use for travel in my city from time to time. I apparently learnt nothing from last time and already bought the parts and tools I need for it, which are simple panels and a new headlight.

I have always had a healthy interest tinkering with things, which is rather costly. I currently have a simple sewing kit, a small screwdriver kit for dissecting electronics, and a big screwdriver kit on the way for the aforementioned moped tinkering shenanigans. They're not cheap tools, but I have always loved tinkering whenever I have the chance to. My dream has always been to own a desktop PC not because of their beefy specs, but because of the ability to build and upgrade. Even if I have yet to ever patch a software on my own, I use FOSS because I like the fact that I can if I ever need to. I find it empowering that with some initial "investment" in tools and a can-do attitude, I can repair and/or modify the things that I currently posses. But I am rambling about this now to kinda justify it to myself because I often do it rather recklessly considering my mediocre income.

I sometimes dream of living in a post-capitalistic abundant utopia world where I can study different skills and tinker with various things without worrying too much about costs. Products would be designed to be repairable and modifiable, tools can be borrowed from a communal library, and people (myself included) would have a lot more free time available to pursue mundane interest without worrying about profitability of their actions since their livelihood is not dependent on profits. I know that being rich within capitalism is probably the easier fantasy to conjure if I just wanted access to the costly hobby of tinkering, but I've been making an effort to try to imagine life outside of capitalism because one of the phrase that has been ringing in my head often is "It is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of Capitalism". I took it as a personal challenge and an exercise in revolutionary optimism, though I admit it is not really rooted in materialism.

Anyways, I hope you can access your favorite hobbies without feeling anxious for your livelihood As always, stay curious, be kind, and farewell traveler.

Yours Truly.
Andira Rahman