Spotify Premium subscription and a warm house and room to enjoy it in aswell as some nice headphones or speakers I find music is one of the most important things to me.
It can be a curse though - there's no going back. I ordered a 1200TC set of bedding as a treat (partially out of curiosity), and had to promptly order another the first time it was time to change them and put on the other set of "normal" sheets. A down duvet is another thing I struggle to do without. When I'm staying in hotels, I have to crank the AC as low as it will go just to get a half-decent night's sleep with their heavy, thick duvets.
A cigar, a good beer and good company. An expensive set of speakers and headphones is also a great thing to have. And a nice pair of shoes. Silk ties? I dunno.
My Grandad was beaten at school until he wrote with his right hand. He met the teacher at a train station several years after leaving school and beat him to a pulp...With his left hand of course! Finer things i enjoy: A good cup of tea (made correctly of course). As some others have said, that 30 minutes in bed when you know you don't have to get up (Helps if there is someone to get lost in the sheets with). Decent chocolate! A good book. A good debate. A good live set (it dosn't even have to be a band i know). Edit: Nature walks with the girlfriend, we are going on one in half an hour or so!
In light of the references to spoiling/curses I've been prompted to post - not to say "I'm above all that" but just to provide some balance. I have hardly bought any new clothes in the last 10-15 years. I know I started the buying a suit thread but, as usual with me, I can't see myself going through with it - I've always lived on a tight budget and its just an unnecessary purchase. It's not in my nature to spoil myself. I don't wear a watch and find the idea of a fancy pen mildly absurd. Plus I haven't drunk a whole cup of tea or coffee in my life. This pursuit of 'gentlemanliness' is part of what I think makes men get so sour and grumpy as they get older. The more you try and refine your palette and become more sophisticated, the more you find to dislike about life. Allow me to share some wisdom this thread brought to mind: "The wealthiest person is not who has the most, but who needs the least" "Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you" If you've never had it you can't miss it. Unfortunately I did once have a body without any perceivable malfunction but about 4.5 years something inexplicable happened to me that has left me uncomfortable on a daily basis, so I do miss not being uncomfortable and wish I could have it back. I can't say that the following has had a slow or imperceptible impact on my life, but it has given me cause to smile daily: PS. MrJay - good on your Grandad, teachers don't get enough retribution in my book!
Ha, I'm not sure that question merited quoting my whole post, but I won't argue with the free publicity I guess it's just that if I had to make a list of priorities about what I needed or even wanted to have on me at any given time, having a nice pen would be a long, long, looonng way down. Who am I kidding, it just wouldn't feature at all. Wouldn't even cross my mind. Even if I was the only winner of a Euromillions triple-rollover, I'd be surprised if having a nice pen ever occurred to me as something worth bothering about.
Edited It's all personal taste I guess, I hate writing with cheap pens but I can understand why others would think that a £500 pen is crazy.
Oddest thing about your post for me was saying you lived on a tight budget, don't spoil yourself, yet have never finished a cup of coffee/tea implying waste While I like the idea of your post, ignorance is bliss and all that, I enjoy taking delight in certain things, e.g. playing on a steinway (only happened once in my life so far) was one of the best moments of my life, despite being during an exam I couldn't have been more terrified of
No George, you misunderstand me. I just mentioned tea and coffee cos it's come up multiple times in the thread. What I was getting at is that I just don't drink it, full-stop. I'd be lying if I said I'd never drunk it, because I know I've tried sips of the stuff many years ago (hence I said "whole cup"), but I've never sipped it and then felt the urge to have a cup of my own - just don't like it. While I'm well aware of what people are prepared to pay to feel special in today's world, it staggers me that anyone here might have a pen that cost 500 quid. I didn't know you could get pens that expensive. When people were talking about nice pens I was imagining they were in the £50-100 zone
See I don't think that it is too much money, it's beautiful and the nicest pen I have ever written with.
My two Porsche pens are about £450 worth together. With the addition of the mechanical pencil, the set of three will be insured for over £500. Porkins, if you think a £500 pen is absurd, you wouldn't want to know what a collection of high end flashlights costs. Or a few nice watches, for that matter.
It strikes me that £500 is probably mid-priced as far as "luxury" pens go. I'm sure I've seen pens before with price tags well in to 4 and even 5 figures. Me, I'm happy to make do with a £1 brio (but I do understand why one would be drawn to moe expensive pens). I was given a mildly posh Cross pen worth in the region of £70 as a gift some years ago, but I just can't use it... Too heavy and not grippy enough, so it just sits in a drawer. On another vein, with regards to the 'holier than thou' posts saying children/family/health/friends/etc. doesn't that go without saying? I'm sure everyone (hopefully!) these value these things over material possessions. Enjoying material goods and materialism are not one and the same.
I love coffee. Proper coffee. I'm not rich enough to buy expensive machines and what-not so I use my trusty Bialetti. Although several months ago I bought one of those Dolce Gusto machines for ultra-fast drinks. Don't judge me Apart from coffee I appreciate a good meal in a nice restaurant with friends. Good food, good company. Don't do the good wine though... can't stand wine. Talking of restaurants I recently won a 3 course dinner at the rather posh Babylon restaurant in London. That'll be a nice chance to sample the finer things in life.
I don't actually own the following yet, but I plan on it: A stereo system composed of two speakers from the Bowers and Wilkins 800 series. Preferably the full monty, the real 800 speakers. Having them as a 5.1 surround system obviously would not hurt but.. One can only dream! Other than that? A nice run in the early morning around a nearby lake when there is noone around. Not much to beat that actually. Oh, and the joy of working with my hands, shaping wood with simple hand tools and creating something entirely unique just using a saw, a wooden file, a plane, and some screws. My goal for the future is to own a very good set of hand tools so I can fabricate my own furniture.
seconded For me it is hifi and headphones, although being in a smaller flat now, they are in storage at the folks house, which pains me! other than that my new pet turtle keeps me busy enough!
arrhhh a pen that costs £500, i'm with you and a biro here is what a humble bic can do NSFW http://www.boredpanda.com/25-photorealistic-pictures-drawn-with-a-bic-pen/ and i totally agree with your last sentence. as for finer things there is nothing more fine than Spoiler sex
Your ability to turn every thread that you pass through into a discussion about or related to sex never ceases to amaze me.
