"honey, we need an aquarium"

Sometimes, I run across the oddest things while perusing sale ads online.

I'm a planner.

So, here's the deal. I'm a planner. I don't mean that I must have every activity determined before hand or even know when I'm going when I get in the car. Instead, when it comes to large purchases or choices, I find that I experience buyer's remorse much less often if I spend time researching the subject and at least gettign a good working knowlege thereof. An example, you say? Sure!

Let's talk... Aquariums.

I used to have an aquarium. I was between 10 and 12, and kept a small 10g aquarium for a couple years. It was nice to have in my room.
Fast Forward a Decade. I decided to set up a marine (saltwater) aquarium in my dormroom at the beginning of a year. This is not as bad an idea as one would think. I knew that I wouldn't have to move it for a couple years, etc.etc. Long story short, I go home for the summer with the promise of a dear friend to take care of the tank while I'm gone. But Then. I return that fall to find my tank Dead. It was sad. The only thing living was algae.
Fast forward to the future. I would like an aquarium one day- build it into a wall, make it part of a room, etc. Of course, the requires a room of intransient proportion- hence the future.
Anyway, this means that some of my liesure time now is spent reading about aquariums. Such places as www.bostonreefers.org , www.reefs.org , etc. It's a lot more complicated than one would believe. There are theories regarding the proper trace minerals, the best species to use to attempt to create a relatively complete nitrogen cycle, the best spectrum lights to use, etc.
Now if my dear pet-loving significant other and I are going to spend some amount of money on a nice set up, then the best bang for the buck is a laudable goal. Anything less would be... inelegant and inefficient.

Now, take this example and apply it to anything. Computers, paintball, houses... There ya go. A little window into me.