Smoke 'em down to the butt

During WW2, smokers were advised as an economy measure to "smoke 'em down to the butt" rather than waste precious tobacco. In these economically tough times, smoking them down to the butt is what we all have to do. Forget Presidents and the like saying "The recession ended 5 years ago" - that's just baloney designed to engender the false belief that the recession has ended. Look around you and see how many places are still closing. Indeed www.columbiaclosings.com lists all the places that have closed and are still closing in my area.

Smoking them down to the butt is what we all have to do, these days. This is the remains of a pencil. Sure - pencils are cheap but why buy a new pencil until you've fully used up what was left of the original pencil?

A week or two back, my computer began acting up. After deducing that it was probably the battery, the battery was replaced and hey presto, the computer works properly again. The OEM battery would have been $80 and what I got was a cheap knock-off for $20 which works. Had the battery not worked, I would have been out the cost of the battery and had to buy a new computer. This is why I got a cheap battery. Now I know it's the battery and not the computer I can keep on. I don't expect a long life for a battery costing 75% less but I could be wrong. Saving money by repairing the old is always a good move. Economy with everything.

The same thing with photography equipment. Many people are into constant trading of gear, buying and selling, losing money all the way. They buy one lens and try it then decide they want something better without ever having made the best of what they had.

At the moment I'm debating whether to sell all my camera gear because a lot of it I just don't use. Some, I do but the rest is just taking up space. I'm probably going to indulge in a phased reduction, reducing down to the bare minimum and maintaining that minimum. I'd built up a stupid amount of camera gear as part of the photography business I had. I've already got rid of all the studio equipment on the basis that it was never ever used.

When I do still life photography, I don't use a flash. I use a desk lamp. I just don't get the fuss about flashes. They're clunky and awkward whereas everybody has a desk lamp. I don't need a honking great big mega bucks flash. When I do landscapes, I don't need a flash. For those ultra-rare occasions when a flash IS needed, the onboard flash is more than adequate.