encoded notions

I wonder how much money is spent annually worldwide immediately after uttering the following phrase to oneself:

Dammit. I give up. I’m (getting a new one / calling a repairman).

Many times I think to myself: I could fix that. All I have to go is buy A, B, C, and D, then spend 3 hours cobbling it together and then it would work again. A lot of times I then dismiss the solution as I’d rather not waste the time to save something so easily replaced or professionally repaired. A similar mentality exists for repairing software in computers. Here’s a short list of things I’d rather not fix unless I’m bored:

• Windows
• Firefox profiles
• Printers
• MP3 ID3 tags
• DNS tables
• Laptop PCs
• Someone else’s code

And here’s a short list of things I’d consider fixing:

• Sandals
• Lamps
• Backpacks
• Door locks
• Leaky faucets
• SQL table data
• Recipes
• Desktop PCs
• My code