Here's an example of how weird it is to live in my head.

I wear glasses as most of you who read this already know. I started swimming. I cannot see in regular swim goggles so I need prescription goggles. Fortunately, the swimming industry is kind enough to make these optically corrective goggles pre-fabricated in half step diopters (-1, -1.5, etc through -10). I did a little research and found a couple of brands online and got an idea of pricing ($20-$30).

Now, I like to support local business where I can. In theory this means that if I can buy something from a local company, then I will even if I don't get quite as good a deal. After all, local business dollars go back into the local economy. You can build a friendly relationship with the shopkeepers and the other customers. Just good things all over the place. Except, generally, for price. The local shop that has the goggles in stock charges nearly double what they cost online ($40).

I'm a pretty miserly guy. I grew up learning to spend my money wisely (and sparingly). Find a good price and all that. So this price discrepancy sets me back for a minute. And I put the goggles on hold for a couple of days so I can think about my options. Dev kind of groans and asks if it's really this hard to be me. She's amazed at the amount of energy that I spend talking to myself on both sides of the issue.

Now here's the thing: $20 in and of itself isn't really a big difference one way or the other. But I had to wrestle my "save money" side to the mat with my "save local business" side. And if $20 sets off this kind of internal debate, what happens when I can save $100 on something through mail order?

So there it is. Can you hear Dev laughing in the background at my silliness?