In 1981, I won a goldfish at the fair. My parents were annoyed about having to buy a bowl for it. It died within days (no living creature should be kept in a half gallon bowl), but I pestered my mom into buying a ten gallon tank for the replacement. This was the beginning of a lifelong hobby- I now have nine aquariums in my living room, and in the past forty-some years have spent many thousands on tanks, fish, plants, fish food, and so on. My most expensive tank cost me €5000 to set up.

And all this began because I spent a quarter and managed to get a ping-pong ball into a cup.

It started with headphones to listen to music on the go. Then it become a DAC for the headphones. Then it became an inherited record collection. Then it became a turntable. Then it became a pre-amp. Then it became a massive and varied record collection.

All and all I’ve probably spent, I don’t know, upwards of maybe five to ten thousand dollars overall with all my audio equipment and record collection.