Scales...

When I talk to Katie on the weekend we always tell each other if we have anything fun coming up for the next week. She told me she and her girlfriend are going to see Wildwood on Wednesday, I told her (jokingly) that I was going to get my teeth scaled this week for my fun thing.

She laughed and made a joke about adding dragon scales, I told her I was finally ready to take my final form.

Then she said, "But seriously, what is that?"

After I described it she was like...oh no, that sounds terrible.

And yes, yes it does.

But honestly getting it done...

Well that sucks too.

It's always kind of interesting the things we do to feel better, or be healthier, that really suck while you get them done. And then the balancing act that we do to try and figure out if it's worth it.

House stuff is the same. We are getting a part of our furnace replaced tomorrow. They found it during our annual inspection. It's not failed yet, but is failing so better to do it now before it takes out the rest of the furnace (small leak). When I was telling Katie about that she asked if annual inspections were a thing she should be doing. I gave her the pros and cons and what to do if she wasn't going to do the inspections.

But it's all the same. Inspections, physicals, annual maintenance, trips to the gym. Keep all the equipment working. Or at least catch the things you can.

Teeth cleaning leads to finding that I need a deeper scaling.

Annual exams leads to a trip to a specialist or to the PT.

Annual inspections either lead to peace of mind, or an early catch of a problem.

But...

What if that piece on the furnace never actually failed? Did I prevent a bigger problem or did I waste money?

What if my teeth never actually needed that extra deep cleaning and were just fine? Did I prevent gum disease or go through a painful process (the first half, I've got to go back for the second half of my mouth next week) for nothing. Did I save my mouth and more expensive batch of work or did I waste money?

That question is going to get bigger and bigger for me again. Is this a waste of money? Is this a good investment? And even away from healthcare and house maintenance stuff, though those are the biggest expenses, I am getting back in the habit of asking, Is this a need or a want? Is this a good investment or not?

Balancing those scales.