So with considerable self-restraint, I decided not to buy the Autocord. £150 is too much to splash out on what would have become little more than an ornament.

I am seldom able to resist something I’ve spent considerable time looking into. For example, and unlike Mr. Robbins, I succumbed to the urge to buy an Autocord a few years ago. Here it is languishing on a shelf.

I rarely regret buying unnecessary gear, but I would like to learn to avoid it more often.