Fundamental Dilemma

"Debt, n. An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver." - Ambrose Bierce

So I paid Nikon to fix my camera.  And when I got it back, I was exactly the same as before I sent it.  Cleaner.  Software updated.  But still with problems.

As I wish to become a professional photographer, my next goal after buying a new car is to save for a full frame, professional camera.  So I really don't want to put any more money into a camera that may not ever work properly again.  So, I need to replace it.
But, because I had to buy my new car sooner than I anticipated, it left me without the cash reserves to purchase a new camera outright.

Debt makes me angry. I spent a huge chunk of time digging myself out of a fairly large financial hole and pride myself on "living within my means" and not carrying consumer debt.

Do I replace my camera with the same model I have for a smaller amount of money that I can pay off in a couple months?  Then begin saving for the professional model, having spent several hundreds of dollars on a camera that, for all intents and purposes, is only temporary?

Or

Do I buy the professional camera now, placing myself in greater debt that will take a significant bit longer to pay off, but not "wasting" money on the less expensive (but not cheap) "temporary" camera.

Do I stick closer to my values in the short term, or go against the grain for something that will be of greater benefit in the long run?

Voice From the Past

"I firmly believe that you live and learn, and if you don't learn from past mistakes, then you need to be drug out and shot."  - R. Lee Ermey


Once upon a time, there was a girl, young and foolish, like most girls.  Most of the people in her life, people whom she should have been able to count on, people who claimed she could trust, all let her down, turned their backs, walked away.

One day, she met a guy.  This guy seemed like a good guy.  She was honest about her past, how it was difficult for her to trust.  He swore he would never let her down.  She wanted to believe him, but like the young and foolish girl she was, she tested him.  And tested him.  And he stayed.  He was good to her.  She eventually started to believe that maybe, just maybe, she could trust him.

And then he left.  Without a word.  Just gone.  Like all the others who had let her down.

That young girl doesn't exist anymore. Grew up. Moved on. Put the past and all those people behind her.

But one day, he's back in her life, just as quickly as he left.  An email in her inbox: "Is it you?"
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Does she reply?