A cure for upgraditis

After upgrading from Ittok to Ekos and 32.5 to 102 earlier this year I thought I'd be upgraditis free for a long, long time. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who's rarely satisfied with anything for long, so it's hardly surprising that last month my Ekos asked me in its crisp, clear and quiet but mildly menacing voice, "Get me a better cartridge, mate - if you know what's good for you, that is."
And then my 102 began to plead, breathily and melodramatically, "Please, darling, get me a HiCap and a NAPSC - I feel almost naked without them - do it for me - pleeeaaase."

Clearly, it was a severe case of upgraditis. But with no funds, what was I to do? Being allergic to cats there was no hope of my becoming a cat burglar, and my hopes of winning the National Lottery were, to all intents and purposes, thwarted by the fact that I couldn't bring myself to waste a pound on a ticket. After all, a pound is enough to buy a remaindered novel from the local discount bookshop. I'm building up quite a collection of unread - possibly unreadable - novels in lieu of lottery tickets...

Luckily, help was at hand in the form of a badly blocked right ear. It became so badly blocked three or four weeks ago that I stopped listening to my hi-fi entirely. Then, an hour or two ago, I listened to a record of some of Bach's Brandenberg Concerti. This sounded absolutely marvellous, even though I had the volume at twenty-to in order to avoid disturbing the rest of the household so late at night.

There's no doubt about it - enforced silence is, in my view, the best possible cure for upgraditis.

--Jeremy