My new Rockhopper mountain bike purchase earlier this month was about ten years in the making and has turned out to be one of my favorite purchases of all-time. This got me thinking – what else have I bought in the past 50 years that was awesome? Let’s see:

• Wedding ring. CK’s current ring has transformed three times – the original engagement band and marquise stone were purchased from Goodman’s Jewelers, while the wedding band with two trillion stones were from Dayton’s Rosedale. I added an anniversary band that I bought from an American Express catalog (of all places) in 2001.
• MINI Cooper. Back in the day, I bought a 2005 MINI Cooper in British Racing Green that was such a fun car to drive. The girls and I even took it on a ski trip to Schweitzer one year, driving from Minnesota to Spokane and back. Motor on!
• Lapzilla. I’ve owned multiple Apple products over the years, but the 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop that I purchased when I started my consulting company was probably the most durable and productive of them all.
• Nikon D70. My parents helped purchase the camera body as a graduation present and I added new glass and accessories over the years, but this digital camera trailblazer was built like a tank and took some really great pictures. I still have all the kit and it still works, but the iPhone in my pocket arguably takes better pictures today (sadly). It’s hard for me to justify spending the money on a new D850 (or even a Sony RX100) now, but the images from our D70 continue to live on.
• Ken & George. When I was in college at UW, I decided I needed a pet and bought a grey cockatiel from a local breeder. Ken was a great bird and companion, but I thought he should have a friend. I purchased George from a Madison pet store, which prominently listed on the receipt that George came with no guarantee. George was really a Georgette, but we continued to call her George and she had four babies with Ken, who all lived together in a large aviary.
• Scotty Cameron putter. I’ve never been a good golfer, but I enjoy the game and like the fact that you can use the same equipment and play the same courses as the professionals. I’ve learned over the years that the equipment the pros use is not always the best for hacks to use, but when it comes to putters, everyone can benefit from a Scotty. It looks like I’ve owned my classic Newport Two model for more than 20 years now, restoring it about ten years ago instead of buying a new one. It has dancing “DK” letters on it and everything.
• Aeron chair. While working for Studio 4, I had the chance to design my dream office in Saint Paul with my friend and colleague Jake. We had our eyes on Herman Miller Aeron chairs, but couldn’t stomach the big price tag. We ultimately secured two of them through a discount channel, but I really missed that chair when I moved on to other companies (none of which would let me order another one). One day I saw a used one pop up for sale from a Lowertown advertising agency that was downsizing and I never looked back. Writing this post while sitting on it right now…

Honorable mentions: Sony TVs (from my first 13-inch Trinitron to my current 4K model), the original Sony receiver with Jamo speakers I bought in high school from Sound Center in Roseville and my first pair of Rossignol racing skis.