A bag of cheap wristwatch spring bars in different sizes costs more than the exact pair I need, but less than three exact pairs.
Two bags of cheap wristwatch spring bars in different sizes costs more than the lifetime supply of spring bars I am likely to need, but I lost the first bag somehow.
@ardgedee the first bag will show up in about six months, at which point the second bag will go missing, so you'll have to tear into the first one to get another set of spring bars.
The second bag will reveal itself again about a month after that. You now have two open bags, which for convenience you will combine into one. Which will then go missing just before you need another pair of spring bars.
@ardgedee This phenomenon underlies the vast quantities of fasteners, fittings, switches, connectors, and other doohickeys that occupy the many many bins in my workshed.
@MightyBigCar Now that I have arguably a place of my own, I've slowly been digging through the boxes of parts-of-things that've accumulated, and sorting them into smaller bins, permanently labeled and permanently located.
It's been a great success with everything I haven't needed since moving here. Everything I have needed has been repurchased, of course.