Things you regret not buying?

[bob]

a ring for a special lady over a decade ago

[claws]

When we went to Prague for a three day vacation a few years ago, I had the opportunity to buy a pastrami on rye sandwich. As odd as this may sound, pastrami is a speciality food in Germany. Chances of finding a butcher in a 200 miles radius who actually makes pastrami is like hitting the jackpot at lottery - pretty much zero.
I love to cook and I love to try food I never had before. I always wanted to try a classic pastrami sandwich without resorting in me having to make pastrami from scratch.
Anyway, we were in downtown Prague which is basically a hot spot for foodies (had the best burger of my life there). TripAdvisor guided us to a butcher who made a classic pastrami on rye. However, people were standing in line, and not just a few people. Technically I could have stood in line but everyone else was hangry (yep, hAngry) so we seeked out another place to grab lunch. We did have plans to come back the next day which was our final day in Prague. Guess what, that butcher was closed. We picked the only day of the week that butcher was closed. I left Prague on a sad note.

[Archivist]

a ring for a special lady over a decade ago

Oh, heck. I didn't expect that kind of answer to this question. Is this a story you're okay with telling?

[Archivist]

When we went to Prague for a three day vacation a few years ago, I had the opportunity to buy a pastrami on rye sandwich. As odd as this may sound, pastrami is a speciality food in Germany. Chances of finding a butcher in a 200 miles radius who actually makes pastrami is like hitting the jackpot at lottery - pretty much zero.
I love to cook and I love to try food I never had before. I always wanted to try a classic pastrami sandwich without resorting in me having to make pastrami from scratch.
Anyway, we were in downtown Prague which is basically a hot spot for foodies (had the best burger of my life there). TripAdvisor guided us to a butcher who made a classic pastrami on rye. However, people were standing in line, and not just a few people. Technically I could have stood in line but everyone else was hangry (yep, hAngry) so we seeked out another place to grab lunch. We did have plans to come back the next day which was our final day in Prague. Guess what, that butcher was closed. We picked the only day of the week that butcher was closed. I left Prague on a sad note.

You know, that makes a lot of sense. Good food is always a desirable find, especially when it's uncommon. Back in the 80s, I was in Hong Kong, and was surprised at how weak and watery the spaghetti bolognese was. Yeah, you don't go to Hong Kong for Italian food, but I was so sick of Chinese food and really hankering for some pasta.

Speaking of food I regret not buying: about 15 or 16 years ago, I was at a large hardware store with a friend, buying paint for his place.  Outside was a sausage sizzle, with the delicious smell of barbecued sausage fat filling the air. In Ausralia, Bunnings Warehouse is the equivalent of Home Depot or Lowe's, and they always have a group with a sausage sizzle outside on weekends. Well, at least they did until coronavirus hit, but I digress.

I figured I'd get a couple of sausages when we came back out, but when we did, the sausage sizzle was closed! Since then, I have made it a point to buy a couple of sausages every time I see one outside a hardware store.

[sprite75]

When I was in Toledo, Spain I had an opportunity to buy a sword made out of the local steel but passed on that.  I still kick myself that I didn't make the sword my big purchase for the trip instead of the carpet in Morocco.  It would've been so neat to have the sword displayed on the wall and I could reenact the brace yourself pose from time to time too.

[chefzombie]

i regret not buying a portable washer when we moved in. now i'm going to spend a good 100 more

[bob]

i regret not buying a portable washer when we moved in. now i'm going to spend a good 100 more

[Paquita]

There was this really cool hotel called The Lodge in Bettendorf, Iowa that my family used to go to occasionally.  It had the coolest decor and fixtures, it was decked out like a Bavarian castle with stained glass windows and everything.  It wasn't really fancy, it just looked fancy.  They even had a Freddy Krueger pinball machine by the pool and a booby video game in the lounge and would sometimes have murder mystery dinners.  It was such a blast to stay there.  When it closed down in 2016 they announced that they were going to have a sale or auction of all the fixtures and furniture, I think even some of the stained glass windows were being sold.  I remember really wanting to go, but being too busy with work.  I wish I just said screw it and went to get a piece of that place!