I spent a hour or so today gardening. Gardening. Deliberately. On my day off.

Is this the beginning of the end?

Overall consumer spending is down this year because of interest rate rises and the recent petrol price rises [The Age].

The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of consumer sentiment fell 13.3 per cent in September to a reading of 100.3, from 115.7 in August.

[...]

"The reading continues a highly volatile year for consumer sentiment and comes after the 16.6 per cent fall in March this year," Mr Evans said.

[...]

A reduction in consumer spending as a result of increased expenditure on petrol could lead to fall of 0.2 per cent of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the second half of 2005, Mr Evans said.

I wonder if this is connected with recent drop in CD sales?

Nah.

If you've got a spare grand and want to be nice to me, go buy me an MAudio Microtrack 24/96.

The MicroTrack is a rugged high-fidelity mobile 2-channel digital recorder that records WAV and MP3 files to CompactFlash or microdrives—perfect for everything from professional field recording to corporate meetings, training, education and worship. Record via balanced line inputs or built-in high-fidelity microphone preamps complete with phantom power for studio-quality microphones. Connect MicroTrack to a PC or Mac via USB and simply drag and drop recordings to your computer for immediate editing or Web posting. Power derives from a lithium-ion battery, and the unit can recharge via the computer’s USB connection or USB power adapter. The MicroTrack combines quality beyond that of DAT recording with the convenience and cost-effectiveness of personal digital recorders for the ultimate solution in mobile recording.

It is, 100%, the portable recording device I've been waiting for and the best minidisc killer I've seen. It's $500US, plus another $300AUS for a 2Gb compact flash card.

But it's so pretty...