Chief Financial Optimist

For almost two weeks, we had been discussing Mini PCs. At first, the obvious choice seemed to be the newest and most powerful model, around €1,400, with enough performance and headroom for almost anything we might want to do over the next few years. The only problem was that we already own high-end laptops. What we actually needed was something different: an additional always-on group server. A small machine that stays quietly in the background, remains accessible while travelling and keeps our shared work connected. Project status, lyrics, visual references, website drafts, documentation, shared resources, automated workflows and Codex tasks that can continue while our laptops are closed.

Once we looked at it that way, the €1,400 option stopped making sense. Instead, we chose the €399 model. It has exactly the resources we currently need while still leaving enough room to grow. The alternative model cost €417, so technically we had already saved €18. That meant we could also add the €29.99 microphone stand with carrying bag, which according to Lina therefore only cost €11.99.

Then Lina and Maja took a second look at the numbers. The €417 computer had already been discounted by 20 percent, so they restored its original value first:

€417 ÷ 8 × 10 = €521.25

From there they subtracted the €399 Mini PC and the €29.99 microphone stand.

Remaining savings:

€92.26

At that point, the girls agreed very quickly that there was clearly still enough money left for dinner. The boys reviewed the calculation and found it surprisingly convincing.

FJAKA will now become our always-on shared workspace, keeping our projects connected, current and accessible wherever we are while quietly taking care of recurring tasks in the background.

Lina, meanwhile, has been promoted.

CFO

Chief Financial Optimist

We bought the computer.
We bought the microphone stand.
We still have €92.26 left.
Dinner is basically free.

The server will always be on. And so will the CFO optimism.