Customising

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t entertain helping someone to do something so superfluous but John was my designated driver for the night. John was the designated driver every night – none of us owned a car. John the Driver took us to exotic places like the Overstone Lakes in summer so we could fail to meet girls somewhere new, and at weekends he’d drive us out of town so we could embarrass ourselves in front of women in new pubs.

John felt that adding the spoiler to his car did something. I’m sure someone with a better grasp of fluid dynamics can explain the improvement to me. I’m certain it did something to make the car travel closer to the edge of 30mph in built up areas. Maybe it reduced external noise at 60mph on the dual carriageway to Wellingborough? Who cares? What it did was make John smile when the job was finished. He vanished inside to put his eyeliner on and find his Grace Jones cassette.

I never understood men’s fascination with Halfords; I never got the whole go-faster stripe. I never understood it until I began vaping.

Todd, he of the videos on the Internetz, posted a picture of a switch button on social media this week. If anything is the vaping equivalent of Driver John’s automotive aerofoil then this was it. Beautiful inlay of swirling shiny pattern nested in polished steel and provides zero performance benefit, a replacement part to add uniqueness to a device. Superfluous and smashing in equal measure.

It seems as though the last twelve months have witnessed a growth in ways that people are converting their mods into reflections of their own personality. Gone is the frenzied trading of pristine devices on the second-hand market as we appear to be adding our own influence to the vape. Boxes can now be decked out in silicone sleeves, enterprising machinists are drumming up leather coats for high-end devices and dabbling in patinas on tubes has become an all out assault with engraving equipment.

But what the flip possesses a load of us to do this? What are we thinking when we are throwing cash or time at things that have no material benefit to our lives?

According to a psychology study in Texas it comes down to two things, one of which being a desire for control. By adapting the thing we own to be different we are, apparently, tailoring it to ourselves and this brings us a sense of control – and thereby wellbeing despite the control being illusionary. Psychology Today tells us that this is important. What was important to me was to regain the feeling in my fingers and ensconce myself in a pub for the night, who cared if John improved his notion of self-worth? Hell, did you have to suffer that Grace Jones tape?

No.

No, I did.

Jean-Paul Satre would, if he were alive, contend that we invest importance in our mods because they are external displays of the fruits of our labours. As we all strive to earn money we, well most of us, don’t walk home in the evening clutching the thing we made. Him and Locke would argue that our devices are chosen representations of self and our choices for vaping ancillary items are investments in objects that then become reflections of our identity. The time and choices embody our values and identity. They justify work.

I’ve got optional silver pins in some mods, I’ve paid for handmade Vince driptips and there’s a smattering of aftermarket replacement tanks in all manner of coloured Pyrex. I play with all manner of wires types and coil to my exact tastes. There’s a heavy personalised aspect to my vaping and it makes me feel damn good.

You may chose to disagree with John Locke and Satre but there is only one thing of importance to me: if they were in the back seat of that Volkswagen as we headed to Sywell, they would have agreed that we should have listened to Flock Of Seagulls and not Grace Jones.