Conundrum

Well, here's the deal.

There's a baking course I'd like to take. Its given by the King Arthur Flour people, up in Vermont. Here's it's description:

Bread: Principles & Practice - Oct. 1 Monday-Thursday, Oct 1-4, 1 to 5 p.m.
This comprehensive class explores every aspect of bread baking for the home baker. Topics include the following:

The function of ingredients, pre-ferments, and how to facilitate maximum rise; Extensive hands-on work in yeast breads, from basic bread through whole grains, sweetened breads, sourdough and starter-based breads (including French baguettes).; Techniques for baking powder breads, and learning how to work with chemical leavens through the production of quick breads and scones..

I figure it would teach me things that would be good to know, and that I'd enjoy knowing. It would help me be a better baker. And, if I did take the week-long Culinary Institute's Baking Boot Camp, I wouldn't feel as if I was coming in at a really basic level.

The course cost is $350. A hotel for four days would be, I'd guess, about $600. So, its around a thousand dollars, all told. My wife says that I should go for it. I'm not all that thrilled to realize that its just four half days of instruction....and the cost of the hotel would be twice the cost of the reason for going there in the first place. I could buy an awful lot of flour and mess around an awful lot for that...

I dunno.
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Later that very same evening: Nah, I'm not going to do it. A thousand dollars for two full days of class time is too much. The CIA course is $1600, plus about 750 for hotel, or $2350, and their classes are 7AM to 6PM (their site says 9PM, but I kind of doubt that). Cost wise, they're a better deal (~$42/instructional hour versus about $59), and I suspect the skill level of the instructors is higher, too. So, no dice.

But if I'm ever in Vermont when they're giving that class, I'll go.