Glad to see this is a common disease.

I haven't owned my bike much more than two full weeks, and I've already been tinkering (to the point where a simple FD adjustment turned into a multi-hour "refining" adventure). This is my first bicycle since I was probably 13 years old, and I had never even changed a tube before this week. Now I'm hooked on learning the intricacies of every component.

A beater might not be a bad idea.