I harvested the first tomato this evening!  It was a little small and a little tart - maybe not ripe enough? - but waaaay better than a supermarket tomato.  The picture didn't come out so well...more coming soon, I hope!

I'm about to run out of stamps.  I'm probably the last person on earth who uses them.  Paying bills by check and envelope is soooo last century, and the little ritual helps me remember if I've done it or not.  Still, I've given myself over to working a little harder to learn to pay them online - I've switched about a quarter of my bills over already.  The paper saved with online statements and payments is a good Fix-friendly thing*, and obviously eliminates the need for stamps.  I love sending postcards and letters, though, and it will be impossible without stamps. 

I think this is a funny irony/conundrum: in the spirit of Fix, letter writing fits right in - it is an inefficient practice requiring intention and attention; by the letter of Fix (yuk, yuk), buying stamps could be a transgression.   When we buy stamps, are we buying a thing to affix to another thing, or are we buying a contract with the USPS?  Does this contract with the post office enable us to have an experience - and give an experience to someone else - that is utterly unavailable any other way?  I'm going to propose that stamps for things that can be done online or by fax qualify as stuff, and that personal correspondence is an experience requiring a service from the post office and therefore a stamp.

*A few months back, I wrote about switching my Citibank bill to "paperless statements."  They still send me a piece of paper every month letting me know my statement is online. (This is in addition to an email notification.) Gee, thanks, guys.  How paperless.

Well, almost.  I'm nearly through with the last of my deodorant.  I've been supplementing with baking soda but that's not so great for my mostly black wardrobe.  And I'm fine going without on the weekends but I would be so embarrassed if somebody from work pulled me aside to tell me I stink.  Sorry, principles.  I'm open to alternatives but wouldn't want to buy a bunch of things or ingredients that don't really work.

The shaving lotion is diluted down as far as it will go...I'm not sure I'm prepared to stop shaving my legs until January.  No Impact Man uses a soap mixture and a straight razor, but will that work for legs?  Maybe shampoo? I could get them waxed (a service) but I think the waste produced with that is much worse than what I'm doing now - a counterproductive and expensive solution.

Finally, my phone has been behaving badly lately - I wish I could chuck it out the window but that would probably cause me trouble.  A week in the mountains without service was such a pleasure: nobody else could talk too much and too loudly on their phones, either.  I don't have a land line, and my grandmother would be disappointed if I just communicated by letter and email until January.   The phone was the bottom of the line to begin with, and now it dies small, spontaneous deaths.  I don't think they repair these things.

Solutions?

week 1

week 7