Hi Everyone and congratulations for sliding into the second week without buying anything, not even a book.
I'm a compulsive book-buyer myself, so I relate. I can see how I could twist my thinking into make buying books exempt from the Compact ... I could tell myself, there's something virtuous about books compared to, say, plastic garden furniture. A book-buyer is not a consumer, really. Sure, a book is a product, I guess ... but not really. I mean, it's more of an experience, isn't it? A book is good for you, so it's ok, right?
Anyway, you're spot on about the library, Alana. I'm a member of Waverley library and its catalogue is searchable online. It's a small collection, sure. But my UNSW student card is still active for another month, so I have access to the big university library too. So I've no excuses.
I had a close call on the weekend. I almost slipped off the wagon.
The light on my balcony is busted. It's like a cabin light, with a metal clamp that holds a glass cover over the bulb, to protect it from the rain and wind.
Anyway, the glass part is broken, and some rain must've hit the globe because it broke. Now the bayonet part is stuck in the socket and I can't get it out. I spent ages fiddling with it. I got really frustrated because I couldn't get it out. So I said 'stuff this 'and took the metal clamp part down to the hardware store. I was going to buy something useful to fix the light. I felt a bit guilty, but the guilt was less powerful than the irritation: I was going to fix that damned light, and I was going to fix it right then and there.
All I needed was the glass part. So when the guy in the hardware store told me I'd have to go to a lighting store and buy the whole fixture, I had a moment of clarity. I calmed down a little and figured, I don't need to fix this light right now. I haven't even made it a full week yet. Am I really such a emotionally-driven, mindless consumer that I can't go even a week without scratching the itch? Hell no!
For the rest of the month, whenever I go out on the balcony, I'll use candles.
I feel better already.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
That's a nice effort to avoid the purchase, but do you really think candles are any better?
You can almost certainly fetch a complete fitting from a salvager (ie second hand) and recycle the steel base from your broken fitting. I'm certain that is a better option in the long term, provided you don't have to drive 200km to the salvager.
Make sure you get a fitting that will fit a compact flouro too, if you're going to be serious about this thing.
Thanks Jonathon, that's a good idea.
I'll fish around for a salvager on Saturday and see how I go.
It's a nice word, salvager. It sounds vaguely religious.
I think it is interesting that many Compacters seem to be concerned at a limit on their book buying - almost claiming an addiction to the buying of books. I wonder if bookish types, in particular those who like to own books, are drawn to the idea of Compacting?
I guess the point is... if you already have the candles and don't have to buy them then you can avoid purchasing another product.
jonathon had a good point re. flouro bulbs... the new ones are designed to last 10 times longer than a normal incandescent globe (less waste), they are energy efficent and fit into a normal light fitting.
That's a good point, McPhicks, I think you're onto something.
Certainly some people make fetishes (in the Marxist sense) of books more than they do other commodities. I'm one. I've bought far more books than I've ever read. And to some degree, I have attached my sense of self to what's in my bookcases.
As a Compacter, it's a fetish I have to let go of. It's not even about the actual reading of the book. Borrowing a book from a library, I've noticed, is quite different from buying a book. For instance, the cover of a library book matters far less than does that of a new tome fresh from a bookshop. I've bought books by authors I've never read or heard of, about topics I've never been interested in, just because I liked the look of the cover!
No more of that for me. Just reminder notices, late fees and a vague sense of withdrawal.
Is it just the glass that's broken? Perhaps you could see if a glazier can do a new piece of glass the right size for it?
Post a Comment