Local activists will be handing out free food and free advice all over the city to get people to come out and pedal to the office. There are at least two “energizer stations” on my route to work, so it looks like I’m getting a free breakfast tomorrow!

Time to work on trackless trolley: 50 minutes (6 -> 30)
Time to work on N-Judah light rail: 38 minutes
Time to work on bike: 27 minutes

Total distance: 4.1 miles.

As I was shopping for wine, a bald shaven Aussie said to me “Nice shirt brother.”

I turned his direction only to end up facing his wife, who said, “Oh let me see!”

So I stood there as a random but semi-attractive woman read my No Starch Press shirt.

“Oh, No Starch! I get it, hehehe.”

I also ended up in line behind them, with a cashier that was from Nigeria.

“I’ll need to see some ID.” he told as the check ID alarm went off on the register, so I presented my license to which he said, “Oh, that’s not you. That can’t be you, it looks nothing like you!”

“Sure it is me!” I shot back, thinking perhaps he was just joking with me.

“No, no man, you look much healthier than the person in this picture, how long ago was this?”

He was actually being honest, and during my food purchase we discussed where we were from, how much more people walk in the city, and how he was working for his landlord: each paycheck went to his rent.

The question that remained in my mind on my way home was, am I that much healthier than when I first moved to the city? The photo was from almost 3 years ago, I suppose that’s ancient history now, right?

I actually thought the end was Dec. 19th, tomorrow, but as it would turn out I spaced the date and it was really Dec. 16th. I guess I really didn’t realize I’d stopped buying and started saving and conserving. It has become commonplace and easy, my life became simpler and I didn’t even appreciate the change I had made.

Did I cheat? Yes. I bought a monitor stand about halfway into the embargo. It sits on my desk holding my flat panels, and likely I didn’t need it at all. I bought maybe one or two books, and new shoes — but that was per doctor’s orders. That’s it. No iPhone, no $200 jeans, no cheap plastic crap.

Now that the embargo is over, I guess I can bust out the credit cards and start spending again. But should I? I’ve banked every single month except this one, enough to cover one full month of expenses in San Francisco.

My point is, now that I’m used to no-buy, should I even bother going back to the American Way(tm); spend, spend, spend, have the latest and greatest, damn the credit card bills?

And I bought nothing.

And I feel fine about that.

READERS’ PLATFORM: Transbay Terminal

The Transbay Terminal is a symbol to the world of what San Francisco was - a city with transit at heart where a working-class person could get to work on a train or a bus in a safe and timely manner. What we are telling the world now is, go get in your car, pay too much for gas and insurance, but don’t take a bus or a train - that’s for incontinent bums. We gave up on the Transbay center when we lifted the rails decades ago and submitted to car hegemony. A new Transbay transit center is likely to be more of the same. Shiny and new for a few years, then urine-soaked after budget cuts and parking garages. Who is going to pay a whopping $260 per square foot for office space with no parking in this city anyway?

- Mark Ballew, 29, San Francisco

The whole reason we are putting up a tower is to help pay for the Caltrain terminal. All the tower designs are ugly and pre-’90s L.A. designs, nothing to show the world that San Francisco is a world-class city. At this rate we should just directly fund moving Caltrain to First and Mission and retrofit the 1939 terminal.

- Mark Ballew, 29, Cole Valley

This week the bike cage is supposed to be fixed at work, so I will be leaving the N-Judah to the Sunset suckers and enjoying some fresh air while scooting through the wiggle and down Market st. Biking to work, then back home, are both my favorite parts of the day.

Thinking of biking to work, but you don’t live in a city? See:

How to ride your bike to work

From June 16th until December 16th I’m not allowed to buy anything new. The exception is items that are literally consumables, such as food, underwear, and personal hygiene products. I can’t buy books, magazines, computer gear, clothes, art — anything, except of course if it is used, borrowed, or bartered. I’m not sure how this will work for holiday gifts, but I’ll cross that bridge when I reach it.

I’ve been quite successful except for twice: I bought a $18 book at Borders new and I bought a grounded power converter at Cole Hardware. The latter I took back to the store because well, why the hell did I think I needed that? It was another example of me buying random things I didn’t need.

The truth is that there isn’t anything that I need, or at least need to buy new. My backpack broke, so I rummaged through my closet and found out that I had another one anyway. If there is something I think I need, like at the moment I want a new Mac thin keyboard, I just have a discussion with myself as to why I really need this, decide to go without, and I’m fine with it.

The result is that I haven’t accumulated any crap these past few months. I’ve banked a large amount of money too, my budget was actually met this month. I don’t think that’s ever happened since I moved to the city!

So why should you go no-buy? You are tired of materialism. You want to save money. You want to travel light. You find yourself not wanting to own the new toys that everyone else has. You want to save the environment. You want to challenge yourself. You don’t want to be in credit card debt. You don’t have the room. You don’t have the time. The things you own end up owning you.

I can’t be the only one who calls in to complain, can I? I’ll assume they have me on auto complete.

Issue 70651: Hot train
Issue 75009: Hot smelly train

I would also ad “graffiti’d train” to both of those, but really, I just don’t want to be in a hot train when it is a perfect 70F outside.