Inspired by the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Shave Purchase Sabbaticals and all those who were successful, those who are still toughing it out, those who signed up, and those who fell to temptation, @Pepin, presents to you, the Badger and Blade 2019 Shave Purchase Sabbatical Gentlemanly Restraint thread.
This year's theme is ........ The Maltese Falcon Razor
The figure at the desk drew deeply on the cigarette he was smoking, the glow illuminating his face briefly. A series of sharp raps on the outside door interrupted his thoughts. He paused, reaching out to stub out the cigarette in an ashtray; as the door opened and a beautiful woman walked in. She paused before advancing up to the old scarred wooden desk. She squinted as she tried to make out the man's features, which were in shadow from the sun coming through the window behind him. "Are you Sam Spade?" She waited, and after getting no response she continued "I am Brigitte O'Shaughnessy, and I need your help, and I am willing to pay." The man smiled; "To answer your first question, yes I am Sam Spade; and as to the second, how much?" She gave a small chuckle, "Well enough. I am after a family heirloom, and need you to gather up a team and recover it. Perhaps you have heard of it. It is the Maltese Falcon Razor." His eyes widened " I have heard of it, also that it is a myth. A gold statue of a bird perched on a gold razor. So it is real!". She nodded, "So you will take up my case? Can you round up a good team? I do have to warn you, there are others hunting for it as well. A large entrepreneur named Kasper Gutman, nicknamed "The Fatman". The man nodded, and stood up to shake her hand. She reached into her purse and handed over a large well-stuffed envelope "Your retainer Mr. Spade, and there is plenty more where that came from." Sam quickly thumbed the pile and whistled "You have just hired a private and his team."
Who will take up the 2019 GRU quest and see if they can succeed in attaining the Maltese Falcon Razor title at the year's end?, or disappear into the shadows after succumbing to a Mickey Finn from The Fatman or one of his henchmen.
The sabbatical is open to all ascetics, gluttons, minimizers, denizens of the doghouse, hecklers, reformed treewhalers, Darth Lords, trolls, and folks with nothing better to do. We're all about cheap thrills in the sabbatical. Cure your ADs, prime your 3017 campaign, learn your current setup, enjoy what you've got, protect your paychecks: we walk many paths on the same road.
New to restraint? The ground rules are simple: You don't purchase shaving related goods for a calendar year (12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 525,600 minutes). We start when 2018 becomes 2019, and we end when 2019 becomes 2020.
The fine print on the grey areas: Functional maintenance, such as straight razor honing, does not count as a purchased good. Since we're all gentlemen here, we leave it up to you to decide if PIF purchases for others count as purchases.
If a shaving item breaks in restraint and you have no backup handy, one replacement may be purchased as a exception (example if the knot comes out of your brush when traveling, a cheap brush or superglue to fix broken brush is deemed acceptable in the 2019 restraint).
Gifts you receive are also dicey. Because these and other fuzzy areas may pop up, let's agree to be gentlemanly in our appraisal of still in or knocked out. In other words, you're in until you say "I'm out" and you're out if you spent money! If you buy something, announce what you bought so we can get our vicarious thrills at your expense and strike you from the list in an exciting chapter of our ongoing storyline.
The Rules
Group exceptions:
ALL Badger and Blade branded items including B&B Group Buys
Sue Moore Memorial Auction items
Badger and Blade contributor badge
January 1-7, 2019 restock window for successful year-long 2018 sabbaticalians.
*Oscar Wilde Clause ("Everything in moderation, including moderation"): If you elect to do so, you may state one specific personal exception when you sign up.
What say you? Are you in?!
**Note: This will move to Clubs & Brotherhoods in early January, as signups will have finished
This year's theme is ........ The Maltese Falcon Razor
The figure at the desk drew deeply on the cigarette he was smoking, the glow illuminating his face briefly. A series of sharp raps on the outside door interrupted his thoughts. He paused, reaching out to stub out the cigarette in an ashtray; as the door opened and a beautiful woman walked in. She paused before advancing up to the old scarred wooden desk. She squinted as she tried to make out the man's features, which were in shadow from the sun coming through the window behind him. "Are you Sam Spade?" She waited, and after getting no response she continued "I am Brigitte O'Shaughnessy, and I need your help, and I am willing to pay." The man smiled; "To answer your first question, yes I am Sam Spade; and as to the second, how much?" She gave a small chuckle, "Well enough. I am after a family heirloom, and need you to gather up a team and recover it. Perhaps you have heard of it. It is the Maltese Falcon Razor." His eyes widened " I have heard of it, also that it is a myth. A gold statue of a bird perched on a gold razor. So it is real!". She nodded, "So you will take up my case? Can you round up a good team? I do have to warn you, there are others hunting for it as well. A large entrepreneur named Kasper Gutman, nicknamed "The Fatman". The man nodded, and stood up to shake her hand. She reached into her purse and handed over a large well-stuffed envelope "Your retainer Mr. Spade, and there is plenty more where that came from." Sam quickly thumbed the pile and whistled "You have just hired a private and his team."
Who will take up the 2019 GRU quest and see if they can succeed in attaining the Maltese Falcon Razor title at the year's end?, or disappear into the shadows after succumbing to a Mickey Finn from The Fatman or one of his henchmen.
The sabbatical is open to all ascetics, gluttons, minimizers, denizens of the doghouse, hecklers, reformed treewhalers, Darth Lords, trolls, and folks with nothing better to do. We're all about cheap thrills in the sabbatical. Cure your ADs, prime your 3017 campaign, learn your current setup, enjoy what you've got, protect your paychecks: we walk many paths on the same road.
New to restraint? The ground rules are simple: You don't purchase shaving related goods for a calendar year (12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 525,600 minutes). We start when 2018 becomes 2019, and we end when 2019 becomes 2020.
The fine print on the grey areas: Functional maintenance, such as straight razor honing, does not count as a purchased good. Since we're all gentlemen here, we leave it up to you to decide if PIF purchases for others count as purchases.
If a shaving item breaks in restraint and you have no backup handy, one replacement may be purchased as a exception (example if the knot comes out of your brush when traveling, a cheap brush or superglue to fix broken brush is deemed acceptable in the 2019 restraint).
Gifts you receive are also dicey. Because these and other fuzzy areas may pop up, let's agree to be gentlemanly in our appraisal of still in or knocked out. In other words, you're in until you say "I'm out" and you're out if you spent money! If you buy something, announce what you bought so we can get our vicarious thrills at your expense and strike you from the list in an exciting chapter of our ongoing storyline.
The Rules
- Start and end time are based on your local time zone.
- Gentlemanly Restraint is restricted to shaving items only, though you can avoid other purchases as well.
- No purchases of anything do with shaving are allowed during the restraint period. NONE. No purchases even if you get a gift card to WCS, ebay, Amazon, etc. If you need something you may trade for it; that's why you are a part of a community that can help you out. This also means that you have enough stuff to see out about 12 months of shaving.
- To clarify, not buying anything means not spending money (or redeeming gift cards) on shaving goods, period. This includes blades, cream, soap, brush, scuttle, Bic Comfort Twins, aftershave, stone, strop, lapping film, water heater, and on and on. You get the idea. You spent money on it? You haven't shown restraint.*
- Trades will be limited to two trades a month with non Sabbatical entrants (not counting B&B pass-around boxes), unlimited with those still in the Sabbatical, as shipping does add up.
- If you have to ask for clarification, you probably should not be doing it.
Group exceptions:
ALL Badger and Blade branded items including B&B Group Buys
Sue Moore Memorial Auction items
Badger and Blade contributor badge
January 1-7, 2019 restock window for successful year-long 2018 sabbaticalians.
*Oscar Wilde Clause ("Everything in moderation, including moderation"): If you elect to do so, you may state one specific personal exception when you sign up.
What say you? Are you in?!
**Note: This will move to Clubs & Brotherhoods in early January, as signups will have finished
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