There I was, toiling away at a basic-level series of Java tutorials and racking up an impressive quota of careless errors.
The mail came; my father got it. He called me, saying that the envelope addressed to "Next Blug" must be for me. :)
He was right!
It was for me, from doughty 
I got my first Steemit swag courtesy of
Fitting Accessory
Custom-made, real leather...and a perfect accessory for a certain vehicle:
In Ontario, you have to carry around proof of vehicle registration and proof of vehicle insurance. For some odd reason, vehicle insurance rates in Ontario are among the highest in the continent. ;) Until that leather beauty arrived, I had been using a spare wallet to jam both cards in. Not any more!
From now on the leather Steem Wallet is going to be holding these documents. They now reside comfortably in my glove compartment:
waiting for the first hopefully-friendly police officer to demand them.
The Importance of the SteemEconomy
Although this is only one minor transaction, it illustrates the important point that STEEM -moreso SBDs - are crypto currencies. They are not just assets to buy, earn and hold until STEEM gets to a gazillion dollars. ;-) They're also media of exchange.
Using them for commerce, even for swag and gigs at SteemGigs, helps build up a Steem-based Economy. Even if embryonic, it's an economy that's not manipulated or controlled by the powers-that-be. There's no central bank, no economic managers, only ordinary folks like me and
That's why it should grow. As a para-economy with global reach, as global as Steem itself, it's a real alternative to the government-managed, central-bank-controlled economies we all live under - and are dissatisfied with.
In my own small way, I tried freedom - and am happy with the result. We're some ways away from all but a few folks living off the SteemEconomy full-time, but the days are coming when many of us will - and not just for posting rewards!
Selling and buying goods for SBDs or STEEM help bring those days closer. Days of added responsibility, true, but also days of freedom - freedom that's higher than personal financial freedom. At its highest, a freedom that will help right a world that so many of us believe has gone wrong.
A worthy experiment!
Postscript: Sticker Swag?
One thing that the Steemit Versa is missing, is one or two window stickers. Do you know of anyone who sells them for SBDs or STEEM? If so, please drop a link!